2024 Honda Pilot Specifications: What You Need to Know

August 21st, 2023 by

Ready for takeoff? Getting behind the wheel of a new Honda Pilot isn’t exactly like taking flight, but it might come close. The Honda Pilot is an increasingly popular midsize SUV that targets family friendliness with spacious seating, generous cargo room, and thoughtful technology features.

Sales of the Honda Pilot grew about 20% between 2016 and 2021 to more than 143,000, according to CarSalesBase. That puts the Pilot squarely in the top 10 for SUVs in the United States. The Pilot fits into the sharply competitive midsize SUV category.

Powertrain and Performance

2024 Honda Pilot Side View

The Honda Pilot rests on a standard platform that delivers a 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine that delivers 285 horsepower with 262 lb-ft of torque. You can configure your engine with standard front-wheel drive or opt for all-wheel drive. According to Motortrend magazine, the Pilot TrailSport offers a special all-wheel drive with torque vectoring.

EPA ratings are not out yet for the 2024 Honda Pilot, but Motortrend figures we shouldn’t expect any significant surprises over 2023. In 2023, the Honda Pilot was rated at 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway in front-wheel drive and 19 mpg city and 25 mpg highway for all-wheel-drive. The Pilot TrailSport’s performance had a slight drop due to all-terrain tires and a lifted suspension, according to Motortrend.

While you won’t be able to tow the largest load, the Pilot is no slouch either. The Pilot allows you to pull upward of 5,000 pounds behind you.

Safety Features

Honda has created a bundle of safety technologies, known as Honda Sensing Suite, that lets you drive and ride with peace of mind — an excellent attribute for what will be a great family car. Motortrend expects these technologies to roll from 2023’s model into the 2024 Pilot. Key features of the Sensing Suite include the following:

  • Adaptive cruise control, which adjusts your speed to fit the traffic flow. You don’t have to worry about getting too close to comfort with another car.
  • Automatic emergency braking, which helps spot problems faster than the eye can see and engages the brakes to avoid or minimize collisions.
  • Lane-keep assist, which will give you an audible alert should you start veering into surrounding traffic lanes.
  • Hill-descent control, which will help moderate your speed heading down the tallest declines.

Depending on your choice of trim in 2024, you may also benefit from blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, another feature that will keep you out of danger before you can even react. Other models may offer a 360-degree camera or TrailWatch off-road camera view technology. Depending on how creative the engineers were, you could also use front and rear sonar sensors for parking assistance, a front-sensor camera, and a radar sensor in the lower bumper.

Seating and Space

The Pilot comfortably seats up to eight people, with configurable second- and third-row seats that can accommodate whatever collection you put together. When not occupied by passengers, the seats can fold down for cargo hauling. Total cargo space is an estimated 87 cubic feet. Motortrend notes that the 2023 Pilot cleverly includes storage around the car, such as triple door sills and a passenger side tray. With rows two or three engaged, you can still fit 18.6 cubic feet of cargo.

Honda makes the Pilot’s interior a fun place to be with the addition of various technology features. Motortrend is anticipating the entry-level models to have 7.0-inch diagonal infotainment touch screens, allowing you to watch your car’s performance and change from playlist to podcast and back.

Other cars in the Pilot lineup will likely merit the 9.0-inch touch screen. You can sync the best apps on your mobile phone into the display using the wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Honda is increasingly making wireless charging a standard feature in its vehicles.

Listen to your choice of media with a seven- or nine-speaker audio setup. You can rock out with a Bose 12-speaker system with a subwoofer at the higher end of the lineup. Keeping the kids engaged and happy is easy in the Pilot with its rear entertainment screens and available rear cabin audio controls. The doors open wider than average to allow for easy loading.

If you think we were kidding about family-friendliness, consider this: the 2023 Pilot offered 14 cupholders around the cabin — good enough for the starters on a soccer team but not quite enough for an entire football squad. You’ll also love seeing the doors open wider than average to allow for the effortless loading of people and gear.

If you need it, you can also turn your car into a wireless hotspot, great for outings such as camping where traditional telecommunications infrastructure might be lacking.

Exterior Design

The biggest suspense with the new Honda Pilot will probably be what it looks like from the outside. The 2023 model was redesigned, so it may be safe to expect minimal overhauls. Last year’s redesign got good ratings from automotive writers, who described it as “muscular” in appearance. The 2023 lineup also offered drivers the choice of up to seven color schemes, so you’ll be certain to find one that matches your personality.

Test-Drive a Honda Pilot at Performance Kings Honda

Visit us at Performance Kings Honda of Cincinnati for your next vehicle. We can arrange for you to test-drive a 2023 Honda Pilot, a 2024 Honda Pilot, or any of our entire lineup of new Honda sedans, trucks, and SUVs.

In addition to Honda models, we offer one of the largest selections of used cars in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area. Our inventory includes Audi, Acura, Buick, BMW, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

Whether you need to purchase, finance, or service a new, used, or certified Honda, call us or contact us online to discuss your options.

Image via Honda Automobiles

Posted in Honda, SUV