Honda has taken the wraps off the 4th gen Pilot—billed as the largest and most powerful Honda SUV ever. The 2023 Honda Pilot trim lineup includes the Pilot TrailSport—billed as the most rugged Honda SUV ever. Pricing and availability info are not available just yet, but in the meantime, let’s take a brief look at what’s on offer.
Speaking of which, what we are seeing in the photos above is the Pilot TrailSport—which slots right in the middle of the trim lineup—which includes the Sport, EX-L, Touring and Elite. As for the styling, the 4th gen Pilot sports rather bland looks compared with the 3rd gen model; it now looks more boxy as opposed to the curvacious looks of the previous gen model. The TrailSport trim compensates all that with an exclusive Diffused Sky Blue body paint—complemented with black elements throughout—including the 18-inch wheels wrapped with Continental TerrainContact AT (265/60 R18) tires.
The range-topping Elite trim wears some chrome garnishes and rides on 20-inch machine-finished alloy wheels. Still not convinced? Well, perhaps you might find the Acura MDX more interesting. But overall, the new Honda Pilot gives off Ford vibes, especially from the three-quarter angles.
For those interested to know the dimensions, the new Pilot measures 199.9-inches long (5,077 mm), 78.5-inches wide (1,994 mm) and 71.0-inches tall (1,803 mm), with a wheelbase of 113.8-inches (2,890 mm). The length and height vary marginally depending on the trim, but you get the idea.
The fresh cabin features a 9-inch central touchscreen (7-inch for Sport); a 10.2-inch driver display (Elite only; 7-inch for lesser trims); wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto connectivity; two standard illuminated USB ports at the front (a 2.5A USB-A and 3.0A USB-C port); two 2.5A USB-A charging ports for the second-row passengers, and new front Body Stabilizing seats that are claimed to help reduce fatigue on long drives. The TrailSport gets a sliding panoramic sunroof as standard.
You get 8 airbags as standard across the lineup, and so is the updated Honda Sensing suite of active safety and driver-assistive technologies. The latter comes with a new wide-view camera and radar.
Powering the 2023 Honda Pilot is a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V6 petrol engine which Honda claims to be “all-new”. But what’s different is the DOHC as opposed to SOHC i-VTEC of the old 3.5L V6. The output figures this time around are 212.5 kW (285 bhp/289 metric hp) and 355 Nm (262 lb-ft) of torque. While the torque remains the same, there’s only a tiny increase in horsepower. The engine is coupled with a 10-speed automatic gearbox. The TrailSport trim gets a new trail torque logic off-road system and a new TrailWatch camera system; the former is nothing new, here is how it works:
- One side of the rear axle loses ground contact
- Trail torque logic control detects the condition
- Rear axle torque increased
- Drive force transfers to the wheel with the most traction
- Low traction wheel maintains torque potential to allow the immediate transfer of drive force once ground contact is made
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