Introduction
The Honda Pilot can handle four adults and four kids easily. It has useful cargo space beyond the third-row seats so you needn't fold any seats down to fit a week's worth of groceries. And with six cupholders in the second row alone, eight door cargo pockets and the ability to carry a 4x8-foot sheet of building material flat inside, finding a place for everything isn't an issue.
 
The Pilot lineup also includes models suitable for hard-core outdoor adventurers. Most models are sold with all-wheel drive for better acceleration and climbing in snow.
 
The Pilot is a midsize crossover SUV. As with other so-called crossover SUVs, it uses carlike unit-body construction and suspension for better fuel economy and handling.
 
The front seats deliver good support for long-term comfort and bolsters on the seatbacks provide lateral support without imposing thigh cushions you'd have to climb over for every entry or exit. The second-row seats are as roomy as the front and the third row is relatively easy to access. The Pilot is easy to figure out and operate and every works as expected.
 
Underway, we found the Pilot a well balanced vehicle with nice road manners, with sufficient power and brakes, decent ride quality and handling. Pilot 4WD models have the ability to leave the pavement or tackle pre-plowed snow. The V6 offers comparable performance for the class.
 
Pilot is efficient among eight-seat crossovers. Fuel economy for a Pilot 4WD is a government-rated 16/22 mpg City/Highway.
 
For 2011, Pilot EX-L offers satellite-linked navigation; and Pilot Touring comes standard with a DVD entertainment system. Pilot was redesigned for the 2009 model year.

Lineup
The 2011 Honda Pilot comes in four variants with few options. Each model is offered with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (4WD). All mechanical and safety components and systems are identical across the range. Navigation and a rear-seat DVD entertainment system are available only on the top two trims.
 
Pilot LX ($28,045) comes with cloth upholstery, front and rear climate control, intermittent rear wiper/washer, power windows/locks/mirrors, tow hitch, tinted rear windows, automatic headlamps, cruise control, center console, visor extensions and illuminated mirrors, tilt/telescoping steering column, four front seatback pockets, six reading lights, reconfigurable cargo area, 60/40 split-folding second and third row seats, AM/FM/CD/MP3 seven-speaker audio with auxiliary input jack, flip-up hatch glass, steel wheels. Pilot LX 4WD ($29,645) adds the Real Time 4WD system.
 
Pilot EX ($30,895) upgrades with three-zone climate control, alloy wheels, security system, heated body-color mirrors, roof rails, fog lights, chrome exhaust tips, HomeLink, 10-way power driver seat, XM radio, 6-disc CD changer, steering-wheel audio controls, and exterior temperature indicator. Pilot EX 4WD ($32,495) includes the all-wheel drive system.
 
Pilot EX-L ($33,995) upgrades with leather upholstery and wrap for steering wheel and shifter, heated front seats, four-way power passenger seat, moonroof, conversation mirror, a noise-reducing laminated windshield, and an auto-dimming inside mirror with rearview camera display. EX-L 4WD ($35,595) adds Real Time 4WD. Navigation is optional ($2000), and includes Bluetooth with steering-wheel controls and a USB port. A rear-seat DVD system with 115-volt AC outlet ($1600) is available, also. With either, the stereo upgrades to a 512-watt, 10-speaker system.
 
The Pilot Touring ($38,795) adds a power tailgate, driver memory system, chrome side trim, signals in outside mirrors, trailer wiring harness, parking sensors front and rear, voice-recognition navigation with rear camera/Bluetooth/interface jog-dial control, second-row window shades, 512-watt 10-speaker audio system and USB port, time/speed functions added to the trip computer, and the rear-seat entertainment system. AWD is available ($40,395).
 
Safety equipment on all Pilots includes front and front side airbags, three-row side-curtain airbags, Vehicle Stability Assist (electronic stability control), four child-seat LATCH positions, active front head rests, and eight adjustable headrests and shoulder belts.

Walkaround
Honda Pilot's styling was inspired by an ultra-rugged laptop computer. It's clean, with flat, plain body panels and a boxy shape that serves usefulness as well as it caters to a tough, utilitarian image. Surfaces that aren't sloped inward at the roof pay dividends in head space and big-box cargo loading.
 
With substantial chrome trim and eyebrows in the headlight housings, fog lights mounted relatively high in the bumper, and a hatch that tapers more to the sides than forward at the top, the Pilot looks wider it is. Viewed from dead astern the mid-size Pilot appears as bulky as the full-size Toyota Sequoia.
 
Panel crimps define the wheel openings, aiding the rugged look without adding width or bolt-on parts that might promote rust. The third-row side window are separated by a thick chunk of sheetmetal, to no apparent detriment in driver vision or third-row comfort. The rear wiper parks off the hatch glass, allowing it to open separately. The hatch has a hefty pull handle with touch-point releases and is powered on the Touring model, and the bumper has a good cover so sloppy loading won't mar the paint.
 
All Pilots come with a Class III tow hitch and coolers required for towing; only a wiring pigtail will be needed from the dealer. The top tow rating is 4500 pounds on 4WD and 3500 pounds on front-drive models. Roof rails are standard on higher trims and you'll probably be using the back bumper and door sills without a step stool or small ladder to load items six feet up.
 
In its most basic form the Pilot is derived from the same platform as the Acura MDX big crossover, yet the two do not share an engine, many features, or end-user purpose and philosophy. As a result, they differ dramatically in use.

Driving Impression
On the road, the Honda Pilot feels balanced, with sufficient power and brakes, decent ride quality and handling, and on 4WD models the ability to leave the pavement or tackle pre-plowed snow. Most owners won't go as far as a Pilot will go, but the rugged looks match vehicles that will go farther on a bad trail, so travel is best kept to scenic byways and mountain motorways.
 
The 3.5-liter V6 takes on a characteristic Honda growl when you push it and you'll need to be towing or accelerating uphill on an on-ramp to require such grunt. For the most part the engine is in the background, never silenced, never rough and never annoying. It uses Honda's Variable Cylinder Management to switch off two or three of its six cylinders to save fuel; the ECO light on the dash shows when you are getting best economy and does not necessarily mean the Pilot is running on only three or four cylinders. Like the all-wheel drive system, the VCM is transparent to the driver and requires no action on his or her part, and apart from some front-tire spin under heavy acceleration from rest the front-drive model drives just like the all-wheel drive.
 
Among the host of three-row crossovers in the 3.5-liter to 3.8-liter V6 class, there isn't a wide range between the slowest and fastest and the Honda feels right in the middle. Where the others may enjoy a slight advantage is with six speeds in the transmission, and/or the ability to address each of them separately or in a Sport mode for quicker response. The Pilot shifter offers an OD Off switch which locks out the top two gears, so if you want fourth to control speed on long hill descents or winding roads you're out of luck. Toyota's Highlander and Mazda's CX-9 come to mind as better in these respects, and to a lesser extent, GM's Acadia/Enclave family.
 
Since the Pilot is among the lightest of the eight-seat crossovers the suspension can be tuned for ride comfort without requiring undue stiffness for control. It swallows up most road surfaces with aplomb and never bottomed out on dirt road whoop-de-doos when driven sensibly but briskly. No single noise source stands out and normal conversations are quite possible at highway speeds. The stability assist is one of the lesser intrusive such algorithms and if it comes into play you probably won't notice as you'll be busy wondering how you got into a bad situation.
 
Relative to some other recent crossover designs, the Pilot seems to ride a bit softer than the GMC Acadia and its GM siblings and has less body roll than the Highlander, though the Acadia may enjoy a slight advantage in steering feel. The most sporting drive in the segment is Mazda's CX-9 though we wouldn't venture as far from the beaten path in that as we would in a Pilot, and the Pilot is more maneuverable than any of them.
 
Brakes perform as well as they should be expected and all electronic braking aids are standard. If you see something bad about to happen, just stand on the pedal as hard as you can and keep steering; you might just drive around it.
 
The 4WD models use all-wheel drive: They work full time and offer no low-range gearing. The 4WD models deduct 1 mpg from EPA ratings.

Summary
The Honda Pilot offers plenty of cargo and people versatility in an efficient package, with towing capacity for light loads and the available confidence of all-wheel drive.
 
NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent G.R. Whale filed this report after his test drive of the Pilot around Riverside.