I am seriously considering a 2010 Honda Pilot EX-L. I was looking to see if anyone with an 09 or 10 has any baseline numbers for gas mileage and general thoughts and opinions. Does it tow well? Is 25 mpg hwy easily attainable? Thanks, Josh
The Odyssey will carry more, tow nearly as much, and use less gas doing it. I really don't see what the Pilot has to offer other than image and lesser performance.
The odyessy does not have good ground clearance or suspension for towing. I need the awd as we do alot of off the road camping. My truck is getting too small as all my boy scouts are getting bigger rapidly.
I have a 2006 CR-V M.T. which gives me 25 to 33 mpg. It has good power and handling, but Honda says not to tow anything over 1500 lbs. A Pilot may give you 20mpg? I have seen them with good size RV trailers in tow, so they must do OK as a tow vehicle! Not sure what Honda gives them for tow weights. Hal
http://automobiles.honda.com/odyssey/specifications.aspx?group=epa http://automobiles.honda.com/pilot/specifications.aspx?group=epa Jeeze, the EPA is practically identical between the two. 18mpg combined for the 4wd pilot vs 18mpg combined for the 2wd odyssey. For towing? Looks like 4500lbs for the 4wd pilot. 3500 for the odyssey and 2wd pilot. You should have an idea of how good you are at hypermiling. For a normal person they'll probably get the combined rating most of the time, for a hypermiler you'll probably get the highway rating or slightly above most of the time. Or.. hows about a nice new Subaru Outback? The 2.5 engine lets you tow 2,700lbs, and the 3.6 does 3,000 lbs. The FE on the 3.6 is about the same as on the Pilot though.
I need to tow about 3500. I drove an ex with 4wd today. I was impressed at how easy it is to engage the eco mode(Honda's cylinder deactivation). It was rather easy keeping the eco light lit up for me. The dash has a very tiny Icfd that is difficult to read. Most of the time it was bouncing between 30-35mpg at speeds around 45 mph. I thought about looking at the subarus but I don't have a dealer that is nearby.
Hi Blaster: ___Own an 03 MDX and it tows 3,000 #'s on up for #*&% imho. FE can be decent on the highway (30 + is easy) but around town you are going to be really ticked when gas hits $4.00 + again. ___Good Luck ___Wayne
In-laws have a couple pilots, an odyssey, and a ridgeline between them, all fairly recent. Don't they all have the same basic guts under the hood? 3.5L V6, front wheel drive, etc. I'll ask what they're getting for FE, but they're definitely not hypermilers. I'd guess high teens most of the time, occasionally braking 20). In the meantime I can speak on a few points: 1) Pilot back seat isn't terrible, but isn't something you'd want to use every day either. You'd get a more usable third row w/ better ingress/egress from a minivan. Toyota has the only 4x4 minivan I know of, but you give up other things (like a spare tire) to get it. 2) The 4x4 system is perfect for getting through slop without any fuss. There's nothing to turn on or do differently. Just drive. (so it's perfect for my wife). We've had great luck with our CRV on an unplowed rock road with 12" + of snow and deep potholes. There is a FE penalty though.
My wife is a good-but-normal driver. She gets about 21 mpg average in our Ody. It'll do 25 highway with the cruise set at 70 and AC blowing. It'll do 30+ highway with me driving it. My sister truly needs 4wd where she lives (rural Ohio that doesn't get plowed much). She gets by handily with a CRV. My other sister totaled her Camry there when she slid off the road at ~5 mph.
You used to be able to get a Chrysler Town & Country with AWD but I don't know if they are still available. Not recommended, though. My family had two over a span of 15 years, the last one being known affectionately as "the green pig." And it was. The tranny crapped-out at 100k so my parents sold it to a mechanic and bought a Sienna AWD. Last time I asked they said that the Sienna wasn't any better on fuel (20mpg at best around town, more on the highway) but at least it doesn't develop nasty mechanical faults. But the one thing I learned is that you absolutely can not beat a minivan for versatility. We test drove all kinds of things as a family...minivans, SUVs, wagons...and the minivan is like a livingroom on wheels that can be converted to a pickup truck in under five minutes. So they may not be hip, they may not be especially FE. But if you really need the space then that's what you want.
Inlaws are in town today. Ridgeline and Pilot both get about 20mpg, maybe up to 22 on a good day. Both are 4x4 and neither are hypermiled at all.
