2025 Honda Pilot Design Study Is More Wishful Thinking Than Realistic Prospect

Don’t be fooled by the robotic voice-over guy’s clickbait, though, because Honda doesn’t intend to refresh the family-sized crossover anytime soon. After all, the fourth generation rolled out back in November 2022 for the 2023 model year. Twinned with the posher and much pricier Acura MDX, the three-row crossover is a good-looking vehicle as is.

You could also argue that it’s bland. The question is, did you expect Lamborghini Urus or Bentley Bentayga design cues from a front-biased sport utility vehicle produced by a mass-market automaker? It’s perfectly fine for the Pilot to be bland, especially if you remember that it’s a vehicle with three rows rather than a sports car or supercar.

Speaking of which, the Japanese company doesn’t have anything of the sort. Only the Civic Type R and Civic Si can be described as being sporty. With the NSX discontinued after the 2022 model year, Honda doesn’t sell any supercar or sports car in the US as of October 2023. Looking at the bigger picture, why would it? Trucks and SUVs reign supreme in the US of A, and trucks and SUVs is where the money’s at.

A low-volume supercar like the NSX simply doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint. A second generation of the S2000, however, would be far more feasible as a direct competitor to the likes of the Toyobaru and the MX-5.

Turning our attention back to sport utility vehicles, care to guess how many of them Honda sells in the United States of America? Make that four, beginning with the $24,100 HR-V. The list further comprises the $29,500 CR-V, $37,090 Pilot, and $41,100 Passport. Obviously enough, the CR-V is Honda’s best-selling nameplate in the United States of America.

From January 2023 through September 2023, the peeps at American Honda delivered no fewer than 262,351 examples of the breed. The HR-V comes in a distant second with 87,034 deliveries under its belt, whereas the Pilot sold precisely 82,397 units.

Equipped with a non-VTEC engine, the Pilot flaunts a 3.5-liter V6 that belts out a respectable 285 horsepower and 262 pound-feet (355 Nm) of torque at full chatter. Codenamed J35Y8, the naturally-aspirated lump is connected to a 10-speed automatic rather than the previous-generation’s niner.

Tipping the scales at 4,030 pounds (1,828 kilograms) in its lightest form, the Pilot goes through a gallon of dinosaur juice every 22 miles (10.7 liters per 100 kilometers) on the EPA’s combined test cycle. That’s one mile per gallon worse than the 2022 model with front-wheel drive. The least efficient version is the TrailSport at 20 mpg (11.8 l/100 km), for it weighs 4,464 pounds (2,025 kilograms) and features all-terrain rubber.