Seating Comfort
None of the superb handling is worth anything if the occupants aren't comfortable. The driver can have the best seat in the house and if the rest of the CUV isn't comfortable, there will be constant trouble on the road. I found that it didn't matter if I was by myself, with my wife or with my kids; the Pilot looked after us all. Second row seating for three or two with a generous centre armrest made you think of being in Executive class on a long plane trip. Leg room is generous, foot space excellent and the seat is comfortable even with three adults.

If you move back to the third row, it is a bit more complicated to get to. Once set up for entry, full sized adults can get in quite easily. Once in place, leg-room and foot space are pretty good. When you get your backside parked in the seat, two are quite comfortable, but a third would make  things crowded.

The 2009 Pilot is available in LX 2WD, LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring trim.

Since the Pilot is mainly a vehicle for families, there are a lot of "family" ideas. There are lots of drink holders and cubby holes where books, crayons and puzzles can be put. The front console has a sliding cover that can latch open at several different positions, depending on what you want to use or keep covered. There are second row controls for the DVD based entertainment system (standard on the touring) and cordless headphones for the third row when watching the 27 cm (nine inch) LCD screen.

Powertrain
Honda uses a revised 3.5 liter V6 in the Pilot. Most of the revisions are electronic. A good example is cylinder deactivation. Three of the six cylinders are "deactivated" when cruising along so that you can improve fuel economy. The amount of time they system spends in this mode has been dramatically increased when compared with the first generation of cylinder deactivation.

There is only one transmission used on the Pilot and that is Honda's versatile five-speed automatic. In addition, Honda's Variable Torque management system (AWD) is standard on all models except the entry level which is front wheel drive only. This combination seems to be able to keep the Pilot churning along after many other AWD systems have bogged down and you have to call a tow truck.

Pilot is available in LX2WD, LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring trim.


Photo Credit : Charles Renny, Honda