AUTO
EVERYTHING
NEW CAR REVIEW
2016 HONDA PILOT
T
Fully redesigned Honda SUV sets new benchmark with more power, fuel efficiency and space
he all-new 2016 Honda Pilot
SUV, with seating up to eight
passengers, joins the Honda CR-V
and all-new HR-V as the flagship in
an expanded lineup of innovative,
benchmark-setting Honda SUVs. It is
the third generation of Honda’s
popular three-row SUV to be
designed, developed and manufac-
tured in America. The new Pilot was
designed and developed by Honda
R&D Americas, Inc., in Los Angeles
and Ohio, and is manufactured
exclusively by Honda Mfg. Alabama, Inc. in
Lincoln, Alabama.
Since its arrival in 2003 as the first three-row,
mainstream SUV to be developed on a car-like
unit-body platform, the Pilot has helped set
industry standards for fuel efficiency, spacious
and thoughtful interior packaging, safety
performance,
and
dynamic
handling
performance in the midsize SUV segment.
American consumers have responded by
purchasing more than 1.4 million Pilots over the
past 12 years. Pilot also ties the CR-V in having
the highest brand loyalty of any Honda model,
with approximately 63 percent of Pilot buyers
returning to purchase another
Honda vehicle.
Reengineered from
the
ground
up,
virtually
every
aspect of the
2016 Pilot has
been thoroughly
redesigned to better accommodate the needs of
all its occupants – the driver and all passengers
– delivering more family-friendly utility, more
advanced technology, and more premium
attributes and amenities than ever before. The
2016 Pilot also ups the ante for premium
refinement with major upgrades to interior
quality and more standard comfort and
convenience features on all trims, along with the
addition of a new, line-topping Elite version that
offers a series of Honda-first features including
20-inch wheels and tires, ventilated front seats,
heated second-row seats, a heated steering
wheel, a first-ever panoramic glass roof and
many other luxury features.
The 2016 Pilot receives a new engine from
Honda’s EarthDreams Technology powertrain
series – a direct-injected 3.5-liter SOHC i-VTEC
V-6 engine with Variable Cylinder Management
(VCM) – along with the available two new
advanced transmissions and a
class-defining all-
new intelligent
variable
torque
6 • EVERYTHING AUTO • FALL 2015
management (i-VTM) AWD system with
Intelligent Traction Management and torque
vectoring capability. Together, these features
make this the most powerful, refined and
capable Pilot Honda has ever offered. These
technologies, combined with a nearly 300-pound
reduction in vehicle weight (on upper trims),
improved aerodynamics and reduced running
resistance, make this the most fuel-efficient
offering in the midsize SUV segment, with EPA
fuel-economy ratings improved by as much as
2/2/2 mpg city/highway/combined over the
previous model.
The new Pilot also moves to the top of the
class in safety performance with the most com-
prehensive suite of Honda Sensing advanced
safety technologies.
BY THE
NUMBERS
Wheelbase: 111 in.
Length: 194.5 in.
Width: 78.6 in.
Height: 69.8 in.
Base Engine: 3.5 liter fV6, 280 hp,
262 lb. ft. torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
EPA Mileage: 19 city, 27 highway