The 23 Pilot resets the bar for this class of vehicle
At its core, it's a three-row family SUV. And we're delivering the kind of features and performance that our customers have come
to expect. But now, we're adding true capability for that off-road performance adventure
At Honda, we've been developing light trucks right here in America for over 20 years
And the Pilot has gone through three previous generations. And based on its architecture and power training, its performance has been much more capable
than many people have thought. Building upon that with the Trail Sport, we've gone out and we've really considered what
are all the things that you really need to go off-road and have a great adventure
But this is the ultimate family SUV. And so we couldn't forget that this thing needs to be great on-road as well as off-road
As we all know, auto development is loaded with trade-offs. The ground rule is to get to the trail in the most comfortable three-row SUV possible
Our team proposed clever engineering solutions, delivering the on-road performance that I
was demanding, as well as the off-road capability that they had been dreaming of
My goal for Trail Sport was really to build something that I wanted to own
And it was as simple as that. So I have a long history of off-roading
And being able to bring some of that passion into the Pilot was really my ultimate goal
So when we put everything together, what we have delivered is a compilation of answers
to the question, wouldn't it be great if we did this? Wouldn't it be great if we did that
And this Trail Sport is the answer. When we started out with this project, we went out to explore some trails, and our available
modes didn't really match the scenery that we saw. It wasn't mud and it wasn't sand
So we thought, we need something that really matches the scene, and we can pour all of
our capability and change all the vehicle settings to be perfect for this thing
So then the Trail Mode was born. So our internal rating system was born out of the need to really quantify the target
metrics that we needed to deliver the performance that we felt was necessary for the Trail Sport truck
In the end, what we have is a feature set for this vehicle that considers more aspects
of off-roading than ever before. The Honda Pilot Trail Sport was developed to perform a certain event in most of the
terrains across the United States. Most terrains include mud, include rocks, loose rocks, sand, v-ditches
One of the key features of the Pilot Trail Sport is the incorporation of the steel skid
plates that you can find in the front and under the fuel tank
So we went about developing a completely new requirement to ensure that the skid plates
can withstand the weight of the vehicle. We took a more holistic view of when we tried developing the skid plates
The skid plate was an important element for the skid plate because that was the core functionality
But we also had to look at all the other impacts by incorporating the skid plate
So we had to keep in mind cross-roadness. We had to keep in mind serviceability
We had to keep in mind aerodynamics. And we had to also keep in mind aspects like corrosion
So to do this, we made sure that the material we picked, the bolt size we picked, do not
impact cross-roadness. We added air vents onto the skid plates to ensure that it doesn't impact heat resistance
and aerodynamics. So the durability team incorporated the requirements from Power Sport and adjusted it for automotive
to ensure no damage would occur from debris such as gravel, sand, tall grass and mud
One of the most satisfying moments as an engineer is as part of our development, we had to take
a pilot's transport out in the real world to evaluate the performance of the skid plate
And we went to terrains which are rated as difficult. And throughout these terrains such as Fins and Fins, Hell's Revenge in Moab or the Broken
Arrow Trail in Sedona, we came out of those trails with just contact marks on the skid plate
No damage at all. We literally beat up the vehicle by driving it on very difficult trails
And our biggest question was how is it going to perform once we come back on-road and off-road
It performed as it's expected to perform. Good on-road, good off-road. Part of our protection package that we are emphasizing on the pilot's transport is the
incorporation of both the front and the rear recovery hooks. So on the front, we've incorporated a recovery hook right on the front skid plate
And to evaluate the performance of that, we ensured that the recovery hook can pull up
to two times the GVWR of the vehicle. When you're out there on the trail, often you'll find these things called B-ditch
And what a B-ditch is, is basically where the water has cut through the trail and formed
this diagonal passage. And when that ditch gets deep enough, when you're crossing it, you can lose traction
with two of the opposing tires. That situation is quite challenging for all off-road vehicles
So with our trail sport, we really worked hard to address that particular obstacle and
optimize the system to address that, to where our trail sport will cross over those B-ditches
with significantly greater ease. So our solution for that is what we call trail logic
It's an exclusive logic that's only available on trail sports. And what it does is it transfers up to 75% of the available rear disc force to the tractive
tire in that moment, allowing the vehicle to continue its forward progress
But also with trail mode, we'll activate what our new TrailWatch camera system automatically
when you're entering into trail mode. What makes our TrailWatch system unique is how we've integrated it in with trail mode
So you don't have to think about it. As soon as you tell the vehicle that you're entering the trail by putting it in trail mode
the camera system automatically activates. And one thing that we found is that the camera needs to stay on up to 15 miles per hour
What's really important and different from other systems is that our camera reactivates
below that speed. It's seamless and you don't have to think about turning it on and off constantly throughout your time
Trail logic. Trail logic. Trail logic. Trail logic. Trail logic. And we have finally got our vehicle put all the way together
And we've turned down to a trail in Kentucky that we had really struggled with early on
in development. And it became kind of one of our targets to overcome. And we took our trail sport back to that trail
We went on the same challenging area. And our trail sport shined
It climbed up this obstacle where it really struggled in the past. And it went up it with the greatest ease
And I just have the biggest smile on my face because all the slope over all these years
came to fruition. And it was better than I could have imagined. I think that's a unique characteristic for Honda
This power of dreams that we work toward, we were able to combine what Honda's known for
our great on-road dynamics. And at the same time, deliver true off-road performance without any compromise getting
to the trailhead. That's a unique success for the Honda Pilot and Pilot Trail Sport