The 2016 Honda Pilot brings together a great mash of features from some of the best crossovers in its class. With standard and unique improvements on the interior and the exterior bringing new lines and accessories building with each trim, there’s little reason not to consider the Honda Pilot if you’re in the market for a large, family-sized CUV.
Pros: luxurious interior with softer materials, active noise cancellation and passenger-friendly accessories.
Cons: some of the best features only come on the higher trims like driver memory settings, heated seats and rear cross traffic alerts.
What’s New for 2016
The interior has been completely updated, removing plastic parts and trading up for softer, noise-cancelling materials. The exterior has also gotten a makeover with softer lines and fewer edges. But, perhaps, the most striking aspect is the attention to detail that Honda brings here: with panoramic sunroofs, more cup holders than seats and updated tech like the touchscreen and Garmin nav system.
Exterior Design and Trims
Rolling on 18-inch alloy wheels (or 20-inch for the Elite) makes the ride a smooth one. Equipped with LED lights, and a chic grille, the 2016 Pilot delivers style without sacrificing interior space. The five trim levels stack bountiful features on top one another. The base model, LX, includes privacy glass, telescoping steering wheel and cruise control as well as a rearview camera, auxiliary audio jack and USB port alongside expected others like privacy glass, seven-speaker sound system and Bluetooth.
The top-end model, Elite, gets a panoramic sunroof, heated steering wheel, blind-spot monitor and HD radio, alongside all the options available on lower trims. However, perhaps the best value is the second trim level, EX, which includes automatic headlines, keyless ignition, an eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat and an eight-inch touchscreen on top of the standard features on the LX.
Interior Design and Features
The interior has been updated to feel more luxurious and spacious, with second-row seats that tilt forward to let other passengers in. It’s the thoughtful touches that the Pilot exceeds in, though, with twice as many cup holders as seats, reversible cargo space for dirty items like muddy shoes or sandy beach towels, touch-button folding seats, head and leg room even in the back seats and tray tables for those long road trips.
Powertrains
The 2016 Honda Pilot has a 3.5-litre V6 that produces 280 horsepower, 30 more than the previous model, and 262 pound-feet of torque. It’s connected to a six-speed automatic transmission.
The fuel economy is better, and with a more tensile structure, higher-quality steel, it handles well and even adds special modes for driving in snow, sand and mud. Although it’s not as sporty (Honda learned its lesson with the boxier models), the control and all-wheel-drive gets better traction with power in the front and back as well as left and right.
Safety
With safety being at the top of everyone’s list, the Honda Pilot meets our expectations. Included features of the Honda Sensing package are cruise control, lane keeping assist, road and lane departure mitigation and forward collision warning on base models. Blind-spot monitors, a multi-rear-view camera, automatic braking are on the upper trims like the Elite and Touring.
All in all, the new detail-oriented interior is worth a look alone, but what should keep this in your options list is the power and handling behind the sleek exterior. The 2016 model is an improvement over its older iterations in every aspect.
Base Model Info & Pricing:
2016 Honda Pilot
Trim level: EX 4WD
Retail price: $41,490
Invoice price: See Now, FREE
Mandatory fees: $1,835
Competitors: 2016 Acura MDX, 2016 Nissan Pathfinder, 2016 Toyota Highlander
