Sequoia with twin turbos is a genuine road warrior

This review first appeared in the February 2023 edition of the Cruisin' News, "Oregon, Nevada and California's classic auto news & marketplace."

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Sacramento, California -- I'm rolling eastbound on an Interstate 80 entrance ramp just outside of downtown Sacramento.  My ride is a 2023 Toyota Sequoia, the automaker's big-brute, full-size sport-utility vehicle, 17.3 feet long and topping 6,200 pounds.

On my left, a sedan and an 18-wheeler have just zipped even with me at 70 miles an hour, leaving me only about 200 feet of entrance lane to work with.

So, I'm pinned against the right shoulder with no other option but to back way off and fall in behind the 18-wheeler, right?

Wrong.

That's because I'm in the cockpit of a Sequoia Capstone Hybrid 4WD powered by a twin-turbo V-6 hybrid powertrain rated at 437 horsepower and 583 foot-pounds of torque coming in at 2,400 revolutions per minute. And that changes everything.

Nailing the accelerator, I'm pressed into the seat as the massive SUV is pushed forward by what seems to be an impossibly sudden, strong force.  I easily clear the sedan and 18-wheeler, and I can only imagine the looks on the faces of the drivers in those vehicles.

Wow, that is fun!  And there's a big selling point for the Sequoia Capstone, an SUV that some might consider a dinosaur of the Gas Guzzling Era.

OK, sure, it gets only 19 miles per gallon in the city and 22 on the highway, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the engineering that went into making such a feisty full-size sport-ute.

I'm sure there will come a day when electric car-driving motorists will look back on the Sequoia and its relatives as vehicles that needed to fade into history, what with environmental concerns and volatile gas prices.

For the record, I totally get that.  I truly do understand.

But if this Sequoia is among the last of its species, it is something to behold.

Besides its road-ripping performance characteristics, the tester was a smooth, spacious cruiser with a downright luxurious feel ... and loaded with perks.

The standard list included power running boards (extremely helpful for hopping up into the vehicle), a power tilt/slide panoramic roof, a monster-size touchscreen, three-zone climate control, heated/ventilated front/second-row seats, power folding/sliding third-row seats and a power liftgate.

All of this comes at a price; on the tester, the bottom line was $80,481.

Well, if the Sequoia represents the end of an era, let me just say that it's ending with style.  And heart-racing muscle to boot.

Not a bad way to go.