Honda Pilot boxy as a brick, practical as a pocket knife
— -- Honda messed around with its Pilot SUV for 2012 and managed not to wreck a very good package. Nor dramatically beautify it.
The car company rearranged some controls, upgraded some trim and generally improved the interior enough that, while it isn't a reason to buy, it's no longer a reason not to.
Honda tweaked the front styling, replacing a grille that looked as if it were an industrial-size heating element with one that's clearly from the Honda family. Again, not a reason to buy, but not a reason to reject.
It bumped up the fuel-economy ratings by one or two miles per gallon, taking the combined city/highway numbers out of the high teens to 20 mpg (all-wheel drive) and 21 (front-wheel drive). But the boost isn't glaringly evident in real-world driving, which yields midteens, just as in most similar vehicles. It's reassuring to have better mileage on the window-sticker, but not a compelling real-life selling point.
But Pilot nonetheless is a champion.
It's the one to look at very, very closely if you're a family-first SUV buyer, not a style maven or lead foot.
It still has room for eight, trumping other guys' seven-passenger layouts.
Easy-as-pie third-row folding operation and second-row tilt/slide maneuver makes some rivals' rigmarole seem just stupid.
Big shelves, bins, storage spaces, cupholders make Pilot, still, about as family-friendly as you can find.
Pilot has a lot less cargo space than the bigger Chevrolet Traverse and Ford Explorer and other full-sizers. If you need to use all three rows of seats and still need a big cargo hold, Pilot might not be for you.
But if your needs are slightly less, then you'll find the Pilot passenger-roomy. And its second row easily slides fore-aft to help tailor the interior to disparate needs of the people and cargo.
Honda says the biggest changes for 2012 are the new front-end styling, the less bargain-basement feel to the interior (though Honda puts it differently), handier controls, audio system upgrades and a more versatile Bluetooth system that does more by voice command.
What Honda didn't do:
•Truly restyle the vehicle. You have to sit a 2012 and a 2011 cheek-by-jowl to note differences. Maybe fine. Pilot stands out because of its honest, brick-like look and doesn't try to be a 21st-century streamliner, as some others do.
• Modernize the safety-belt mounting for the middle slot in the second and third rows. Those belts still hang from the ceiling and are a bother to deploy and stow.
Most automakers mount all belts directly to the seats. The drawback there is that the seats have to be much more robust to secure belts and occupants in a crash, and that makes them heavy. Thus, no more easy-as-pie folding, sliding.
• Make Pilot sporting. The front end, especially on the front-wheel-drive versions, has a heavy, stubborn feel when you're trying to round a fast corner or one that's tighter than you expected. And the brake pedal on two of the three test vehicles felt unpleasantly spongy.
Still, Pilot retains the brand's faint athleticism, an attribute that, for instance, makes the Honda Accord more fun to drive than the Toyota Camry.
•Improve power-window switches. To halt the auto-up/down front windows, you must push or pull the switch the opposite direction. If the window's lowering, you have to lift the switch, for instance. But lift it too much, and the window reverses direction instead of just stopping.
A lot of car companies use switches that stop automatic windows if you tap the switch in either direction. That's much more convenient.
Is Pilot the pick o' the litter among family-size SUVs? Well, it's neither a bargain nor a rip-off, judging by the price standards of the class. It's not exciting, but it's as practical and handy as a minivan (without resembling one).
It gets a little better mpg than it used to, but still nothing that would make you a hero with the green crowd.
Pilot, all things considered, is arguably the best bet, and its ability to address real-word needs will prove endearing over time.
But it seems so cruel that Honda has made "competent" a synonym for "dull."
•What? Freshening of big, four-door, eight-passenger, crosssover SUV. Available with front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-wheel drive (AWD).
•When? On sale since Aug. 31.
•Where? Made at Lincoln, Ala.
•How much? Base LX FWD starts at $29,280 including $810 shipping. Top-end Touring AWD with leather, navigation and rear entertainment system is $41,630.
•What makes it go? 3.5-liter V-6 rated 250 horsepower at 5,700 rpm, 253 pounds-feet of torque at 4,800; five-speed automatic.
•How big? Six inches shorter, about 300 lbs. lighter than Ford Explorer. Pilot is 191.4 inches long, 78.5 in. wide, 71 (base LX) or 72.7 (all others) in. tall on a 109.2-in. wheelbase. Weighs 4,295 to 4,414 lbs.
Passenger space, 153.7 (LX, EX) or 152.7 (EX-L, Touring) cubic feet. Cargo space, 18 cu. ft. behind third row, 47.7 cu. ft. with third row down, 87 cu. ft. with second and third down.
Turns in 37.9 ft. curb-to-curb.
•How thirsty? Rated 18 mpg in city, 25 mpg highway 21 mpg in combined city/highway driving (FWD) or 17/24/20 (AWD).
FWD test vehicle registered 15.4 mpg (6.49 gallons per 100 miles) in mixed city-suburban use, 25.1 mpg (3.98 gal./100 mi.) in mostly highway driving. AWD registered 15.2 mpg (6.58 gal./100 mi.) in mixed city-suburban use. Burns regular, holds 21 gal.
•Overall: Practical as a set of steel shelves, and about as exciting.