{"id":801880,"date":"2019-12-01T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=375278"},"modified":"2019-12-01T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-12-01T22:00:00","slug":"mountain-wheels-hondas-sizable-pilot-gets-glossy-with-a-new-black-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/mountain-wheels-hondas-sizable-pilot-gets-glossy-with-a-new-black-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Wheels: Honda\u2019s sizable Pilot gets glossy with a new Black Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The popular Honda Pilot, made in the U.S., offers flexibility including seating for up to eight passengers. A new stylish Black Edition is available for 2020 models. <\/strong>
Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Back to back with my recent time in the impressive Acura MDX, the new edition of the Honda Pilot shows that ample doses of the Acura DNA travel between the vehicles \u2014 to a certain degree.<\/p>\n

The biggest member of the Honda family got a significant refresh last year, and for 2020 the needle is moved even further in the style department with the release of the Black Edition trim package.<\/p>\n

Pilot is a pleasant, mid-sized, three-row SUV that does not feel ponderous or bloated, and with the additional style and pizzazz of that darkened-out trim option, owners also can push themselves in an even classier direction. Pilot remains a bit of a rarity as it can be configured as an eight-passenger vehicle or seven with the more comfortable second-row captain\u2019s chairs. And access is made easy with Honda\u2019s One-Touch Walk-In system, which provides simple entry.  <\/p>\n

What\u2019s most interesting overall is how Honda\u2019s original mission statement for affordable, long-lasting vehicles translates into the largesse of this Alabama-made automobile. I got to drive the somewhat smaller Passport earlier this year, and Pilot is indeed a lot more vehicle to handle.<\/p>\n

While I felt a tangible dose of lateral dance in Pilot\u2019s step while driving a more standard version on messed-up pavement in Texas this summer, I was equally delighted how the vehicle demonstrates poise and credible handling characteristics. It doesn\u2019t feel heavy, just significant in its height and breadth, though visibility is impressive from the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

Power is provided by a 280-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 \u2014 10 horsepower less than a similar engine configuration in the MDX \u2014 and felt quite adequate for local and highway cruising. My summertime drives earned me just over 20.4 mpg, though local drives in the AWD Black Edition were somewhat closer to the 22 combined mpg, and it\u2019s rated as high as 26 mpg on the highway. All-wheel drive provides the vehicle with Honda\u2019s i-VTM4 torque-vectoring system, emulating the improved cornering and ground-hugging spirit of Acura\u2019s Super-Handling AWD.<\/p>\n

The AWD Black Edition I drove was priced at $50,715; you can go basic and still get AWD on an LX edition stickered at $33,550. For those extra dollars, you get lots of badging, some stylish black paint and blacked-out trim everywhere, from the door handles and the window trim to the grille and sides.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s additional red accent trim on the seats, doors and wheel, and special red accent lighting in the front cabin. A nice set of darkened 20-inch wheels also rounds out that blacker than black appeal. <\/p>\n

\n
\"Andy
Andy Stonehouse<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Inside, you get a tasteful blend of functionality and larger vehicle usefulness, with lots of soft-touch, animal grain-styled rubber, a load of leather and then a reasonably large percentage of plastic surfacing, as well.<\/p>\n

The deep console box will hold a small backpack or regular-sized purse, and upright, multi-level door inserts hold a zillion bottles and road trip junk.<\/p>\n

I am now adapting to the horizontal pushbutton transmission offered throughout the Honda and Acura line, so it clearly becomes intuitive after a few days.<\/p>\n

Displays are very bright, with a gloss-black navigation screen providing easy and colorful displays and data.<\/p>\n

Maybe the biggest thing about the bigness is the sheer ease of entries and exits from the Pilot. Rear doors are very broad and both sides of the captain\u2019s chair setup slid effortlessly to access the far rear seats. You\u2019ll also enjoy the light from the pair of front and rear sunroofs.<\/p>\n

The basic suite of Honda Sensing safety equipment is included on even the most basic models, and the higher-end Pilots I drove had the whole pile, plus an in-vehicle public address system (yes, it\u2019s that big) and multi-device Wi-Fi access. The HondaLink system also provides everything from remote start and teenage driver controls to the wonderfully creepy Amazon Key In-Car delivery routine, whereby strangers can place packages in your ample trunk while you are away.<\/p>\n

Andy Stonehouse\u2019s column \u201cMountain Wheels\u201d publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Greeley. Contact him at rossandrewstonehouse@gmail.com<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The popular Honda Pilot, made in the U.S., offers flexibility including seating for up to eight passengers. A new stylish Black Edition is available for 2020 models. Courtesy photo Back to back with my recent time in the impressive Acura MDX, the new edition of the Honda Pilot shows that ample doses of the Acura […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-801880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-02 03:23:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}