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2009 Honda Pilot - Notable Features

The 2009 Honda Pilot is loaded with new features, many of them in the new Touring trim level, which introduces a variety of luxury touches that weren’t available before. In addition to a standard moonroof, leather, and navigation system, the Touring offers up a power driver’s seat with memory, corner and backup sensors and a rear-view camera, a USB port for iPod integration, and a power liftgate. It also has chrome exterior trim, unique wheels and is pre-wired for a trailer connection.

All Pilots get numerous safety advances, not the least of which is the implementation of Honda’s ACE body structure. Standing for Advanced Compatibility Engineering, it’s designed to both absorb impact energy and avoid override or underride conditions, as can occur when a large vehicle impacts a smaller one, or vice versa. All Pilots also come standard with four-wheel anti lock brakes, standard stability and traction control, and active front head restraints. The front and side airbags use the occupant position detection to determine whether they should deploy or not. For the kiddies, Honda has incorporated three LATCH points in the second row and one in the third row, meaning the car can carry four child seats at once, a boon to big families that don’t want to drive a huge vehicle like the Chevy Suburban or – horrors – sully their hip reputations with a minivan.

Cargo convenience was high on the list of priorities for the new Pilot, so the hatch now has glass that opens separately, handy for throwing in small items. However, the biggest cargo news and one of the killer new features in the Pilot is the cargo management system behind the third row. Poor cargo space behind that third row is a major sticking point for many of the Pilot’s competition; read our reviews of cars like the Toyota Highlander or Hyundai Veracruz for examples. While they claim to offer three rows and cargo space, most compromise cargo for leg room, leg room for cargo, or both are lousy.

The Pilot manages to offer a reasonably comfortable third row and decent cargo space. There is usable floor space behind the seats, as in the GMC Acadia and other GM Lambda-platform crossovers, and the Pilot’s upright proportions mean you can fit tall objects as well. However, the Pilot goes one further. Lift up the floor behind the third row, secure it to the seatbacks, and unfold the attached cargo net. Suddenly, you’ve virtually doubled your cargo area, and since the net can hold a good 22 pounds.

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Read the Test Drive: 2009 Honda Pilot 4WD EX-L RES