

The Honda Pilot is now aging rather and so this new model will be a welcome improvement. It was photographed while it was testing and it looked like the bodywork was production ready as it even had Honda badges on it. The sheetmetal is hard to make out though as the car does have rather a lot of camouflage on it.

The current model has been around since 2009 and it has remained pretty much the same apart from an update in 2012 when it had its grille removed. Six years ago it was way ahead of the competition but now its competition has gone for lighter models and it no longer looks current. It the most recent comparison list it was placed last and so it needs to re-establish itself in the market.

The platform in the past was shared with the Acura MDX luxury crossover and it looks like there will be the same done here. The prototype pictured shows more overhand at the back than previous Pilots have and the wheelbase to overhang ratio look very like that on the MDX. The roof looks longer which means that the third row of seats could be more spacious.

The camouflage does hide a lot and therefore it is not easy to see what it will look like. However, a few clues are there and it looks like there will be a mix of old and new features. The back lights look square like the current ones but the front lights are horizontal and sleek like those on the Accord. The front looks like it has a lot of grille openings, but until the camouflage is off it is hard to see for sure whether it will work or not. The Automoblox look of the previous model has certainly gone and it will look more like the CR-V and HR-V models.

There will just be a single engine with this model, like there is with the current one. This is very likely to be the 3.5 litre V6 which is injected and will work on the front wheels or all four. IT is expected that the AWD system will also be in there as the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive used in the Acura would be too expensive.

There are some choices that they could have with regards to transmission though. It is expected that the six speed automatic used by the Accord V-6 will be used by the Pilot. However, as fuel economy requirements are tougher they may be tempted to use the nine speed automatic from the 2015 Aura TLX V-6 sedan instead. However, Acura may want to keep that for itself but with it being so expensive then it may make more financial safe to use it other cars, such as the Pilot as well.

The Pilot will compete with the Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota Highlander, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango. It is expected that it will devbut soon as the bodywork looks production ready and so it could appear at the Los Angeles Auto Show in the autumn and be in showrooms at the beginning of next year. It is expected that the price will not change that much as this part of the market is very competitive so is likely to have the same base price of $30,700.

