2021 Toyota Sienna review: The ultimate sport utility vehicle

I can say that confidently, as a result of to check the 2021 Sienna minivan you see pictured right here I did not simply doddle round city for every week and make a pair runs to the grocery retailer. I loaded the factor up and headed as far east as I may amid the present journey restrictions, greater than 1,000 miles on a street journey that took me simply 10 miles shy of Canada. I coated tough roads and clean ones, highways and byways, on-road and off, and, throughout this journey, I by no means as soon as discovered myself wishing for something however the Sienna — and that is regardless of not having any youngsters alongside for the trip. Well, until you rely our pup Yoshi — however at 12, she’s mainly a senior citizen. 
2021 Toyota Sienna is the final word trailhead vacation spot
See all images The 2021 Toyota Sienna is on the market with only one technique of propulsion: a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine mixed with a hybrid system that gives a web 245 horsepower and a beneficiant 288 pound-feet of torque. I would not name it fast, however the Sienna has loads of shove off the road, greater than sufficient energy for the freeway and a better-than-respectable 3,500-pound tow ranking. If that weren’t sufficient, regardless of having all-wheel drive and comfy seating for seating seven adults, the Sienna is EPA-rated for a outstanding 35 mpg metropolis and 36 mpg freeway. Did I hit that estimable determine in my testing? No. I really averaged simply shy of 27 mpg over 1,039 miles coated at largely freeway pace. Why the discrepancy? Was it my lead-footed driving or turbulent off-shore headwinds? No, it was the pair of large sea kayaks I strapped to the roof for the drive up and again. Needless to say, that is a major aerodynamic penalty. But I’ve hauled these boats on myriad vehicles through the years, and I’ve by no means seen economic system that good earlier than. With the boats off the roof, I used to be simply hitting the Sienna’s EPA targets. Mind you, getting the boats up there was a little bit of a problem, however the roof top of the Sienna remains to be decrease than your common three-row SUV. The built-in roof rails meant it took solely a single adapter to make use of the identical Thule rack system beforehand mounted to our XC40 long-termer. (That, by the best way, managed simply 23 mpg when hauling the identical boats.) Curiously, these rails solely run about half the size of the roof, leaving the kayaks located far again and at a considerably jaunty angle. In truth, from the motive force’s seat I could not even see them, however due to the sunroof, it was simple to make sure nothing had shifted alongside the best way. Once positioned, the little spoiler on the rear door did threaten to hit the underside of the boats when the rear hatch lifted, however a fast second faucet of the button contained in the door restricted its lifting top, eliminating that concern. Plenty of room and storage cubbies so you may by no means run out of locations to lose ketchup packets. Tim Stevens/RoadshowAnd what about the remainder of my stuff? Per week-long mountaineering, biking and kayaking journey requires lots of gear. And then there’s my spoiled mutt and her expansive, memory-foam mattress. My spouse and I match all of it within the van with ease. With a fast raise of a lever, the rear seats tucked flat into the ground. The center row would not come out on this seven-seat configuration, however we shoved these two chairs all the best way again, creating an enormous, flat ground for our geriatric pup to get comfy. She did not pay a lot consideration to the rear-seat leisure heart, with its twin, 11.6-inch, 1080p shows and wi-fi headphones, but it surely’s good to know I may have taken a PS5 break alongside the best way had I wished.My bike slotted between the 2 seats and nearly all our gear slot in behind them. It was a blissfully simple packing expertise — maybe too simple. We had a lot additional room we wound up vastly over-packing. That extra of storage extends to all the varied cubbies and compartments surrounding the entrance seats, together with a bi-level heart console and a cavernous arm relaxation. I do want the latter held the Sienna’s canceled fridge, as that will have been helpful for lengthy drives. Still, we had loads of room to tuck a small cooler down there.  What a welcome vacation spot on the trailhead. Tim Stevens/RoadshowThe Sienna’s on-road manners aren’t fairly impeccable, however they’re fairly good. Not as participating nor fast as a Chrysler Pacifica, the Sienna is a relaxed and competent cruiser with stellar trip high quality and loads of efficiency. The Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 driver-assistance package deal is complete as effectively, coming commonplace on each trim and that includes all the pieces from computerized emergency braking with pedestrian detection to auto high-beams. Adaptive cruise with lane centering is included, although the latter function left me a bit wanting, the Sienna having an inclination to meander backwards and forwards at instances. The haptic buzz of the lane-departure system received a little bit annoying on again roads, however that was miles higher than the incessant beeping of Toyota’s earlier methods. The major infotainment expertise is low-res and visually dated however complete in performance, providing each Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, plus niceties like a 360-degree digicam system and navigation. The 12-speaker JBL sound system proved too loud for our canine, however nonetheless sounded a lot good even after we disabled the rear audio system. Perhaps the most important shock of the week? How a lot I genuinely appreciated the look of the factor. Those pronounced fender flares borrowed from the Supra by some means work right here, and the verdant shade Toyota calls Cypress is sort of fetching. It was an extremely welcome sight on the trailhead, the place a fast faucet on the important thing fob opened each doorways, making a pair of expansive bench seats good for altering out of our muddy mountaineering boots earlier than climbing again in to the ventilated entrance seats and cruising residence. There are definitely extra luxurious and extra off-road-capable SUVs available on the market, however at that very second I would not have chosen any of them.  Ready for journey. Tim Stevens/RoadshowYou can get your self right into a base Toyota Sienna LE for $35,775, together with the $1,215 vacation spot payment. The AWD Platinum mannequin you see right here prices $53,770 together with vacation spot, with just a few choices, the costliest being a $1,415 upcharge for that rear-seat leisure system. Just for comparability sake, if you need a “proper” three-row SUV, you can go for the Toyota Sequoia. There, you are about $50,000 for a base mannequin, over $66,000 for the Platinum, and 15 mpg mixed. So extra up-front and extra on the pump, and you are going to must ask terrible properly to get anybody to occupy the way-back in a kind of for very lengthy. On the minivan facet, the Chrysler Pacifica affords related practicality and luxurious combined with a extra participating drive, however the front-wheel-drive hybrid begins at $46,415, together with $1,495 vacation spot. It’s additionally solely rated for 30 mpg, however it’s a plug-in, so in the event you make lots of brief hops it could possibly be considerably extra environment friendly. Also, whereas we love our Kia Carnival long-termer, which begins at $33,275 together with $1,175 for vacation spot, neither AWD nor a hybrid system can be found there.So, if gasoline economic system plus real-world practicality and efficiency are vital to you — and why would not they be? — the Sienna is extremely compelling. It’s priced proper, feature-rich, and I want I had one prepared for my subsequent street journey