2003 Honda Pilot Review

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Honda plans on selling 80,000 of its new Pilot SUVs during the 2003 model year. Just 80,000. For an utterly competent, vice-less mainstream SUV that’s got a big “H” in its grille and shares bloodlines with the ludicrously successful Odyssey minivan and Acura MDX? Honda could sell 80,000 of these things in a month without distributing them outside Southern California’s Inland Empire. Count on the Pilot being yet another Honda in short supply – only the mothers of Honda dealers will get their Pilots at the sticker price.

Common virtues

The Pilot is built atop Honda’s “Global Light Truck Platform” which also underpins the Odyssey and MDX and it shares its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant with those two vehicles. In fact the only reason that there’s any production capacity at all for the Pilot is that much of the Odyssey production has moved to a new plant in Lincoln, Ala. Honda’s problems, during a worldwide production glut, aren’t the same as most manufacturers.

No surprise, the Pilot’s unibody structure with separate front and rear suspension subframes (MacPherson struts in front, an independent multi-link system in back), transversely-mounted, 240-horsepower 3.5-liter, SOHC, 24-valve VTEC V-6, and five-speed automatic transmission are all familiar from the MDX and Odyssey. Furthermore the Pilot shares it’s “VTM-4” (Variable Torque Management 4WD) four-wheel-drive system with the MDX – a system which operates in front-drive mode unless slippage is electronically detected and clutch packs in the rear engage to throw up to 50 percent of torque back there. At least at first, there will be no two-wheel drive Pilots.

 

While the Pilot appears larger than the MDX, it actually shares its 106.3-inch wheelbase with the Acura and, at 188.0-inches long overall, it’s actually a half-inch shorter overall. But with a longer roof, there is more interior space; the Pilot’s 176.9-cubic feet total interior volume is 15.4 cubes more than the MDX. Beyond that, Honda adds a seat belt for a third person in the third row seat to bounce passenger capacity up from the MDX’s seven to eight (however there’s only an additional half-inch of hip room). Honda thinks the third row seat is best left to small children, though some other primates — lemurs and spider monkeys, maybe — could also be comfortable there. The Pilot also offers significant advantages in cargo capacity over its Acura brother and generally has the Explorer covered in most vital interior measurements too.

That third-row seat sits relatively high too, as Honda has tiered the seating “theater-style” so that all passengers at least get good views. And, as in the Odyssey and MDX, the third seat disappears into its own well to produce a flat load floor.

Bland outside, flexible inside

In a world where so many bland SUVs look alike, the bland Pilot looks an awful lot like a lot of other bland SUVs. Maybe it’s best to think of the Pilot’s looks as suburban camouflage – it’s built to blend in. But it probably will further help resale values as the Pilot’s appearance will be just as timelessly forgettable in five years as it is today.

The inside decoration isn’t quite so yawn-inducing and the layout is practical, flexible and logical. The major instrumentation consists of three chronograph-like dials in front of the driver, while just to their left are ventilation controls for both the front and rear. All the switches, dials and indicators work with precision and tactile satisfaction. Special praise goes to the silver-trimmed steering wheel with integrated audio controls, reading lamps integrated into the passenger grab handles, and the center console’s special bracket for a cell phone and a 12-volt power outlet to feed it. The column-mounted shift lever can get silly at times (it’s easy to pull it down too far), but other than that any criticism is more nitpick than harsh criticism.

Base “LX” Pilots get cloth upholstery while “EX” models have either cloth or leather. The LX driver must manually adjust his seat, while the EXer can make precision power adjustments and his second-row riders get a “kid’s activity tray” with which to play. Honda’s leather has never been particularly supple, but it’s rugged. EX models are also available with either DVD-based satellite navigation or an on-board DVD entertainment system with roof-mounted view screen for rear-seat passengers. But since they both fill the same hole in the dash, you can’t get both. Seat belt laws now mean keeping restrained and antsy kids entertained, so our guess is that most buyers would rather have placid, tameable kids rather than knowledge of exactly where they are.

All the seats are comfortable, well-shaped and accommodating. And built into the front seats are side airbags.

Performs as expected

Though it’s basically the same engine used in the Odyssey and MDX (which are also slightly dissimilar to one another), the Pilot’s 3.5 V-6 has been tweaked so that the power peak is 100 rpm lower than in the Odyssey (5400 vs. 5500 rpm) with a slightly more robust mid-range torque curve. This is a sweet V-6 whose VTEC variable valve timing system works elegantly, and it’s wed to a delectable and poised five-speed automatic. The four-wheel drive system works well and invisibly, but there’s no low range for ultimate muck situations. However the clutch packs can be locked with a button on the dash to deliver the maximum 50-percent of torque to the rear wheels.

The Pilot has a lot of suspension travel for a car-like SUV (7.3 inches in front and 8.2 inches in back) and wears P235/70R-16 all-weather tires and rides quite well. Since it’s a front-driver in most situations, it behaves like a front-driver in most situations; the nose will plow in corners and the cornering limits themselves are modest. The steering feels a bit numb, but isn’t imprecise. This isn’t a Ferrari (or even a Civic) after all, but a substantial family vehicle whose drivers are far more likely to be scaling speed bumps than rock formations and clipping coupons rather than apexes.

What the Pilot ultimately does is pack almost as much utility into an SUV as there is in a minivan. It’s nearly the perfect vehicle for people who need an Odyssey but who wouldn’t be caught dead driving one. With prices starting at $26,900 and cresting around $33,000, there are a lot more than 80,000 of those people every year.

2003 Honda Pilot
Base price: LX $26,900; EX $29,270 (plus destination of $460)
Engine: 3.5-liter SOHC 24-valve 240-hp V-6
Transmission: five-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive
Length x width x height: 188.0 x 77.3 x 70.6 in
Wheelbase: 106.3 in
Curb weight: 4416 lb
EPA City/Hwy: 17/22 mpg
Safety equipment: front and side airbags, headrests and shoulder belts at all seating positions, 5-mph bumpers, child seat anchors
Major standard equipment: AM/FM/CD, adjustable steering column, cruise, A/C, theft-deterrent immobilizer, eight-way electric adjustable driver’s seat (standard on EX), heat-reflecting glass (standard on EX), keyless entry
Warranty: Three years/36,000 miles

 

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Comments (1 total)

  1. honda pilot 2004

    By kim | Posted: 6/9/2008

    what is the max I can pull with this SUV>>> and how long

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