In August 2015, my friend Marc sent me a query:
“We are in the market and think the new Pilot is the way to go. How does it compare to your other top scorers from prior competitions like the Durango and Highlander? Any reason we should choose something else? Thanks!”
I wrote back, “Pilot is great. Durango is fun, too, just older. Just got out of the long-awaited new Volvo XC90, and it’s pretty stunning. Beautiful inside, but I only drove it 5 miles. All-new engines.”
We went back and forth through the options, as you do in these choice-spoiled days, before Marc posited, “If I said we plan on driving the crap out of it, past warranty for many years, would that make the choice clearer?”
I could tell Marc was already leaning toward the Pilot, so I told him, “You’ve chosen wisely; it’s a 10-year car for sure,” and then headed out into the desert for our 2016 SUV of the Year program, which included the Honda but would ultimately crown the Volvo XC90 as the winner. Meanwhile, Marc went on a hard target search, and just a couple of weeks later sent a final query: “Picking up our Pilot Elite on Monday. After all of your recent testing, are we still making the right call?”
In retrospect, it looks damning that I failed to answer his last question, but I assure you it was not on purpose. And what did I know of what was to come anyway? Time and miles would have to be the judge.
We certainly put on enough of the latter in the 15 months we tested the 2016 Pilot Elite. For the purposes of this review, we ended its official evaluation at 38,523 miles, but we kept it in service a few more months and added more than 5,000 additional miles. Over that distance, our Pilot averaged 21.7 mpg, just shy of its EPA-estimated rating of 22 mpg combined.
In between stints as the official surfboard transporter of Motor Trend’s editor-in-chief, our Pilot supported countless photo and video shoots up and down the West Coast during the workweek. We also took it on just as many weekend trips to the desert, mountains, sand, and snow. The interior took a beating from all of the people and gear it hauled on these trips, but it always cleaned up surprisingly well, aside from the expected jean dye transfer to the driver’s seat cushion. In the time it took for that seat to blue, we got used to the transmission’s push-button gear selector—but never fully got over the absence of tuning knobs and Apple CarPlay (added for 2017) in the Pilot’s infotainment system.
Our Pilot suffered no major mechanical defects, save for the well-documented replacement of the nine-speed transmission at 21,428 miles. To be clear, this ZF transmission, an upgrade option over the six-speed automatic, was replaced under warranty as a preventative measure after we heard noisy clicks and whirrs during upshifts.
The replacement served us well through another 20,000-plus miles, but we’re still not fans. It’s great for cruising on the highway, but the nine-speed lacks smoothness for stop-and-go in-town driving. It can be especially maddening in driving conditions when the throttle needs constant modulation, with jerkiness and hesitation between upshifts and downshifts. Staffers would also often hear a soft but extremely high-pitched whirring, ostensibly from the transmission, during throttle application but could never pin down the cause. Was it related to temperature? Engine load? Road incline? We still don’t know.
Routine maintenance costs for our Pilot were $378.62, which is on par with the last three-row SUV in our garage, a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander SEL AWD. Over the course of its 26,871 miles, we spent $341.96 on the Outlander for similar maintenance but one less oil change than the Pilot. This jibes with the service history of the Pilot’s little brother, our 2015 Honda CR-V AWD. It received three oil changes, a tire rotation, and rear differential service for $349.50.
If you live where it snows and need an unstoppable winter beast, you’d be wise to consider the Pilot. On one of the Honda’s last major road trips, visual assets manager Brian Vance took a crew of five friends and all of their gear on a weekend ski trip to Mammoth Mountain into what he says was one of the wildest winter storms he has ever seen (this from a guy with years of experience in the Eastern Sierras).
“It was the most snow I had seen anywhere, ever, with 20-foot snow drifts along the snow-covered roads in some places,” he said. “All over town, cars were stuck, making it difficult for those of us with traction to go forward. The morning we were set to leave, another storm was set to roll in. Out of fear and uncertainty, my friends begged me to turn back and rent another night at the Airbnb, but I knew that the combination of AWD and clearance would give us an advantage on the quickly deteriorating roads. I insisted we head south and off the mountain, knowing that the sooner we could get to lower elevations, the more likely the road conditions would improve. We carried on, and the Pilot’s abilities amazed me. I never had to install chains yet never once got stuck, not even close. The tires were nothing more than the stock all-season rubber (Continental CrossContact LX Sport) that came with the car.”
Although clearly smitten by its ability to tackle snowy conditions, Vance did take issue with the performance of the Pilot’s windshield wipers. “Every 20 minutes I’d have to pull over and knock the ice buildup off the blades that was preventing them from working correctly,” he said.
For this final check-in, I messaged Marc to see how he felt about his Pilot Elite/Touring’s performance after his 20 months and 23,995 miles of ownership. Did I mislead him and his family?
“That transmission software is still terrible for local in-town driving—incredibly unpredictable,” Marc said. “On the highway, it’s a dream. We’ve done about 10,000 miles in just road trips, and the Pilot has been fantastic for those. I would buy a Pilot again but skip the Elite and load up an EX-L so I had most of the luxury features but with the plain Jane six-speed. I don’t feel misled at all—we are keeping ours until something truly compelling comes along.”
Sounds about right.
More on our long-term 2016 Honda Pilot here:
- Arrival
- Update 1: How the SUV of the Year Finalist is Faring So Far
- Update 2: Hard Work and Long Hours
- Update 3: Handling Major Transmission Issues
- Update 4: Unresolved Transmission Issues
- Update 5: Active Safety Tech and Getting the Details Right
| Our Car | |
| SERVICE LIFE | 15 mo/38,523 mi |
| BASE PRICE | $47,300 |
| OPTIONS | None |
| PRICE AS TESTED | $47,300 |
| AVG ECON/CO2 | 21.7 mpg / 0.89 lb/mi |
| PROBLEM AREAS | Transmission replaced under warranty |
| MAINTENANCE COST | $378.62 (4 oil changes, rear differential fluid change, cabin filters, tire mount/balance) |
| NORMAL-WEAR COST | $1,330 (tires) |
| 3-YEAR RESIDUAL VALUE* | $27,300 / $29,800 |
| RECALLS | 3: Software reflash (instrument panel warning lights); Third-row seatbelts; Improper fuel-tank welds (replaced tank) |
| *Intelligence trade-in/retail (at 42,000 miles) | |
| 2016 Honda Pilot Elite | |
| POWERTRAIN/CHASSIS | |
| DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT | Front-engine, AWD |
| ENGINE TYPE | V-6, alum block heads |
| VALVETRAIN | SOHC, 4 valves/cyl |
| DISPLACEMENT | 211.8 cu in/3471 cc |
| COMPRESSION RATIO | 11.5:1 |
| POWER (SAE NET) | 280 hp @ 6,000 rpm |
| TORQUE (SAE NET) | 262 lb-ft @ 4,700 rpm |
| REDLINE | 6,750 rpm |
| WEIGHT TO POWER | 15.3 lb/hp |
| TRANSMISSION | 9-speed automatic |
| AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIO | 4.33:1/2.08:1 |
| SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR | Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar |
| STEERING RATIO | 16.0:1 |
| TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK | 3.1 |
| BRAKES, F; R | 12.6-in vented disc; 13.0-in disc, ABS |
| WHEELS, F;R | 9.5 x 20-in, cast aluminum |
| TIRES, F;R | 245/50R20 102H M+S Continental CrossContact LX Sport |
| DIMENSIONS | |
| WHEELBASE | 111.0 |
| TRACK, F/R | 66.3/66.3 in |
| LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT | 194.5 x 78.6 x 70.4 in |
| GROUND CLEARANCE | 7.3 in |
| APPRCH/DEPART ANGLE | 18/19.7 deg |
| TURNING CIRCLE | 39.4 ft |
| CURB WEIGHT | 4,290 lb |
| WEIGHT DIST, F/R | 56/44 % |
| TOWING CAPACITY | 4,280 lb |
| SEATING CAPACITY | 7 |
| HEADROOM, F/R | 39.5/40.9/38.9 in |
| LEGROOM, F/R | 40.9/38.4/31.9 in |
| SHOULDER ROOM, F/R | 62.0/62.0/57.6 in |
| CARGO VOLUME BEH F/R | 82.1/46.0/16.0 cu ft |
| TEST DATA | |
| ACCELERATION TO MPH | |
| 0-30 | 2.2 sec |
| 0-40 | 3.2 |
| 0-50 | 4.6 |
| 0-60 | 6.2 |
| 0-70 | 8.3 |
| 0-80 | 10.7 |
| PASSING, 45-65 MPH | 13.5 |
| QUARTER MILE | 14.8 sec @ 93.9 mph |
| BRAKING, 60-0 MPH | 119 ft |
| LATERAL ACCELERATION | 0.80 g (avg) |
| MT FIGURE EIGHT | 27.5 sec @ 0.63 g (avg) |
| TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH | 1,750 rpm |
| CONSUMER INFO | |
| STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL | Yes/Yes |
| AIRBAGS | Dual front, fr side, f/m/r curtain |
| BASIC WARRANTY | 3 yrs/36,000 miles |
| POWERTRAIN WARRANTY | 5 yrs/60,000 miles |
| ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE | 5 yrs/60,000 miles |
| FUEL CAPACITY | 19.5 gal |
| REAL MPG, CITY/HWY/COMB | 18.7/26.5/19.8 mpg |
| EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON | 19/26/22 mpg |
| ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY | 177/130 kW-hrs/100 miles |
| CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB | 0.90 lb/mile |
| RECOMMENDED FUEL | Unleaded regular |
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