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2021 Toyota Highlander to debut updated Safety Sense package, report says

Toyota Safety Sense 2.5 got a mention in a document reportedly sent to Toyota fleet customers.

Sean Szymkowski
It all started with Gran Turismo. From those early PlayStation days, Sean was drawn to anything with four wheels. Prior to joining the Roadshow team, he was a freelance contributor for Motor Authority, The Car Connection and Green Car Reports. As for what's in the garage, Sean owns a 2016 Chevrolet SS, and yes, it has Holden badges.
Sean Szymkowski
2 min read
2021 Toyota Highlander XSE
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2021 Toyota Highlander XSE

The 2021 Highlander XSE also gets a more aggressive look.

Steven Pham/Roadshow

Toyota 's Safety Sense package is in for some new gear, according to a document sent to fleet customers, and we'll likely first see the updates on the 2021 Highlander SUV.

CarsDirect reported Thursday on a bulletin sent to fleet customers that made a mention of "Toyota Safety Sense 2.5." The package has long included a number of driver-assist and active safety features for drivers. The update will apparently add enhancements to the precollision system to support left turns at an intersection. Additionally, the adaptive cruise control system will reportedly add something called "Curve Speed Management" and the lane-keep assist feature will grow smarter to read lines better. Finally, a new feature dubbed "Risk Avoidance Emergency Steering" will be onboard.

Toyota declined to comment on the document and the features named.

Toyota's sexed-up Highlander XSE debuts at the Chicago Auto Show

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Some of the new features could coincide with updates pushed to the Safety System Plus, which debuted with the 2021 Lexus IS last week. We won't know, however, until Toyota makes any changes official.

What does seem rather odd is the fact Toyota apparently won't roll all of the new features out to every new 2021 model. The report points out that while the 2021 Highlander and Highlander Hybrid will obtain the extra driver-assist and active safety tech, the 2021 Venza won't, the document says. Other 2021 models like the RAV4 Prime will stick with Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 as well.

In any case, it sounds like Toyota's latest updates will at least start to trickle into new vehicles, slowly but surely.

Watch this: What's good about the 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid?