2018 Honda Pilot Review
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Edmunds' Expert Review
byPeter Gareffa
Staff Writer
Peter digs deep to help provide shoppers with the information they need to make wise car-buying decisions and keep informed about the auto industry. Pros
- A versatile, roomy interior with spacious rear seats
- Ride is smooth and compliant in most conditions
- Better fuel economy than rivals
- Multiple clever storage compartments
Cons
- Nine-speed automatic transmission lacks refinement
- Collision warning and adaptive cruise control are overly sensitive
- Third-row access is narrow
- Touchscreen interface isn't very intuitive
What's new
- The 2018 Honda Pilot is unchanged
- Part of the third Pilot generation introduced for 2016
The 2018 Honda Pilot SUV has a lot to offer shoppers in the market for a family hauler. It has almost as much interior room as a minivan but provides a lot more capability. Available in front-wheel or all-wheel-drive configurations, the Pilot comes standard with a strong V6 engine that helps it tow up to 5,000 pounds and is built tough enough for some light off-roading. At the same time, its comfortable and feature-packed cabin provides a near-luxury experience for as many as eight passengers. And, unlike some competitors, there's enough room behind the third-row seat for their luggage and other belongings.
Although the Pilot remains a top choice in this class, there are a few minor issues that potential buyers should consider. Some of the active safety features, such as adaptive cruise control, are set up to err on the side of caution, making them seem oversensitive. We're not particularly fond of the way the optional nine-speed transmission shifts either. But despite these quibbles, we highly recommend a test drive in a Honda Pilot if you're looking for a roomy, comfortable, reliable three-row family vehicle.
Notably, we picked the 2018 Honda Pilot as one of Edmunds' Best Midsize SUVs for 2018 and Best Family SUVs for 2018.
What's it like to live with?
With a spacious cabin, exceptional comfort and a tremendously roomy cabin, the Honda Pilot is the quintessential three-row crossover. As soon as we got behind the wheel of this newest model, our editors universally agreed: The Pilot was the best of the bunch. We immediately reached out to Honda and secured a fully loaded Elite model for our long-term test fleet. Over the course of a year and 25,000 miles, we drove our Black Forest green tester to Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oregon. Usually, it performed the commuting duties typical of a family-friendly SUV. To read about our experiences, read our long-term Pilot test. Note that while we tested a 2016 Pilot, all of our observations still apply to the 2018 model.
Edmunds' Expert Rating
8.0 / 10With a strong V6 engine and a roomy, comfortable interior with seating for up to eight, the 2018 Honda Pilot is a leading pick for car shoppers looking at three-row midsize crossover SUVs.
Trim tested
Each vehicle typically comes in multiple versions, although trim levels share many aspects. The ratings in this review are based on our full test of the 2016 Honda Pilot Touring w/Navigation and Rear Entertainment System (3.5L V6 | 9-speed automatic | FWD).
NOTE: Since this test was conducted, the Honda Pilot received some minor revisions, such as the addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility in 2017. Our findings remain broadly applicable to this year's 2018 Honda Pilot, however.
Scorecard
| Overall | 8.0 / 10 |
| Driving | 7.0 |
| Comfort | 8.5 |
| Interior | 8.0 |
| Utility | 9.0 |
| Technology | 8.0 |
Driving
7.0With ample power and respectable handling, the Pilot is among the athletes in the three-row SUV segment. It's a winner on mountain roads, easily gets up to speed, and can manage light towing and slippery surfaces with the optional all-wheel drive.
Comfort
8.5The Pilot is a very comfortable given its above-average ride quality and seat comfort, plus ample space in first and second rows. Ease of use is very high, too, which makes the Pilot a convenient and easy vehicle to live with.
Interior
8.0The Pilot exhibits typical Honda efficiency and build quality. Use of space is very good with lots of storage. Practical features such as the easy-entry third row and flat load floor with the second and third rows lowered make a difference when hauling cargo and people.
Utility
9.0The Pilot is an extremely utilitarian vehicle even though it can't tow as much as large truck-based SUVs, such as the Chevy Suburban. Its large, well-thought-out interior proves extremely useful when you stuff it full of passengers and their gear.
Technology
8.0Though some controls in the Pilot are reasonably intelligent and intuitive, the active safety features err on the side of caution and can be intrusive. Also, the lack of a volume knob is a frustrating omission that you have to deal with on a daily basis.
Which Pilot does Edmunds recommend?
The 2018 Honda Pilot is available in five well-equipped trim levels designed to suit a wide variety of buyers. We recommend the EX-L model for its combination of practicality, comfort and features. Standard equipment on this trim includes a leather-trimmed interior, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, a sunroof, a power tailgate, heated front seats and one-touch sliding second-row seats. It also has the standard six-speed automatic transmission, which we much prefer to the finicky nine-speed gearbox that comes on higher trim levels.
2018 Honda Pilot models
The 2018 Honda Pilot is a three-row crossover SUV that provides a good alternative to a minivan. It is offered in LX, EX, EX-L, Touring and the Elite trim levels. All seat eight people, with the exception of the Elite, which has second-row captain's chairs that reduce capacity to seven.
