CAR and Driver - March 2017

haulers, and its 0.81-g skidpad performance
improved to 0.84 g on worn tires, giving it
an edge over many competitors in shop-
ping-cart-avoidance maneuvers.
Its interior is certainly an attractive
place to pass the miles. It’s inventive,
appealing, and loaded with storage bins,
cubbies, depressions, and the like. It literally
has storage on top of storage. There’s the
usual map pocket along the bottom of the
front doors, with a second tier of receptacles
above that, and then the door pull on top,
which doubles as a shallow storage cubby.
And the console between the front seats
could swallow a full-grown Lhasa apso with
room for a chew toy or two. Visibility all
around is excellent. Riding in back and then
switching to the driver’s seat made us jeal-
ous of the enormous sunroof enjoyed by
back-seat passengers, though the entertain-
ment screen that flips down from the ceiling
is so small that it might be contributing to
the myopia outbreak in today’s children.
The second-row captain’s chairs fold
and slide forward at the touch of a button,
offering wide passage to the distant rear
seats. Unlike some systems that power
the seat forward slowly, the Pilot’s have an
electronic actuator, and they slide forward
with a satisfying, spring-loaded mechanical
quickness. One staffer called them “a game
changer.” In back, we found so much space
that even our lankiest lunks had sufficient
headroom. The trade-off is that if all seven
seats are occupied, there’s barely space for

each passenger to pack a lunchbox between the third-row seat-

backs and the power rear hatch. Now that the Pilot looks ever more

like the Odyssey, the storage sting feels especially sharp. The Odys-

sey allots an extra 20 cubic feet each to people and stuff.

Our Pilot did its part to continue Honda’s reputation for trouble-

free ownership. It required zero unscheduled service visits, and the

total for four visits at 10,000 -mile intervals squeezed in at less than

$600. However, we also did our part to continue our reputation by

twice backing the big Honda into things. The first time, a pipe in a

parking garage skewered the left-rear quarter panel. The subse-

December 15, 2015

150 miles: Honda Pilot

arrives at C/D head­

quarters

January 8, 2016

2327 miles: Bridgestone

Blizzak DM­V2 winter

tires installed

March 17, 2016

9592 miles: First

service: oil change, $46

April 13, 2016

10,434 miles: All­

season tires remounted

June 20, 2016

21,480 miles: Fix

damage from scraping

against a pipe in a

parking garage. Repair

and refinish left­rear

quarter panel, replace

left­rear wheel­well trim,

repair roof­rack rail and

bumper cover, $986

June 21, 2016

21,594 miles: Second

service, including oil

Service Timeline:
Easy livin’.
Key: ­ Repairs ­ Damage ­ Maintenance
­ Normal Wear ­ Oil Additions

DEC/15 JAN/16 FEB/16 MAR/16 APR/16 MAY/16 JUN/16 JUL/16

Rants & Raves

The one­touch

sliding second­row

seats are a game

changer for parents of

small children.

—Dave VanderWerp

The primary controls

were clearly secondary

concerns. The brake

pedal is too soft,

and the throttle is too

touchy at tip­in.

—Eric Tingwall

76. LONG-TERM TEST. CAR AND DRIVER. MAR/2017