Test drive Honda Pilot
It has been raining for the second day in a row in Armenia. Lake Sevan is covered in fog, the current in the mountain rivers has intensified, and the primer in the vicinity of Yerevan has been washed away so that you can only drive a tractor here. There is no trace of sunny Armenia left - the cold wind penetrates to the bones, and 7 degrees of heat are felt like zero. But this is not so bad: the heating system does not work in the hotel room. I frantically buckle up, adjust my mirrors and very quickly move the selector to Drive - I'm driving one of the last Hondas in Russia and I have a lot to do.
From the cold it brings your fingers together - it's good that the heated steering wheel in the Pilot is triggered almost immediately. And the warmth in the interior of the crossover lasts an amazingly long time. This is a merit, among other things, of triple glass units, which are already included in the basic Pilot version for Russia. To catch your breath and warm up, stop by your local Honda dealer.
Here a high-trim CR-V is on offer for $ 40. Alongside is a white Accord with a 049-liter engine and a cloth interior for 2,0 million. If you need to save money, you can take a closer look at the compact City sedan (Jazz with trunk) - it will cost 2,5 million. The only Honda dealer in Armenia is forced to strictly tie the price tags to the American currency - they don't want to sell cars at a loss, as in Russia. The management of the car dealership doesn't even look at the new Pilot: it's scary to imagine how much it would cost here.
“In the Russian market now, most companies are dumping. Cars are not sold anywhere in the world as cheaply as ours,” explains Mikhail Plotnikov, Head of Sales and Marketing for Honda and Acura. - In America, Civic costs about 20 thousand dollars. Taking into account customs duties and logistics, the car would be sold in Russia for about $240. But the cost of the new Pilot will be in the market - no more expensive and no cheaper than competitors. We prepared it."
The crossover is built on the Acura MDX platform, which has been significantly upgraded. At the front, the SUV has a MacPherson-type suspension, and on the rear axle there is a multi-link. Reduced wheel overhang reduced vibrations, and smaller angles of rotation of the drive shafts eliminated the steering effect. Thanks to the rear multi-link, it was possible to reduce vibrations and redistribute the loads. In addition, the rigidity of the attachment points has been increased. The power structure of the body of the new Pilot has also changed. It has become 40 kg lighter, but the torsional stiffness has increased by 25%.
The Russian crossover is fundamentally different from the American one. For example, Honda spent several million dollars installing a new engine for the Pilot. A unit that would meet the requirements of the transport tax and be economical was found on the Chinese market. The crossover was equipped with a 3,0-liter gasoline engine from Accord for China. The motor produces 249 hp. and is paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission. “We offered our Japanese colleagues to deforce the 3,5-liter engine from Acura, but they categorically refused to do it,” Honda says.
But this engine is also enough for the “Pilot” - there was no need to complain about the lack of traction during the test drive either on long climbs, or on the highway, or off-road. From standstill to “hundreds”, the engine accelerates a two-ton car in 9,1 seconds, but it was not necessary to experiment with acceleration further - fines are too high in Armenia. At 90 km / h, the engine goes into a gentle mode, turning off half of the cylinders. The stock of thrust under the gas pedal is no longer felt, but the on-board computer pleases with efficiency indicators. On the highway, we managed to achieve a result of 6,4 liters per “hundred” - this is 1,8 liters less than the manufacturer claims.
In the global hierarchy of Honda and Acura brands, the new Pilot is more of a simplified version of the Acura MDX rather than a completely new model. It is especially difficult to distance crossovers in the USA, where they are equipped with the same motors and boxes. In Russia, it is much easier to separate cars at different corners of the segment: thanks to the Pilot's adaptations, the price difference between it and the MDX will be about $ 6.
A white Toyota Corolla with Syrian license plates overtook it through a double solid line and slowed down - the driver is curiously examining the Russian license plates on the Pilot. You might think that I see signs with Arabic symbols every day. Mutual curiosity almost led to an accident: the crossover fell into a deep hole, emerged from it by inertia and fell again with a deafening clang, as if it had fallen into an abyss. In Armenia, you always need to be on the lookout: even when the asphalt becomes relatively level, a lying cow may suddenly appear on the road.
The model will be delivered to Russia with a 3,0-liter petrol V6. Pilot will be equipped with this engine only for our market - in other countries the crossover is available with a 3,5-liter "six" from Acura MDX. A less powerful engine was taken in China - there the top-end "Chords" are equipped with this unit. The multi-point injection engine with two or three cylinder shut-off systems produces 249 hp. and 294 Nm of torque. At the same time, you can refuel the Pilot for Russia with AI-92 gasoline. The gearbox is also provided for one - a six-speed "automatic" from Acura RDX. There will not be a front-wheel drive version of the Pilot in our market - all versions will receive an all-wheel drive i-VTM4 transmission with individual rear wheel drive clutches instead of a clutch and an interwheel differential.
You also need to carefully skip the cobblestones between the wheels: the ground clearance of the Russian version, although it was increased from 185 to 200 mm, is still the minimum clearance for driving in the Armenian mountains, where stones seem to grow instead of bushes. Off-road, the Pilot skillfully distributes traction and goes almost without slipping, although under the wheels there are wet cobblestones and clay. All Pilots for Russia are equipped with Intelligent Traction Management. Thanks to it, you can choose several driving modes: standard, driving on mud, sand and snow. There are no significant differences between them: the electronics only change the ESP settings and the transmission algorithms. On the off-road route in the sands of Sevan, the crossover skillfully juggled with the torque while hanging diagonally, but unexpectedly gave up on a sharp rise, overcoming the hill not so confidently. Perhaps this was influenced by the road tires - the tread was already completely clogged by that time.
Residents of the small town of Echmiadzin, 20 km west of Yerevan, pay absolutely no attention to the new Pilot. If you do not have a black Mercedes or, at worst, not a white tinted Niva, then you are driving the wrong car. After the generational change, the Pilot, of course, has lost its individuality. The crossover has lost its straight and sharp edges, becoming more feminine and modern. The silhouette of the crossover body is made in the same style as the Acura MDX, the head optics resemble CR-V headlights, and the rear part is the same Acura crossovers. The new Honda Pilot is harmonious, beautiful and graceful, but not capable of capturing the imagination.
The burgundy Pilot gets lost in the gloomy lanes, but as soon as you stop and open the door, passers-by immediately strive to look inside - you can't hide the southern curiosity even in bad weather. The interior of the "Pilot" is mostly a constructor. The steering wheel is from a CR-V, the climate control unit and trim materials are from Acura, and the texture of the door cards is from Accord. The unification of production did not affect the quality in any way: despite the fact that all the "Pilots" were from a pre-production batch, nothing creaked, cracked or buzzed. Even the initial configurations of the crossover are equipped with multimedia with an 8-inch touch screen, which runs on Android. “We have not set up the system properly yet. It is necessary to update the firmware, after which it will be possible to install almost any offer, even Yandex.Maps,” Honda said.
So far, even the radio does not work in Pilot - a system error does not allow updating the list of stations. From time to time, multimedia freezes hopelessly, after which the dial appears on the screen, and the touchscreen turns off completely. “There will be no such problems in production cars,” Honda promised.
In the top versions of the Pilot, as before, it is equipped with a third row of seats. Only people of average build can sit comfortably in the gallery: the seat cushion is set too low, and there is too little legroom. But the air ducts are brought up to the third row, and the seat belts are installed at a normal height and do not annoy with their presence. The second row is a full-fledged business class. There is a monitor in the ceiling, and connectors for connecting a game console, and even your own climate control unit with heated seats. On the terrible Armenian roads "Pilot" goes soothingly easy - so that you want to raise the curtain (there is no electric drive here) and fall asleep.
The new Pilot will be on sale not earlier than in six months. Since January, the Japanese brand is switching to a new scheme of work, in which the Russian office of Honda no longer has a place: dealers will order cars directly from Japan. “The new scheme of work will not affect the waiting time of the car in any way. Large dealers will have stock, so the stories that you will have to wait six months for the right car are not true, ”explained Mikhail Plotnikov, Head of Sales and Marketing for Honda and Acura.
We will know the cost of the crossover only next year. Obviously, the success of the Pilot will depend on whether its price tag can withstand pressure from the Kia Sorento Prime, Ford Explorer, Toyota Highlander and Nissan Pathfinder. Pre-production Pilots will also fall under pressure - after the tests they will be destroyed.
Roman Farbotko
