It’s easy to enjoy the Honda Pilot’s company
Touring eight-seater carries out tasks in a most agreeable manner
Honda is great at creating vehicles that do pretty much everything right.
It can be likened to a boyfriend/girlfriend who is pleasant in every way. They’re kind, well mannered, not pushy, modest in appearance and someone you feel confident bringing home to the family.
Just like the 2014 Honda Pilot Touring. Though a carryover from 2013, it manages to hit the right notes while executing the tasks at hand.
It seats eight, has leather trimmed surfaces and an agreeable driving demeanour. Regardless of trim, every Pilot comes with the same 3.5L, i-VTEC V-6 engine that generates 250 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque, which is then linked to a five-speed automatic transmission.
No, it’s not an overwhelming amount of power — and the transmission/engine pairing is due for an update — but it can get you and your passengers where you need to go without fuss.
Furthermore, there’s a 2,045-kg towing capacity, in case you need to haul along a few extra items. And the Touring model comes wired for trailer connection (the other trims are only prewired.)
When getting everyone inside, accessibility to the thirdrow seats doesn’t require a lot of elbow grease. But if you’re vertically inclined, you might not want to draw the short straw here. The third row has three seats and is unforgiving when it comes to legroom.
For the most part, I drove with the third row folded flat. Therefore, I had 1,351 litres of cargo room to fill with boxes, groceries and miscellaneous items. When the third row seats are up, you’re limited to 589L, which is still decent.
While I wouldn’t call the Pilot an inspiring car to drive — it is utilitarian in both shape and size — I did find myself enjoying its company.
Thanks to Active Noise Cancellation technology, being in the driver’s seat allowed me to find some serenity in the urban jungle, though the centre stack — with all of its buttons — did take my Zen away sporadically.
Up front, you have a MacPherson strut suspension, and around back, a multilink suspension with trailing arms. Translation: a smooth ride that gives a little bit of wiggle room in case you find yourself putting the Variable Torque Management fourwheel-drive system to use off-road. The Touring trim comes packed with plenty of features that make life behind the wheel comfortable.
Inside, there’s a 650-Watt AM/FM/CD/MP3/WMA/ Hard Disk Drive (HDD) 15GB Memory Premium Audio System with 10 speakers, including a subwoofer and a 5.1 surround sound theatre mode, and the Honda DVD rear entertainment system with a nine-inch display, integrated remote control, and headsets with personal surround sound.
Also included are fog lights, one-touch power moonroof with tilt feature, power tailgate, flip-up tailgate glass, Honda-Satellite-Linked Navigation System, and illuminated steering wheel-mounted controls, HandsFreeLink Bluetooth wireless telephone interface, and a rear multiview camera.
The Dark Amber Metallic Pilot with a beige interior and the Touring designation has an MSRP of $48,590. The entry-level Pilot LX 2WD has an MSRP of $34,990.