Car and Driver: 2009 Honda Pilot Touring 4WD - Long-Term Road Test Update

The boxy Pilot is proving versatile and reliable.
BY JOHN PHILLIPS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY G. RUSSELL AND JORDAN BROWN June 2009

Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 13,000 mi/5 months

Average Fuel Economy/Range: 17 mpg/357 miles

Service: $144

Normal Wear: $0

Repair: $0

A Honda Pilot won a six-SUV comparo last November, in part because it possesses the torsional rigidity of an Arctic icebreaker. No surprise that this long-termer was hugely popular during last winter’s numerous blizzards, ably assisted by the locking function of its VTM-4 all-wheel drive, which can send max torque to the rear wheels at speeds up to 18 mph. Speaking of cool, the Pilot’s 50-button center stack allows the cabin temp to be set as low as 58 degrees. Which means the parka you were wearing when you first climbed in doesn’t have to come off 20 minutes into your commute.

So far, nothing has broken, nor have any rattles made themselves known. The needlessly complex center stack has drawn attention, and this SUV’s perceived bigness—not so much a perception, in fact, given its 4538 pounds—translates into a kind of awkwardness in urban environments, a trait we little noticed in previous one- or two-week-long Pilot samples. Sixty mph arrives in 8.1 seconds. Patience is a virtue.

The Pilot has required only one trip to the dealership, at 8664 miles, for routine service—oil and filter, tire rotation, plus fresh differential fluid. Cost: $143.53.

Our Tony Swan was the first to use the Pilot as a tow vehicle, pulling his Honda S2000 race car to T.C. Kline’s shop in Columbus, Ohio. Race car and trailer together weighed 4600 pounds. “The Pilot does a good job with that kind of load,” Swan reported, “and is happy at speeds up to 75 mph. But there’s little power left over for passing on two-lanes. When we had our long-term Honda Ridgeline, it was the same story, understandable since both are pretty much the same powertrain and weight. I’d put its towing performance nearly on par with the Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Sierra hybrids.”

The Pilot, based on the Acura MDX, is fitted with Honda’s cylinder-deactivation system, able to vary between three, four, and six slugs under differing loads. When the engine switches over, a green light on the dash illuminates. We don’t have any hypermilers on the staff, but the light does have the effect of subtly tempering fuelish driving behavior.

As summer arrives, we expect the Pilot will be reserved for vacations on a steady basis right through the fall. It’s already been reserved for a two-week Montana fishing trip in August—signed out by a driver who makes that trip annually and is notably picky about which all-wheel-drive wheels are most appropriate to the Bitterroot Mountains. Notable is the Pilot’s ability to wade through 19 inches of water.

Source;

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/hot_lists/high_performance/honda_acura_central/2009_honda_pilot_touring_4wd_long_term_road_test_update

Nice 2009 Honda Pilot Review from Saskatoon

With the sales of full size SUVs decreasing, Honda's completely redesigned 2009 eight-passenger Pilot seemed to be entering the market at the wrong time -- that is until I drove it.

With the ride of a passenger car, the passenger room of a van and the fuel economy of a compact car, the Pilot quickly became our ride of choice.

The Pilot was first introduced as a 2003 model and featured a unit body construction. The 2009 Pilot continues this construction in a slightly longer, taller and wider body that has been made stronger with the use of high-strength steel in 52 per cent of the body.

This strong structure shows up in the quiet smooth ride. Dual door seals, added insulation and sound deadening material and Honda's Active Noise Control (ANC) system help with the quiet ride. The ANC system utilizes the audio system to cancel out unwanted engine noise when the V6 engine is operating in Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) mode.

The 3.5-litre V6 engine standard in all Pilot models includes this new VCM mode. The engine can operate on either three, four or all six cylinders dependent on load. The engine computer deactivates the valves and the fuel injectors on the cylinders not being used. Even when I tried to detect the engine switching between three-, four- or six-cylinder operation, I couldn't feel any change. Engine operation was smooth and vibration free.

Power is up slightly this year from this 3.5-litre V6 to 250 horsepower. The numbers seem low for an eight-passenger SUV with a 2,045 kilogram towing capacity and I expect you would have to utilize the gears in the five speed automatic if the Pilot was fully loaded with passengers and a trailer, but with just four passengers it pulled well, passing other vehicles on the highway with no problem.

What really amazed me about this vehicle is the fuel economy I achieved on the highway. The all-wheel-drive model is rated at 9.1 L/100 km and on one trip with the cruise set at 110 km/h and a very slight tail wind, I achieved 7 L/100 km! Combined city and highway driving averaged 11 litres/100 km, which is excellent for a vehicle with this passenger capacity.

The Pilot is available with 2WD or 4WD in the LX model and with 4WD in the EX, EX-L and Touring models. The Touring model is a new addition for 2009 and comes fully equipped with a rear view camera, front and rear parking sensors, heated front and outboard second row seats, power tailgate, 115-volt power outlet, memory driver's seat, Navigation system with voice recognition operation, rear seat DVD entertainment system with surround sound and wireless headphones, a 512-watt 10-speaker audio system and Bluetooth cell phone wireless link. Tilt/telescopic steering, an opening rear hatch window, hill start assist, integrated trailer hitch, trip computer, ABS, traction control and stability control are standard equipment on all Pilot models.

Inside, there is excellent room in the front and second row seats. Access to the third row is quite good and I could climb in and out gracefully. Adjust the second row seats ahead a little and there was adequate knee room for an adult in the third row. These rear seats are comfortable even for longer drives. There is room for a couple large suitcases behind the back seats and both the third and second row seats fold flat for carrying larger loads.

Visibility is excellent in all directions from any seat and parking the Pilot seemed simple even without the help of the front and rear parking sensors and the rear view camera. The vehicle seems much smaller than it is, both from the outside and from the driver's seat.

The most commonly used controls are close at hand, although I did have to reach for some of the dash audio and Navigation controls. These could have been operated with voice commands if desired.

The only complaint I have is with the numerous controls and buttons on the centre instrument panel.

There are so many buttons that it took time to find the correct ones. I would imagine this would improve with more time in the vehicle, but it still seems overly complex.

Honda has done an excellent job with the new Pilot. More power, more room, more features and all with less fuel consumption, too.

Source;
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/driving/story.html?id=0f6fa407-3b94-4204-b714-a5eea7d88cba

2009 Honda Pilot EX-L Review

Found a nice article on the new 2009 Honda Pilot EX-L, so, here it is;

By William C Montgomery
August 4, 2008

Growing up, I thought the Porsche 911 was hideous. Its bug eyes and lumpy lines made me wonder if the designer had accidentally knocked modeling clay off his drafting table and submitted the splatter. This notion persisted until I drove one. Some 130 mph later, I considered the 911 the most beautiful automotive form on earth. Driving the all-new 2009 Honda Pilot EX-L kinda sorta triggered the same type of perceptual realignment. Call it Zen and the art of "challenging" design.

That's not to say I hated the new Pilot's looks at first glance. The effete minivan-ish look of the first generation CUV needed beefing-up more than an anorexic body-builder. So I was ready for something radical. And boy, did I get it. The new Pilot's grill "features" a thick chrome double-D rotated 90-degrees to the right; an affectation that's more Tranformers than transformative. The Pilot's rear end demonstrates the classic SUV refrigerator-on-wheels look, easily confused with the new Liberty (sans trapezoidal wheel wells). Taken as a whole, the new Pilot is like the big-boned girl that people can't decide whether she's an ugly duckling or the next "it" girl (I'm looking at you Scarlet Johansson).

The Pilot might not have turned out exactly as Honda's chief designer Dave Marek intended, but the look certainly projects greater solidity and presence than it's predecessor. Stylistically, the new Pilot harks back to a simpler time, when real men (and their wives) drove SUVs [kidding-ish]. If you think that the new Toyota Highlander looks like a contemporary example of Japanese design running awry of American taste, and that futuristic CUV's such as the Ford Edge and Mazda CX-9 look more at home on the cover of a Journey album than rolling around U.S. highways, they you'll find Pilot's masculine simplicity a step in the right direction. If not, not.

The Pilot's inner confines are free from the pseudo-luxury pretenses that afflict nearly every other car on the road. Aside from the cowhide pulled tight over seats and steering wheel, all surfaces are fashioned from easy-to-clean durable plastic. These are not brittle poor-quality polymers masquerading as chrome or wood, but proud durable materials that know that their primary role is to serve families with messy kids.

The Pilot's front seats are comfortable and supportive enough for non-track trekking. The second and third rows are little more than padded benches that fold flat. Kids are cool, but the Geneva Convention specifically prohibits adults from extended tours of duty. Parents that don't pony-up for the Touring Edition with satellite navigation still avoid smushed tikes and trikes via the Pilot's rearview backup camera, with a display conveniently located in the rear view mirror.

The '09 Pilot's handling dynamics now boast contemporary car-like excellence. Soccer moms and suburban dads can now schlep kids to school, fetch groceries and commute to work without wrestling with the tiller. The base Pilot's tendency to torque steer, introduced when Honda deleted all wheel-drive (in pursuit of mpg), hasn't been eliminated. But drivers are now unlikely to push the engine above 4800 rpm, where the twist wreaked havoc with the FWD model's steering. By 5500 rpm, the power steering boosts to counteract the torque, and all steering feedback blacks out.

As you'd expect, Honda told their engineers to preserve the Pilot's performance while squeezing more fuel economy from the package. The '09 Pilot is powered by a new 3.5-Liter 24-Valve SOHC i-VTEC V-6 engine that's good for an adequate (i.e. faint praise) 250hp and 253 lb-ft torque. The minor power increase offsets the new truck's extra 84 lbs. (about two percent more), keeping the horsepower-to-weight ratio nearly identical to the outgoing model. In real world driving, anyone familiar with the old Pilots won't discern any difference.

The powerplant features Honda's improved Variable Cylinder Management system (previously only available on the FWD Pilots). While the resulting 17/22 mpg might make Civic drivers cringe, according to the fine folks at the EPA the system delivers up to seven percent better fuel economy in town and 10 percent on the highway. At the least the bump removes a psychological barrier for re-upping Pilots.

The Honda Pilot may not have hardcore towing or off-road ‘wheeling machine skills, but it can do both in a limited capacity. It's best to simply think of the Pilot as a slightly larger eight-passenger version of Honda's excellent CR-V. Rock solid. Safe. Unpretentious. Practical. Reliable. Zen for families that appreciate the finer points of basic transportation.

Source;
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009-honda-pilot-ex-l-review-take-2/