Check out this review from consumerreports.org: Highs: Powertrain, handling, ride, fit and finish, access, seats eight. Lows: Road noise.The Honda Pilot blends the best features of an SUV, wagon, and minivan. You'll find a comfortable ride, responsive handling, quick acceleration, a versatile and well-designed interior, and good fuel economy for a midsized SUV. Curtain air bags, covering all three rows, are standard for 2006.THE DRIVING EXPERIENCEThe Pilot provides a comfortable ride. It's steady and nicely controlled, and absorbs bumps and road ridges with muted kicks. The cabin is quiet except for pronounced road noise on coarse pavement. The Pilot drives much like a good sedan, with little body roll and responsive, well-weighted steering. Its relatively small, 40-foot turning circle makes it easy to maneuver in tight places. It was stable when pushed hard at our track. Maximum speed in our double-lane-change avoidance maneuver was fairly low, but the vehicle felt predictable and secure. The 244-hp, 3.5-liter V6 delivers smooth, powerful performance. Expect 17 mpg on regular gasoline in mixed driving. The responsive five-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly. Maximum towing capacity is 4,500 pounds for boat trailers and 3,500 for other trailers, significantly less than many competing SUVs. The Pilot tackled our off-road course competently, but low ground clearance lets the bottom scrape fairly often. Because it doesn't have low-range gearing, it couldn't climb our rock hill. Braking was good.INSIDE THE CABINThe Pilot's interior is well designed, exhibiting excellent attention to detail. The front seats are well shaped and comfortable, and all our drivers could find a good driving position. The second row easily fits three adults. The cramped third row is best left for children. Front and rear access is easy, but getting into and out of the third seat takes flexibility. Gauges and controls, including the touch-screen DVD navigation system, are easy to see and use. Cabin storage is generous. You'll find seven sturdy cup holders, two each for the front and middle seats and three in the way-back. Cargo space is small with all seats in use, but quite generous when the second and third rows are folded. Both rear rows have split seatbacks for extra versatility. However, getting the safety belts out of the way to fold the seats is a chore.SAFETY NOTESSide air bags housed in the front seatbacks are standard and supplement dual-stage front air bags. Three-row curtain air bags are standard for 2006. Front belts are equipped with adjustable anchors for improved fit, and pretensioning and force limiting devices for improved crash protection. An occupant position detection system (OPDS) in the front passenger seats senses the presence of a child or small adult, and disables the side air bag. The system also disables the side air bag if someone leans sideways into the path of deployment. Rear passengers are protected by three-point belts in all six rear seats. Adults in the rear seats may feel some pull from low-mounted anchors. Separate, but non-adjustable, head restraints on the front seats are tall enough to provide adequate protection from rearward head travel. Adjustable and locking restraints in each of the rear seats are not high enough when fully lowered. Driving with kids: Front-facing child seats should be secure in any of the passenger positions. Rear-facing seats will be tough to tighten securely in the third row outboard positions, as the belts are anchored forward of the seat bight. Rear-facing seats should be secure in the third row center, or second row positions, but may require additional padding for correct recline. There are three tether anchor attachment points on the second row seatbacks and three on the cargo sill for the third row. There are two LATCH anchors in the second row outboard seats.RELIABILITYWe expect reliability to be much better than average, according to our latest subscriber survey.
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17 Oct 2007, 10:42 am
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