Walking up to the Sonic Grey Pearl Honda Pilot TrailSport, two things immediately caught my eye. The first is the blacked-out accent and the matching 18-inch alloy convincingly, making this newly released model look a lot like the top-of-the-line black version. In fact, apart from the size and style of these rims and the absence of indication signs on the grill, the two could be twins.
The second is this TrailSport — Honda's "adventure readiness" trim line — without any recovery hooks. In fact, there aren't even any detachable hatches in the front bumper that can pop out to accept the tow hook (which disappeared along with the aforementioned eyelets when it came to the third-generation Pilot introduced in 2016). Unless you add an optional trailer bag, there's nothing in the rear either. A little deeper, I glanced at the landing gear. There are also no bolted skid plates. Well......?
Confused, I went around to the rear tailgate to make sure I got the keys to the correct vehicle. Sure enough, an orange badge was taped on it, telling me it was indeed a TrailSport version of Pilot, but without any visible off-road prerequisites, what does that mean?
Explorer, adventurer, explorer. Whichever hashtag you find best, active lifestyle enthusiasts have become one of the hottest items in consumer spending. Automakers have moved quickly: Subaru recently unveiled their Wilderness Series, Toyota has expanded the TRD Pro to other models, Jeep has their Trail Rated Trailhawks, and now Honda has TrailSport.
Sadly, unlike the example of the race above, Honda's TrailSport series actually adds only a little ground clearance and some aesthetic changes. The Pilot I'm driving is indeed 15mm taller than its stabilizing partner, but lifting alone doesn't earn it any extra merit badges. There were no significant changes in the approach and departure angles (19.6/20.8 vs. 19.7/21.8), and the lack of recovery points or bottom protection would cause me to stop before the adventure and then venture down anything more aggressive than a rutted or washed-out cabin or fire path.
However, if that's all you want to do, Pilot (regardless of the trim package) is still a comfortable and clunky way to achieve that.
Internally, admittedly a bit dated, ticked all the necessary boxes. The heated and powered captain's chair at the front was well supported and supported. The orange TrailSport logo is wrapped in black leather and printed on the headrest, with matching orange stitching in all three rows. There is a huge storage compartment between the two front seats, and there is a wireless charging station under the central stack.
The 7-inch TFT screen is cleverly integrated into the dashboard, and I'm pleased to report that the media and HVAC controls consist of buttons and knobs. There are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but both are only available over a wired connection. There are four USB ports in total, but surprisingly TrailSport abandons 115-volt outlets, so if you're the "plugged in" and "unplugged" type, you might want to grab one inverter: there are three 12-volt outlets available.
Passengers – even adults – have plenty of room to enjoy the journey, regardless of which row they end up in, and it's easy to get in/out of the back of the bus. If you don't need to use the third row, the Pilot TrailSport has a cargo capacity of nearly 1,600 litres (as is true for all pilots) and should be more than enough for most campers or campers.
From behind the wheels, visibility is good, and the TrailSport has a rearview camera on the passenger side mirror that activates when the correct signal starts to click. Surprisingly, there is no one installed on the driver's side, and trailSport does not include active blind spot monitoring.
Powered by a 280 hp, 3.5-litre V6 engine, the Pilot is dynamic on the go. Despite the absence of turbocharging, the torque curve starts low and evolves linearly. Paired with a 9-speed automatic transmission, power is distributed through Honda's i-VTM4 (Intelligent Variable Torque Management) all-wheel drive system. There are switchable drive modes — Normal, Snow, Mud, and Sand — that can be customized for throttle response and power distribution to optimize performance at a given setup, but don't look for locking the differential or disconnecting the joystick. I experimented mainly with snow mode because it was the range of challenging terrain I had experienced, but the white stuff wasn't deep enough to guarantee the transition.
I did find the gearbox a bit clumsy during its gear selection process, looking around and pecking for a second. In any case, the overall acceleration is confident, the motor revs at just 1,500 rpm while cruising on the highway There is a sport mode that keeps the revs longer before changing gears, but I found that simply disabling eco mode is enough to make a different day - driving today. The ride quality of the longer-stroke suspension feels roughly the same as other pilots, which is not a bad thing at all.
At least in my experience, what's less impressive are some decisions about user touchpoints. The gear selector is a collection of four independent buttons. During the week I used Pilot TrailSport, these were neither intuitive nor enjoyable. To make matters worse, switching between reversing and driving requires me to look at the button I want to touch, rather than simply moving a physical shifter with my eyes fixed on the road. A proven true shifter takes up as much space as possible and provides a better user experience.
Even more puzzling is that the parking brake is still a manually operated pedal assembly. While I certainly don't object to a little old-school style like this, it comes at the expense of a comfortable dead pedal. I don't brag about E-wide feet, but I still find that the perch isn't wide enough to get old left-handers to sit up straight.
Rumor has it that the newly redesigned fourth-generation Honda Pilot will break the cover in time for the 2023 model year, and the current aging version is not without its drawbacks. But having said that, I never felt like I was missing anything important. I don't think what Honda didn't do was that it failed to come up with any substantial off-road enhancements to match the TrailSport brand, especially given the performance of the race and the fact that the modified Pilot finished in the top five in the Rebelle Rally a few years ago. That's it, it's really just an aesthetic package.
Whether this will affect your purchase of dollars depends entirely on how much you and your family want to seek, adventure, or explore. Canada Goose has built an empire that makes city people look as if they're having a cup with Shackleton in Antarctica, so I don't think there's really a real harm in simply looking at this part, even if you're just heading to the new, telecommuting.
2022 HONDA PILOT TRAILSPORT at a glance
Body style: Five-door eight-person medium-sized crossover
Configuration: Front-mounted engine, 9-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Engine: 3.5 liters, 6 cylinders; power: 280 hp
Capacity: 524 litres (rear seats up), 1,583 litres (rear seats down), 3,092 litres (all seats down)
Fuel Economy: 12.3/9.5/11.1 L/100km (City/Road/Combo)