 What is up you guys, I'll go back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I'm Gold Penny at the new Cartruck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we're in the brand new 2024 Honda Pilot courtesy of Apple Honda of Hanover in Hanover PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. So this is Honda's three row SUV and this is the second year for the fourth generation pilot. So for anybody who was worried about buying that first year of a new generation, this is now in the second year. So maybe consider it now, I don't know. But you do also get two years or 24,000 miles of complimentary maintenance as well. So that is also gonna save you a little bit of money there too. But ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering field, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. As you can imagine, there are several different trim levels for the 2024 pilot. First one being the LX starting at $37,090. Sport for 39,600 EXL for 42,400. Trail Sport, which is the one we are in today, starting at $48,800. Touring for $46,900. And lastly, the Elite going for $52,480. And so all-wheel drive comes standard for the Trail Sport and Elite. All the other trim levels come standard with front-wheel drive. If you wanted to add all-wheel drive, you can do that, simply add $2,100 then to any of those prices. But regardless of trim level that you go with, the power plant on the pilot is going to be the same. Powering the Beast is a 3.5-liter direct-injected V6, putting out 285 horsepower at 6,100 RPM, 262 pound-feet of torque coming in at 5,000 RPM, that power being sent to front wheels or all wheels through a 10-speed automatic with paddle shifters, which you guys know we will be testing out here in a little bit. Zero to 60 time comes in in an impressive 6.9 seconds. Top speed, if you're interested, 111 miles per hour with MPG numbers coming in at 19 in the city, 27 on the highway for the front-wheel drive, 19 city, 25 then, on the highway for the all-wheel drive, but taking regular, unleaded fuel. And so before we do any kind of fun paddle shifter or acceleration test here in the pilot, do want to mention to you guys the drive mode. There's actually a drive mode toggle switch located directly behind the shift buttons. And yes, there are shift buttons. The way that works is the D slash S, that's going to be your drive slash sport driving mode. There's also N for neutral, R for reverse, and P for park. I know that there's some people off down in New Tihandas, so I wanted to mention that, but anyways. Back to the drive modes, they will include normal, econ, snow, tow, and sport. And if you go with the all-wheel drive configuration that will add to that trail and sand, that is pretty cool. So now that we've got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the paddle shifters here to the test. I'm going to put it in that sport driving mode there. And let's see how quickly the paddle shifters are going to react for us here. All right, let's see if it holds a gear here first. Nope, it shifted. Come on, put me back at first. All right, as far as the paddle shifters go, there is a slight delay to them, so it's pretty much as I expected for the pilot. Usually with SUVs, you don't really have quick-reacting paddle shifters unless you're driving like a Porsche Macan or something, but yeah, there is a little bit of a delay, but the cool thing is about the paddle shifters is that they're there, because that is important, especially in Pennsylvania here, where it does tend to snow a good bit. If you're going down a hill, rather than hitting the brakes and just sliding off the road, you can actually use the paddle shifters to do a little bit of engine braking, so you're less likely to slide off the road. So that is a good reason to have them in my personal opinion, so I don't mind them for that, but now I haven't done that paddle shifter test. What do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find one more straightaway. Let's now give back full control to the pilot and let's see how quickly we can get our new 2024 Honda Pilot here up to speed. All right, Founder's spot in three, two, one, go. Really loud, but it's quick. Yeah, you're definitely not going to have any issues emerging onto the highway. We've got about eight miles until empty. I'm going to put it in econ driving mode now, but that is plenty of an acceleration to merge you onto anything, and it gets really, really loud. I will say that as well, so the V6 is definitely doing its job there, but to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. So a friend you will find, 12.6 inch ventilated front discs. In the back, 13 inch solid rear discs, as far as that 60 is your stopping distance goes, that comes in at 126 feet, which is pretty average for the segment, for a three row SUV. That's pretty much what you would expect. As far as braking feel goes, I feel like it does tend to lean a little bit on the firmer side of things, so I don't mind the braking feel at all. As we came up to a stop sign right there, definitely brought me to a stop plenty fine, so no issues with the braking whatsoever. Then touching on suspension and handling up front, you're going to get a McPherson straight front suspension. In the back, independent multi-league rear suspension, of course, front and rear stabilizer bars. As far as ride quality goes, it's okay. It's been perfectly fine in my short little test drive here today. I feel like some of the competition might be a little bit smoother of a ride, but you're probably not going to be able to tell the difference quite honestly, so this is plenty fine for what it is. As far as steering feel goes, let me actually put it back in that sport driving mode real quick. It feels good, definitely feels good. This is like, it feels like a car handling almost. It definitely is a nice steering feel as I'm weaving through this road here. So I love it. Steering feels weighted on the heavier side of things, much heavier than its competition. I will say that without a doubt. Honda typically does a wonderful job with their driving dynamics, and that is definitely the case here in the pilot. I think that's probably the main selling point of this pilot. If you're looking for a three-row family hauler SUV, but still want it to be a little bit playful, a little bit more fun to drive, this is definitely one to check out because the driving dynamics are pretty darn good. Plenty of an acceleration, plenty of a steering feel as well, and touching on cabin noises, we are going 30 miles per hour right now. That's actually been perfectly fine with the exception of that engine noise when you really get on it, which I personally don't mind, but as far as wind noise goes and road noise, there isn't a whole lot coming into the cabin, so I've got no issues with that. But I do want to mention, acoustic laminated front windshield comes standard on the EXL trim level and up. You will also get acoustic laminated front door glass then for the touring and elite trim levels. And then acoustic laminated front door glass, typically that's something that you find on BMW and Mercedes, so the fact that it's even available here on the pilot is absolutely amazing. So if you want the very most serene cabin, go with one of those top two trim levels, so that is pretty cool. But then touching on rear visibility, this is something that actually surprised me when I first got in. Typically with three row SUVs, you won't expect the visibility to be all that great, but I think because of the shape of the pilot, it's actually quite brilliant. Like there is a massive rear window looking out my rear view mirror there. So you can see forever. So I love the visibility in the Honda pilot. It's definitely one of the better ones in his class without a doubt, but in addition to that, in terms of forward visibility, if you were to go with that top trim level being the elite, you will also get rain sensing windshield wipers. So whenever the pilot detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's gonna automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you. So kind of a safety feature in itself right there, but also a head up display projecting your speed, speed limit and safety features up onto your windshield. So both of those are gonna assist with forward visibility there as well. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2024 Honda Pilot. All right, so here she is, you guys. The new 2024 Honda Pilot finished in Sonic gray pearl. I'm sure if you're familiar with Honda, you are familiar with that particular color. It is on a lot of their vehicles and it looks good in my personal opinion, but so always let's go ahead and start with where this one is made. Taking a look at the VIN first character is the number five, indicating that the new 2024 pilot is built and assembled here in the U.S. But as always, let's go ahead and start up front on the pilot here. Black front grill does come standard. Ignore the white tape on the corners of that front grill. I didn't take that off. Probably should have, but anyways, gloss black front grill coming standard on the trail sport trim level and up. And actually all trim levels, but the LX will get active grill shutters as well. So just behind that front grill, the grill shutters are gonna open and closed, depending upon the engine cooling that is needed at any given time. So that is pretty cool there as well. To the sides, LED headlights do come standard on every single trim level of the pilot. You gotta love that. With LED daytime running lights, you get the automatic feature as well. So when it starts to get dark on at night, headlights will turn on automatically for you there. But also automatic high beams coming standard for every single trim level across the board as well. So if you have your high beams on at night and it senses a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's gonna automatically dim them back to low beams and when that vehicle is gone, it's gonna automatically bounce it back up to high beams for you there. So very convenient feature there as well. And then down below with the sport trim level and up, you're also going to find fog lights, the very bottom kind of of that front bumper there. So LED fog lights by the way. So that is pretty cool as well. But trail sport badging, I must forgot to mention that found in the front grill specific to our trail sport trim that we have today. But anyways, that pretty much rounds out the front end of this one. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side. All right, and someone else since we are around to the side of this one, gloss black roof rails coming on the sport trim levels. The trail sport, of course, the touring and elite rear privacy glass does come stated for all trim levels across the board. Did you have some LED door handle lighting for the touring and elite trim levels only that is pretty cool, illuminating everything up at night. Power adjustable side mirrors, of course, do come standard. They're gonna be finished in matte black for the LX and the sport body colored for the EXL touring and elite. And then gloss black for our trail sport that we have with us here today. Also gloss black door handles for the trail sport as you guys can see that. And then they will be heated with integrated turd signals for the EXL trim level and up. And you're also gonna get that reverse gear tilt down feature for the EXL trim level and up then as well. Then take a look down at the wheel setup, 18 inch alloys for the LX and the trail sport and they are gonna be unique alloys. So the trail sport is not gonna be the same look as the LX, of course. 20 inch alloys for the sport, 18 inch machine finished alloys for that EXL. And then 20 inch machine finished alloys for the touring and elite. And of course, you got all touring tires with our trail sport here today. And one of the best parts of you guys can see these unique wheels here. We got the trail sport lettering found on the wheels themselves. So like I said, it is a unique design to the trail sport that we have today. So that is pretty cool. But anyways, there are pretty much rounds out the side profile here of the pilot. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the back. All right, and something else let's go around to the back of this one all the way to the top body colored shark fin antenna. Just below that rear spoiler with an integrated brake light. Just below that rear window wiper. You do have some LED tail lights that do come standard on every single trim level across the board. Got the pilot lettering spelled out horizontally amongst that gloss black bar in the back there connecting the two tail lights. And then just below it all, there is a spare tire tucked away underneath there. But you will find dual exhaust outlets coming standard for all trim levels across the board. However, if you were to go with the sport touring or elite, you're gonna get chrome tips. So with the trail sport, they are just simply tucked away with most of the other trim levels. But chrome tips are available for those three trims. But having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. As always here is that exhaust clip. All right, something else to see around to the back of the pilot. When it comes to opening that rear tailgate, it is gonna be a power tailgate for the EXL trim level and up and then a hands free power tailgate for the touring and elite trim levels. But once opened up, cargo capacity comes in at 18.6 cubic feet. If that was not enough space, of course that third row does fall down. There's a 60, 40 split bumping that up to 48.5 cubic feet. And then with Oliver's folded 87 cubic feet. Even that is a good bit of space back there. Pretty much on par for the course. It's around what the Highlander is. I believe the Telluride is 88. I think the Palisade is 87 point something as well. So pretty much exactly where it should be for a three row SUV, 12 volt power outlet coming standard on the EXL trim level and up back there. Grocery bag hooks can be found back there. There's four cargo tie down anchors as well. It's got some LED cargo lighting back there. And then if you were to lift up underneath of that cargo floor, you are going to find some in-floor storage because again, the spare tire is underneath. So I love the in-floor storage back there. That's definitely nice for like a tire inflator kit or an ice scraper or something like that. But then making our way up to the third row legroom that comes in at 32.5 inches for reference. I mean, even six feet tall. This is how much space I had back there. But I did love to find that there were some USB charging ports for the third row passengers because a lot of times kids will sit in that third row and they got their tablets. So it's always nice having USB charging ports back there but also rear ventilation coming standard for those third row passengers as well. It's not going to be found on the ceiling of this thing but it's actually kind of found right around where their cup holders are in case you were curious. But then making our way to the second row legroom that comes in at 40.8 inches. That's a ton. And by the way, the second row does slide forward and back. So if the third row passengers need a little more space, the second row can simply just slide up a little bit. For reference, I mean, even six feet tall. This is how much space I had in that second row there. Again, USB charging ports do come standard for the second row passengers as well. If you were curious, whether or not you wanted the captain's chairs or the bench seating, the way it works is the trail sport and then it's going to be optional for the EXL. You can get the captain's chairs which is why we have the captain's chairs with us here today. Otherwise it is going to be a bench seating configuration meaning you don't have the walkthrough in the middle. It's just going to be three seats in the middle. So that's the way that works. Rear window sunshades do come standard on the EXL trim level and up. So we got those as well. I'd love to see those back there. There is also 115 volt power outlet I found back there. So I'll always love to see that. And the cool thing about the rear ventilation is tri-zone climate control comes standard for all trim levels of the pilot. So the rear passengers actually can set their own individual temperature. So driver passenger and rear passengers all have their own individual climate, I guess you could say. But then making our way up to the front seats, claw seating coming with the LX and the EX trim levels, a synthetic leather is what comes on our trail sport that we have today. And I like the trail sport lettering found in the headrest too, that's pretty cool. Full leather seating for the EXL touring and elite trim levels, 10-way powered driver seat with two-way powered lumbar for all trim levels. So gotta love that. Heated front seats for the EX trim level and up ventilated front seats for the elite. And then memory settings for the EXL trim level and up and that's for two different drivers found here on the driver's side door there. But overall seating was incredibly comfortable, believe it or not. Seats are very adjustable. The power lumbar was great. So absolutely no issues whatsoever. The power lumbar was probably one of the most adjustable power lumbars I've found in quite a while. So you really are not going to have any issues finding your perfect driving position here in the pilot which is a good thing because this is a road trip vehicle. But then take a look at the steering wheel. It is anti-telescoping. It is leather wrapped for the EX trim level and up and then it's going to be heated for the trail sport and elite. So I had that on today because it's freezing out here in PA. So now let's go ahead and make our way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key here. You got your Honda logo on the one side. When you flip it over lock unlock the button to pop the rear tailgate, the circular button that's going to be a remote start which by the way comes on the EX trim level and up. But there is a push button start for all trim levels across the board. So all I'm going to do right now is simply put my front of the brake and press that engine start button located just to the left of that air vent there. So once started up as far as the gauges go it is a pretty cool looking gauge cluster. Let me turn down the air a little bit that's loud. Seven inch digital cluster for all trim levels but the elite and it looks good. 10.2 inch digital cluster for the elite trim level but there are steering wheel mounted controls where you can control what is displayed up on that digital gauge cluster. And by the way, when you change the drive mode the colors are going to change slightly as well. Not really a big change at all really but you got econ normal and then you're going to get some red hues in the sport driving mode but overall it gives you outside temperature how many miles you have left into empty which by the way is zero for us. That's great. And pretty much everything else you possibly want on the digital gauges up there. But so now let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality a panoramic moonroof coming with the trail sport that we have today. The touring and elite LED interior lighting coming standard overhead sunglass holder coming standard as well. You're going to find homelink controls are up to three different garage doors for the EXL trim level and up. Tri-zone climbing control like I was saying for all trim levels auto dimming rear view mirror for the EXL trim level and up. Wireless phone charger, EXL trim level and up. I think that's the sweet spot really. Multicolor ambient lighting would be nice. I wish they had that. But otherwise this thing has finished pretty darn nice. I don't mind it. So just in front of the shift buttons here you do have a wireless phone charger. You got a little bit of rubberized storage right next to that to the right of the shift buttons you have your dual cup holders. Within the center armrest there is a ton of space in there. I do like the orange contrast stitching that we have in our trail sport trim level here today. Another cool little feature here is just above the passenger side glove box you have a ton of rubberized storage and more than I'm used to seeing. So if you have a passenger there they could probably put their cell phones up there and have it very unlikely to slide around because it's all rubberized storage. It's a good bit right there. So I do like that. So overall I actually don't mind the interior quality. I think it looks pretty darn good in here. But now let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen. Seven inch color touchscreen display coming with the LX and the EX. But all other trim levels being the EXL trim level and up it's gonna give you a nine inch color touchscreen display that gives you Bluetooth and audio streaming, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. So here's the best part. For the nine inch screen at least you get wireless Android Auto, Apple CarPlay. So I love that particularly but there is a good bit you could check out up here. There's your traditional Honda clock setup that I always like to show off but there's also your radio information of course. So when it comes to the sound systems you're gonna find seven speakers and 240 watts for the LX and the EX. Nine speakers and 245 watts for the EXL and the trail sport that we have today. And then a 12 speaker Bose sound system is gonna come on the touring and elite trim level. So since we mentioned it we do have that nine speaker and 245 watt sound system with us here today. So let's go ahead and turn on the radio. Let's see what we got playing today and let's just stop the clarity of this one. I gotta be honest, it's not bad. There's definitely a subwoofer in here somewhere. There was a good bit of bass. The clarity was all right as well. The wattage isn't the highest wattage on paper but that sounded pretty darn good. So nine speakers in the size of the pilot that definitely gets the job done. I don't have any issues there but last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on the infotainment screen at least is when you do put the pilot in reverse you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board. Heck, we even got a surround view monitor there to the right giving us that bird's eye view. And by the way, this rear view camera is extremely high definition. It didn't used to be that high definition just a few years ago, I feel like so. I love that as well. But as always that is going to lead us into safety. So first let me start with the best part IIHS top safety pick plus for this fourth generation which you got to absolutely love. It doesn't get any better than that. Front side, side current airbags do come standard driver and passenger knee airbags as well. In the back you're going to have latch AKA lower anchors to tether your children for the rear car seats. Rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system but also coming standard Honda Sensing, of course. And by the way, Honda Sensing gives you forward collision warning, lane departure warning, a collision mitigation braking system, road departure mitigation system, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, driver retention monitoring system then as well. Then if you were to go with the EX trim level and up it's going to give you a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert. I love that. And the EX trim level and up is also going to give you front and rear parking sensors. So overall when it comes to my final thoughts this is the part where I'm brutally honest. So nice driving dynamics for this three row SUV probably the best driving dynamics for a three row SUV with the exception of the Mazda CX-9. But the Mazda CX-9 is such a small three row SUV it's really a two row SUV. So for three rows, this is the best. In my personal opinion when it comes to driving dynamics. Also, excellent safety. Again, it doesn't get better than an IIHS top safety pick plus. However, there is a lot of competition in this three row SUV segment. For example, you got the Toyota Highlander Hybrid that gives you exactly the same amount of space but 40 miles per gallon. This one gives you 25 on the highway. So having said that, I would love to see a hybrid configuration for the pilot in the future. I think that would do absolutely amazing. I think that's what a lot of automakers are kind of going towards right now. It's not so much the full electrification like full EVs but rather the hybrid configuration because you don't have that range worry that an EV would give you but you have incredible miles per gallon that a hybrid would give you on something that you just fill up at the regular gas station. So that is what I would be looking for from the pilot. The other thing I would mention is I would love to see some multicolor ambient lighting in this thing like like Honda and Kia tend to do. So I think that's pretty cool. So anyways, let me know what you guys think of the new pilot in the comments section below. That is about it for this one you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen. If you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube, be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're in the new car reviews because that is what we do here on this channel. After all, do appreciate you guys watching more than you know when I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay Gold.