2010 Honda Pilot Overview Change Vehicle

This 2010 Honda Pilot overview explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2010 Pilot, and includes Honda Pilot safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

The popular Honda Pilot was completely redesigned last year. As a result, the automaker makes no changes for 2010.

Honda makes it easy to find a 2010 Pilot that you’ll like by offering the popular family SUV in four different flavors ranging from the standard LX, the well-equipped EX, the luxurious EX-L, and the top-of-the-line Touring.

The Pilot LX model is equipped with cloth seats, a tilt/telescopic steering wheel, power windows, power side mirrors, power door locks with remote keyless entry, cruise control, a trip computer, a compass, and front and rear air conditioning. The LX also has a seven-speaker stereo with CD/MP3 playing capability and an auxiliary audio input jack for a portable music player. Exteriors feature an integrated trailer hitch, 17-inch steel wheels, and dark-tinted privacy glass.

For additional amenities, the EX model is a good choice. Honda dresses the exterior with alloy wheels, roof rails, and fog lights, while the cabin is equipped with triple-zone automatic climate control, a power driver’s seat, satellite radio, a six-disc CD changer, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, an exterior temperature display, and a HomeLink universal garage door opener. To gain leather, you’ll want the Pilot EX-L, which also comes with heated front seats, heated side mirrors, a power sunroof, and a reversing camera with the display embedded into the auto-dimming rearview mirror.

Buyers with plenty of budget will want to examine the Touring model, which includes Bluetooth cell phone pairing, a navigation system with reversing camera display, front and rear parking sensors, a power rear liftgate, second-row sunshades, and a premium sound system with 10 speakers and a USB interface.

Honda does not offer factory options on the 2010 Pilot, with the exception of a rear-seat entertainment system for the EX-L and Touring models. Honda dealers offer a wide range of upgrades and accessories that can be added to any model.

The 2010 Honda Pilot is fitted with the automaker's trusty 3.5-liter V6 engine, rated at 250 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque. Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) technology is standard on every model, a feature that automatically and seamlessly "shuts down" multiple cylinders during steady cruising to improve fuel economy.

The Pilot comes standard with front-wheel drive. Those in the Snow Belt, or who prefer a bit more traction off the line, will want to opt for Honda's Variable Torque Management four-wheel-drive (VTM-4) system. The VTM-4 system, shared with the Acura MDX, automatically manages power delivery to the wheels based on throttle inputs and wheel speeds.

City fuel economy is not great, but thanks to VCM the Pilot puts up some pretty good highway mileage ratings. With front-wheel drive, the SUV gets 17 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway, according to the EPA. When equipped with VTM-4, the Pilot returns 16-mpg city/22-mpg highway. All Pilots use regular unleaded fuel, negating the need for pricey premium.

Honda's 2010 Pilot is fitted with an impressive array of standard safety equipment including six airbags with three-row side curtains that feature a rollover sensor to help provide added protection in that type of crash. Stability and traction control are also standard, along with active head restraints and antilock brakes with brake assist. Honda has also employed its Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) design philosophy to the Pilot’s underlying structure. A reversing camera is included on the Pilot EX-L and Touring models, and the Touring also gets front and rear parking assist sensors that can detect other unseen obstacles as well.

In crash tests performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), the 2010 Honda Pilot earns top crash protection ratings. The only exceptions are a 4-Star rating for resistance to rollover, as assigned by the NHTSA for both front- and all-wheel-drive models, and a Marginal rating for roof crush strength as determined by the IIHS.

Long known for its impressive dependability, the 2010 version of the Honda Pilot receives a better-than-average reliability prediction from Consumer Reports. J.D. Power and Associates is slightly less optimistic, assigning the SUV a slightly above average long-term dependability prediction.

For the umpteenth time in a row, Vehix is recommending the Honda Pilot. Yes, its hard-working 3.5-liter V6 comes up a bit short in the horsepower race and the eight-passenger SUV isn't "trail rated," but those bragging rights have nothing to do with what makes the Pilot a year-over-year showroom success. The Honda Pilot wins over consumers because it is…. well… the McDonalds of SUVs. Owners always know exactly what it will deliver during each and every year of ownership: dependability, safety, versatility, fuel efficiency and all-weather capability. These are the traits that have characterized this mid-size SUV since day one.

By Michael Harley