Toyota's biggest SUV rumbles into town wielding a 5.7-litre V8. We scurry closer to find out if BIGGER is really BETTER
Nitish Ramanujam

This story was almost titled ‘The eighth emirate’, till someone with no sense of humour thought it was too cheesy. No, the Sequoia is not as big as Ajman in case you were slyly wondering, and surprisingly, slightly smaller than Nissan’s Armada too. As we can see, while the horsepower wars continue to rage among the Germans, a few others are having fun building the biggest vehicles they can. Prudent or not in these times, behemoths like the Chevy Suburban and GMC Yukon continue to sell in decent numbers here, reason why Toyota decided to bring its revamped American-built full-fat SUV to our shores.

The Sequoia’s launch at the flagship showroom at Dubai Festival City was attended by many, including Simon Frith, the Managing Director of Al-Futtaim Motors, and Motoharu Araya, the Chief Engineer from the Toyota Vehicle Development Centre in Japan, who led the team responsible for the development of the new Sequoia. The latter explained how he and his team conducted extensive research in the US and Middle East markets on the needs of SUV owners, prior to developing the vehicle. The consumer research has been claimed to reveal a large and growing group of SUV owners with larger families, who use their vehicle predominantly for on-road journeys in the city, and between cities.

I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed by the sheer size of the thing, and arriving to pick up the Sequoia - it’s named after one of the largest trees in the world, by the way - in a tiny two-door hatch certainly didn’t make things any better. It is huge, no doubt, but looks better than the Armada, which seems disjointed at the back. Slight bulges and creases here and there help break up the monotony, but it’s the front end - a massive grille topped off by an equally muscular hood - that takes the cake for brawny, hairy chested-ness. Get a view in your rear-view mirror and your little eco-minded car would probably melt itself to death. It’s that macho. Really.

Hoisting oneself into the vast cabin initially results in a vain struggle to come to terms with the scale of things. However you try, sweet and innocuous attempts to mix with the flow of traffic usually result in shocking other motorists out of the way. To be frank, I had more than my fair share of starry-eyed observers in Cayennes and Rangeys, staring and pointing in disbelief.

Amidst rapidly building paranoia, as the ultimate test of park-a-bility (if you can call it that) I tried manoeuvring the Sequoia into my basement parking spot, crawling through frighteningly small spaces and dodging a million annoying columns. Why, a family of three even got out of their Hyundai and gawked for the entire duration while I gingerly squeezed the SUV into the allocated space. I was hoping the father would either clap or burst into tears by the end of it. Maybe he was just waiting for me to take down a wall.

Anyway, the next morning and a hot cuppa later, the big hulking beast in my garage didn’t seem so mean after all. I could actually keep it in a single track if I wanted to, bullying lane hoggers at my own sweet will. Acceleration numbers might be the last thing on your mind here, but for a vehicle that weighs north of 2.5 tons, the Sequoia goes well, thanks to a mighty 5.7-litre V8 that spews out 381hp and 544Nm of torque. Mated to a smooth-shifting six-speed automatic, the responsive engine makes light work of munching miles and overtaking chores. Handling should be the last thing on your mind too, and it better be, as the size and weight of the SUV make themselves very evident when cornering even at normal speeds.

The Sequoia’s platform has been specifically designed to ensure excellent stability and ride comfort and to reliably transmit the massive torque of the large engine to the road, and was tuned to meet the road conditions in the Middle East. The front and rear ends make use of independent double wishbone suspension, with higher-grade models like our tester equipped with an Adaptive Variable Suspension and electronically controlled air suspension. All these factors come together to make for a solid and superbly comfortable ride, even while rolling on 20-inch rims; ideal for devouring highways rather than slicing through roundabouts. Curiously enough, I came across a button marked ‘Sport’, but considering the irony of the situation, decided not to play around with it.

Quite obviously, the interior is where it’s and the big Toyota doesn’t disappoint. Staring at the well laid-out dash is like sitting in the front row at the cinema, but a tasteful mix of colours and textures help break it up visually. To meet the key requirement of space for up to eight people, Toyota has endowed the Sequoia with both the longest and widest interior space in its class, providing comfortable and relaxing space for all passengers. Efficient packaging also translates into a versatile interior that can be easily re-configured to meet different passenger and cargo carrying requirements, as well as ample room for passengers in every seat; six-footers would be more than happy to sit at the back and enjoy the powered reclining seats.

Plenty of storage spaces and cubby holes aside, other neat features include a front console that can store and charge a laptop computer, along with a powered tailgate window, which allows easy access to the luggage space without having to open the tailgate – very useful in confined spaces. Another thoughtful, and much-needed feature in such a big vehicle, is the automatic, three-zone climate control system with independent controls for the driver, front passenger and rear seats. We can definitely vouch for the cooling capabilities of the unit, as comfortable temperatures were reached pretty quickly, including for the third-row seats.

And in case you were thinking about size being the sole factor that would protect you from any untoward event, think again. The Sequoia comes loaded with safety equipment, including driver and front passenger airbags, side airbags, and roll-sensing curtain airbags that reach back to the third-row seats. It also has a centre headrest for the third-row seats for added safety. A highly rigid body and a new collision-safe frame to provide excellent impact absorption performance, was rated the best in its class by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) in the US.

Toyota is keeping the less powerful 273hp 4.7-litre V8 and the four-wheel drive variant out of the equation for the moment, offering only the RWD model equipped with the 5.7-litre V8. You do get to choose from three sub-variants though - the SR5, Limited and Platinum, with 8 and 7-seat configurations, and prices ranging from AED 149,000 to AED 215,000. A long list of standard and optional goodies, cavernous room and the powerful motor, along with bullet-proof Toyota quality, make the Sequoia practical and easy to live with, but not if you’re a single guy with just a canine for company. Try and remember less about the frequent bull in a china shop feeling when you drive within city limits, the Sequoia’s intended purpose as a people hauler will see it ferrying large families in comfort around the city as well as across the emirates - something it does exceedingly well.