Car review for families: Honda Pilot VS. Honda Odyssey
I'll start with my 2004 Honda Pilot. This is an SUV, that if built and seen driving down the road 30 years ago would have scared your grandpa in his Lincoln off the road. Its big and tall and looks Japanese. It rides 32 inches off the ground, higher than a standard Jeep Wrangler. Honda will advertise that it drives like a car, which, for the most part it does. Easy to steer, nice linear V6 acceleration, great braking feel. It drives like a big Honda, which is pretty darn good. Honestly, are SUV buyers caring about driver engagement? Probably not. So that's it for this review on that subject. Let's get to the nuts and bolts I mentioned earlier.
If you have kids under 7 years old, do not bother with a Pilot. Its advertised as a family car for big families. What they mean by big is wide-hipped. There's plenty of room for the fat backsides of your pancakes-for-dinner 10 year old to sit side by side with two buddies on the middle row. As for the rest of your clan? Leave them home or buy an Odyssey.
Small kids that you have to buckle into car seats or boosters need twice as much work in a Pilot than the Odyssey. Here's why:
1. Sliding doors. They stay open when you want them to. Pilot doors hing open, then smack you in the ass while you're buckling Peanut into the car seat.
2. Flat floors and high roofs. My 7 year old twins can literally walk upright in our van. They are the masters of their domains back there. Choosing where to sit. Putting on their own seat belt. Administering their own discipline on each other. Its heaven. Open the door, let them wander in.
3. Second row seating for two. The gap between the seats means kids simply walk through to the back row. No more tumbling over the middle row. Getting mud and snow on the middle row, scuffing the seats. We became so frustrated with this process that we put half of the middle row in the Pilot in storage mode. That worked fine until grape juice got spilled on the back of it. Explain that to the next buyer.
4. Cubby-holes and drink holders. For the driver and shotgun position there are 6 spots for drinks. The middle tray area (pictured) is so dang handy, I tried installing one in my Passat. I didn't really. But I long for that tray-o-ease in any other car after being in my Odyssey. It is just so simple and relieving to throw your wallet, phone, ipod etc to one central location, scoop it up when you get out and never have the possibility of losing your phone between the seat and center console.
5. Fuel economy. The Odyssey is like a svelte MMA fighter compared to the Pilot's Butterbean. Therefore, using the same 3.5L V6 returns 10% better gas mileage in the van.
6. Space for haulin'. The back row is like the gymnast in Ocean's 11. It folds in half, does a flip and disappears into a space normally thought too small for a such a big object. The middle seats slide 8 inches in either direction and can be removed without any tools, just a good set of guns. Other brands offer even more seat versatility, but this review is focusing on the Odyssey.
7. Let me add one more thing about that third row your kids can walk to: Now your kids are far enough away from you and your partner the two of you can actually talk without getting their input, interruptions, and inquiries. Ah, modern conveniences.
8. Ground clearance. The Pilot is ready to off road. Great for Mickey Thompson, bad for your back. The height of the car is now too high for easy ingress for your little trooper. To save time and stress, I often scooped up my troop and tossed the in the car. In the Odyssey, they handle it all themselves because it is reachable by little legs. You see, they design these things with kids in mind.
So its settled. Small family, get a minivan. Only grandpa-killing gas guzzlers get Pilots, right? No.
The Pilot is a fine car, too. If you ski or snowboard, if part of your lifestyle requires you to go on unpaved roads where that ground clearance is actually used, or if you haul around a fair amount of stuff, it will do the job superbly. If you have kids capable of getting into a high car floor, then consider the Pilot. However since it realistically seats only five, save ten grand and get a CR-V.
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