It has four-wheel drive and room for eight. It can tow two ATVs or carry a share of your Scout unit’s bags on its way to summer camp. Its cabin is nevertheless decked out in leather and entertains back-seat passengers with an audio-video system. I give you the Honda Pilot Touring, a luxurious SUV designed to expand your horizons on a daily basis.
The Honda Pilot is one of those big, modern SUVs created to haul lots of passengers, lots of stuff and lots of ego. It compares to the GMC Acadia or the Toyota Highlander.
An endangered species, you ask? Not so much. In the U.S., when gas prices dropped recently, sales of these vehicles actually increased! Proof that North-American motorists aren’t all clamouring for a Prius or a Volt…
A real brute
For 2009, the Japanese manufacturer decided to update the harmless look of the previous model, which easily went unnoticed. The new Pilot now boasts a temperamental new style designed to leave no one indifferent. You either love it or hate it, but you definitely notice it!
Compared to the first model launched in the summer of 2002, this Pilot appears hulking. Straighter, more vertical lines, a smaller, more fitted window area, very well defined fender flares, a polygon-shaped grille, everything was done to accentuate the squareness of the beast and give it greater presence.
Its dimensions have changed, but not radically. It’s slightly longer, wider and taller than the model it’s replacing. Even its wheelbase is a few centimetres longer, but just a few.
These marginal changes explain the slight weight gain, limited to a few dozen kilos depending in the model. Its liveability, already great before, is virtually unaltered for the same reason.
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| The 2009 Pilot is impressively burly and has greater presence. |
The Honda Pilot is one of those big, modern SUVs created to haul lots of passengers, lots of stuff and lots of ego. It compares to the GMC Acadia or the Toyota Highlander.
An endangered species, you ask? Not so much. In the U.S., when gas prices dropped recently, sales of these vehicles actually increased! Proof that North-American motorists aren’t all clamouring for a Prius or a Volt…
A real brute
For 2009, the Japanese manufacturer decided to update the harmless look of the previous model, which easily went unnoticed. The new Pilot now boasts a temperamental new style designed to leave no one indifferent. You either love it or hate it, but you definitely notice it!
Compared to the first model launched in the summer of 2002, this Pilot appears hulking. Straighter, more vertical lines, a smaller, more fitted window area, very well defined fender flares, a polygon-shaped grille, everything was done to accentuate the squareness of the beast and give it greater presence.
Its dimensions have changed, but not radically. It’s slightly longer, wider and taller than the model it’s replacing. Even its wheelbase is a few centimetres longer, but just a few.
These marginal changes explain the slight weight gain, limited to a few dozen kilos depending in the model. Its liveability, already great before, is virtually unaltered for the same reason.
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| A new feature of the latest Pilot is the tilting steering column that’s now also telescopic. |