TORRANCE, California — Toyota on Friday said its 2009 Highlander with a new 187-horsepower four-cylinder engine will start at $26,450, including a $745 destination charge. The Highlander's closest Japanese competitors, the 2009 Honda Pilot and the 2009 Nissan Murano, do not offer a four-cylinder engine in their lineups.In comparison, the base front-wheel-drive 2009 Highlander with a 3.5-liter V6 starts at $28,345, including destination.In addition, Toyota announced six new 'extra value packages' on base, sport and limited grade models of the 2009 Highlander, including the Highlander Hybrid. Toyota spokesman Sam Butto told Inside Line that one such package on the Highlander Hybrid bundles automatic front and rear air-conditioning and a sunroof and is priced at $1,310. 'Normally those three alone would cost $2,010,' Butto said.The extra value packages and the four-cylinder version of the Highlander will arrive in showrooms in January.The 2.7-liter engine is standard on the Highlander grade two-wheel-drive model with two rows. The engine generates 187 hp at 5,800 rpm and 186 pound-feet of torque at 4,100 rpm. The EPA has yet to post official fuel-economy numbers on the 2.7-liter engine, but Toyota says it estimates that the vehicle will return 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 27 mpg on the highway. In comparison, a 2009 Highlander equipped with the 3.5-liter V6 returns 18 mpg in city driving and 24 mpg on the highway, says the EPA.Toyota made the announcement about the Highlander equipped with the four-cylinder when pump prices were spiking. On Friday, the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report said the current national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline stood at $1.77.Inside Line says: Toyota's Highlander four-cylinder is for the budget-minded who know darn well fuel prices are bound to rise before too long. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent