{"id":52260,"date":"2021-10-11T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-toyota-sienna-platinum-hybrid-minivan\/"},"modified":"2021-10-11T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T23:35:00","slug":"car-review-2021-toyota-sienna-platinum-hybrid-minivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-toyota-sienna-platinum-hybrid-minivan\/","title":{"rendered":"Car review: 2021 Toyota Sienna Platinum hybrid minivan"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Minivans. They were at the top of the automotive pantheon, fell into obscurity, and are in the midst of a comeback story.<\/p>\n

Americans love comebacks. And underdogs. So it’s understandable the 2021 Toyota Sienna Platinum hybrid minivan – now in its fourth generation – is being rediscovered.<\/p>\n

Designed, engineered and assembled in the US, Sienna offers the bold and robust character of SUVs, hosts many premium features: kick-open and closed sliding side doors and rear gate, four-zone climate control system, heated second-row super-long slide captain’s chairs with ottomans, a segment-first power tilt and telescoping steering column with heated steering wheel, a digital rear-view mirror, 10-inch color head-up display, and 12-speaker JBL premium audio system.<\/p>\n

Sienna is also ready for life’s outdoor adventures with its all-wheel drive option – and is well-positioned for Yakima accessories, such as a rooftop carrier, cross bars, bike rack and more. The Sienna will also offer an available tow hitch and factory optional 1,500-watt inverter with 120V AC outlet to power camping equipment.<\/p>\n

What’s more, all versions of the 2021 Sienna are rated to tow up to 3,500 pounds. That’s enough to pull a well-equipped compact travel trailer, or simply carry your bikes for that weekend getaway.<\/p>\n

Does that not sound like an SUV on steroids?<\/p>\n

“This is an all-new vehicle from the ground up, including a new chassis platform as well as a new electrical platform,” said Chief Engineer Monte Kaehr. “The development of the fourth generation Sienna was a huge undertaking but we always worked towards one single mission—to make the best van yet.”<\/p>\n

The 2021 Toyota Sienna comes in five trim levels: LE, XLE, XSE, Limited, and Platinum. All are outfitted with the same hybrid system. My Platinum all-wheel drive hybrid tester seats seven adults and delivered an impressive 36 miles per fuel economy in combined city and highway driving.<\/p>\n

The Sienna driver will feel ultra-smooth acceleration and hear very little noise. What is noticeable is the kick in low-speed torque from two electric motors working in concert with the high-efficiency 2.5-liter DOHC four-cylinder engine.<\/p>\n

Drivers might not even notice the new model’s most significant engineering advance: the hybrid powertrain. That’s the point. The system delivers 243 total horsepower and segment-leading fuel economy, all while operating seamlessly and transparently.<\/p>\n

And the interior, accessed via oversized power sliding doors on either side, delivers versatility and functionality to meet the needs of any family. My Platinum trim came with second-row captain’s chairs and a drop-down entertainment system. The third-row split bench can fold flat when needed, or an under-floor storage compartment can suffice when maximum passengers and cargo are needed.<\/p>\n

Additional creature comforts include heated and ventilated leather-trimmed seats, dynamic navigation, hands-free Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, multi-view rear camera, dynamic radar cruise control, and two wireless headphones to complement the rear entertainment system.<\/p>\n

Completing the Sienna package is Toyota’s second-generation Toyota Safety Sense safety suite, a comprehensive active safety system that includes pre-collision system with pedestrian detection\/lowlight detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, lane trace assist, automatic high beams and road sign assist.<\/p>\n

Base Price: $51,075<\/p>\n

Price As Driven: $53,666<\/p>\n

Destination charge is included in base price. Vehicles are provided by the manufacturer. List price may vary at local dealerships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":52261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52260"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=52260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}