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2003 Honda PilotIn the middle of Hondas SUV lineup, the midsize 2003 Honda Pilot offers a great selection of standards, good performance and handling...
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In the middle of Hondas SUV lineup, the midsize 2003 Honda Pilot offers a great selection of standards, good performance and handling capability, quality components and in general, excellent value. With lots of room for 8 adult passengers, and lots of cargo, the 2003 Honda Pilot has all the characteristics and utility that has made the SUV class so popular with families and business people looking for more function than they can find in the average sedan.
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76 Reviews from Epinions.com
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2003 Honda Pilot
I had a chance to drive a Honda Pilot recently and it was an impressive experience. The vehicle looks and feels rock solid, leading me to believe that it will be comfortable and durable. Of course, time will tell if the Pilot is durable but it sure gave me a lot of confidence in its engineering and construction.
First the exterior, which I find undistinguished. The 2003 Pilot has a generic look to my eye, vaguely resembling Jeep SUVs from a couple of years ago. I drove the EX (with leather) version of the Pilot and it did have attractive alloy wheels that let the four-wheel disk brakes peek through.
Inside, the Pilot struck the right note of SUV luxury. The seats wore a fine, smooth, light-gray leather, as did the comfortably thick steering wheel. The dashboard was a matching pebbled plastic that looked good quality. The only off-note was the combination radio/CD/cassette player, which was a free-form black mass in the middle of the gray dashboard. A matching gray face for the radio would look nicer.
There are cubbyholes and storage compartments everywhere, and there are four different points in the Pilot where 12 volt power is available for cell phones, laptops and other doo-dads. There are lots of other nice touches, including a hideaway sunglass holder, extensions on the sun visors to cover those places where the sun always sneaks through and a built-in garage-door remote control.
The gauges are easily visible to the driver but the thermometer is visible ONLY to the driver and rear-seat passengers. The front seat passenger can't see the dashboard thermometer.
There are two sets of rear seats, making the Pilot a seven-seat vehicle. However, the rear-most bench seat has poor access and it is really for children only. The middle seat is much better and there is lots of legroom.
The front bucket seats are firm but comfortable, with enough bolstering that I did not slide around once I was strapped in. Headroom is clearly designed for basketball players; I had a good five inches of space over my head (I'm 5'-8"). The driving position was perfect for me and visibility was excellent.
The rear bench seat folds down, making a spacious area with a flat floor in the back of the Pilot.
The 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine started quickly and was dead quiet at idle. It took a little puzzling to figure out the column-mounted shifter -- I gave the windshield a healthy spray from the very effective windshield washer when I first attempted to put the Pilot in gear!
On the road, the Pilot is very quiet. I was surprised that there was so little noise, even from the Goodyear light-truck tires. Engine noise is well damped, even at higher RPMs and there was virtually no wind noise.
Acceleration was brisk from the 240 hp engine and five-speed automatic transmission. A very interesting feature is the intelligent transmission that shifts down when coasting downhill, letting engine compression do at least some of the braking. One fairly long hill that I drove down would normally cause a car to accelerate, but the Pilot automatically shifted down (quite unobtrusively) and held the vehicle at a stable speed.
Cruising at highway speeds is quiet -- even luxurious. It was easy to have a conversation with passengers, even those in the rear seat.
The brake pedal was spongier than I like but the brakes had good grab and the pedal was easy to modulate with a couple stops' worth of experience.
Handling was better than the extended cab pickup that I'm used to driving. I didn't try any racetrack moves but the Pilot had minimal body lean and no sensation of top-heaviness in curves. Steering was exactly the way it should have been, with the right amount of force and the correct return after the turn is made. I actually had to think about it because it felt so natural.
Stepping out of the Pilot, the door closes with a reassuring "thunk."
I looked under the hood and the layout was very clean. There was some room to work, but a plastic cover on top of the engine hid all the wires, plugs and mechanical thingies. Honda claims that the first tuneup is due at 105,000 miles, which I will have to see to believe.
Everything about the 2003 Pilot that I drove spoke of quality and durability. Other than its lack of interesting exterior looks, the Honda Pilot I drove was a fine vehicle that exudes reassuring confidence and elegance.
Quiet Elegance
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Solid and quiet; inspires confidence
Cons: Looks like every other SUV
The Bottom Line:
Time will tell if the initial quality holds up, but the Pilot feels like a much more expensive vehicle.
I had a chance to drive a Honda Pilot recently and it was an impressive experience. The vehicle looks and feels rock solid, leading me to believe that it will be comfortable and durable. Of course, time will tell if the Pilot is durable but it sure gave me a lot of confidence in its engineering and construction.
First the exterior, which I find undistinguished. The 2003 Pilot has a generic look to my eye, vaguely resembling Jeep SUVs from a couple of years ago. I drove the EX (with leather) version of the Pilot and it did have attractive alloy wheels that let the four-wheel disk brakes peek through.
Inside, the Pilot struck the right note of SUV luxury. The seats wore a fine, smooth, light-gray leather, as did the comfortably thick steering wheel. The dashboard was a matching pebbled plastic that looked good quality. The only off-note was the combination radio/CD/cassette player, which was a free-form black mass in the middle of the gray dashboard. A matching gray face for the radio would look nicer.
There are cubbyholes and storage compartments everywhere, and there are four different points in the Pilot where 12 volt power is available for cell phones, laptops and other doo-dads. There are lots of other nice touches, including a hideaway sunglass holder, extensions on the sun visors to cover those places where the sun always sneaks through and a built-in garage-door remote control.
The gauges are easily visible to the driver but the thermometer is visible ONLY to the driver and rear-seat passengers. The front seat passenger can't see the dashboard thermometer.
There are two sets of rear seats, making the Pilot a seven-seat vehicle. However, the rear-most bench seat has poor access and it is really for children only. The middle seat is much better and there is lots of legroom.
The front bucket seats are firm but comfortable, with enough bolstering that I did not slide around once I was strapped in. Headroom is clearly designed for basketball players; I had a good five inches of space over my head (I'm 5'-8"). The driving position was perfect for me and visibility was excellent.
The rear bench seat folds down, making a spacious area with a flat floor in the back of the Pilot.
The 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine started quickly and was dead quiet at idle. It took a little puzzling to figure out the column-mounted shifter -- I gave the windshield a healthy spray from the very effective windshield washer when I first attempted to put the Pilot in gear!
On the road, the Pilot is very quiet. I was surprised that there was so little noise, even from the Goodyear light-truck tires. Engine noise is well damped, even at higher RPMs and there was virtually no wind noise.
Acceleration was brisk from the 240 hp engine and five-speed automatic transmission. A very interesting feature is the intelligent transmission that shifts down when coasting downhill, letting engine compression do at least some of the braking. One fairly long hill that I drove down would normally cause a car to accelerate, but the Pilot automatically shifted down (quite unobtrusively) and held the vehicle at a stable speed.
Cruising at highway speeds is quiet -- even luxurious. It was easy to have a conversation with passengers, even those in the rear seat.
The brake pedal was spongier than I like but the brakes had good grab and the pedal was easy to modulate with a couple stops' worth of experience.
Handling was better than the extended cab pickup that I'm used to driving. I didn't try any racetrack moves but the Pilot had minimal body lean and no sensation of top-heaviness in curves. Steering was exactly the way it should have been, with the right amount of force and the correct return after the turn is made. I actually had to think about it because it felt so natural.
Stepping out of the Pilot, the door closes with a reassuring "thunk."
I looked under the hood and the layout was very clean. There was some room to work, but a plastic cover on top of the engine hid all the wires, plugs and mechanical thingies. Honda claims that the first tuneup is due at 105,000 miles, which I will have to see to believe.
Everything about the 2003 Pilot that I drove spoke of quality and durability. Other than its lack of interesting exterior looks, the Honda Pilot I drove was a fine vehicle that exudes reassuring confidence and elegance.
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