Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: No
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: No
Mack Daddies: No
Tuner Crowd: No
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: No
Euro Snobs: No
Working Stiffs: Yes
Technogeeks: No
Poseurs: No
Soccer Moms: Yes
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: Yes

Also Consider:
• Toyota Highlander
• Toyota 4runner
• Ford Explorer
• GMC Acadia
• Hyundai Veracruz
• Mazda CX-9
• A vasectomy

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: Honda
• Model tested: Pilot EX 4WD
• Model year: 2009
• Base Price: N/A
• Price as Tested: N/A
• Engine type: 3.5-liter SOHC 24-valve i-VTEC V6
• Horsepower: 250 @ 5,700 RPM
• Torque: 253@ 4,800 RPM
• Red line: 6,300 RPM
• Transmission: five-speed automatic
• Curb Weight: 4,498 lbs
• LxWxH: 190.9" x 78.5" x 72.7"
• Wheelbase: 109.2"
• Tires: 245/65/R17
• Drive type: 4WD
• 0 - 60 mph: 7.5 seconds (est)
• 1/4-mile: n/a
• Top speed: N/A
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 16/22 MPG
• NHTSA crash test rating: n/a

Also see:

• 2008 Honda Pilot, Part One

• 2008 Honda Pilot, Part Two

Acceleration:****

The 250bhp V6 is fun to use and delivers more acceleration than its drivers are likely to need. The variable cylinder management has the ability to switch between 3, 4 or 6 cylinders seamlessly and is not noticeable in its use, except in the engine's ability to deliver decent mileage for the form factor.

Braking:****

More than enough for even hard driving and repeated use, which is more than will likely ever be asked of it. The Hill Start Assist keeps you from rolling backwards on even the steepest of slopes.

Ride:****

Firm yet compliant, the Pilot's stiff body is an excellent starting point from which its suspension can work exactly like it's supposed to.

Handling:****

Surprisingly fun to drive for an SUV of this size, it's competent both off-road and on. We were surprised by just how well it carved canyon roads and took to the rocky trails above them. We wouldn't want to go mudding in one, but the Pilot is more than capable of accessing remote campsites. And we had fun sliding all over dirt trails with the Variable Torque Management locked into 70%-of-torque-to-the-rear mode.

Gearbox:****

The five-speed auto works best with overdrive off, but otherwise performed as it should. There's no low-range transfer case, but the Variable Torque Management does a surprisingly good job of helping out off-road. Transmission cooler standard.

Audio:***

What at first looks like too many buttons proves to be an intuitive, decent stereo system with iPod and USB inputs.

Toys:****

In addition to the obvious Sat/Nav — easier to read than the Accord's — the interior features all sorts of clever touches that will help make this an extremely practical vehicle. There are storage bins galore, the mid row seats slide fore and aft and split 60/40, folding flat, as does the rear bench. The rear view camera in the rear view mirror works well so you can watch people in the back enjoy the separate climate controls. Basically, everything needed to make family trips as stress-free as possible.

Value:****

What price utility? The Pilot carries 8 in safety, can tow up to 4500lbs with no modifications, can haul plenty of stuff inside, is good to drive, and for its size offers decent economy. There's probably not a more practical car on offer from the high $20ks to the mid $30ks.

Overall: ****

Not the sexiest car on sale, but it is one of the most practical. The Pilot competently goes where all SUVs and CUVs should go, but typically don't bother. Better to drive than most of the competition too, it nevertheless fails to set our fickle hearts on fire. Which is a shame. For us.

Also see:

• 2009 Honda Pilot, Part One

You see, with up to six or seven beefy bloggers, plus the occasional girly man (I'm raising my hand here) to haul around, most of the sexy sports cars we dream about are ruthlessly inefficient. Requiring Ray — we let him drive, it makes him feel powerful — to make an equivalent number of journeys to the number of people being moved just isn't the best way to start off sixteen hours of live auto show coverage. Aside from the fact that none of us enjoy being there, Ray's full blown borderline OCD has him biting our heads off at the best of times. Throwing cramped quarters into the equation would probably bring about the end of Jalopnik as we know it.

A minivan would probably be best suited to our needs. Designed with nothing but road-going people capacity in mind, they're exactly what we need. The problem is, our vanity (once again, my hand way up in the air) gets in the way. Hence the constant stream of SUVs, they provide the utility without making us look like we're on the way to a sci-fi convention, Hardigree excepted. We know we're not kidding anyone — the closest we usually get to off-roading is when we get lost in downtown Detroit — but in the unbelievably egotistical world of automotive journalism (we won't call it an industry as that would suggest something productive is, on the whole, achieved by those involved) trucks allow us to cling to whatever shred of cred we still have. At least until we get drunk and pick fights with Angus MacKenzie that is.

Those trucks usually take the form of some variant of the Suburban/Yukon/Escalade platform. An inefficient use of space if we ever saw one. Not only do they only offer cramped accommodation for seven, but they're also larger outside than Ray's apartment. We like them mostly because GM will hand them over at the merest hint of a phone call. And because we think they lend our badly dressed, overweight asses some sort of class. Something that's lost the second Travis exposes his crack attempting to climb into the way back seats.

Not only are these trucks ruthlessly non-reformed of us, but they're also a stupid choice, never delivering on their promised utility. This is where the Pilot comes in. Possibly the most unassuming car we've ever come across, and by that we mean it looks so bland we actually have no opinion on its design, it is nevertheless ridiculously practical. Here, in the footprint of a Highlander, you have eight seats, enough interior capacity to carry a stack of plywood sheets, enough cup holders to hold a week's worth of spilled coffee and skittles, and fuel economy that manages to creep above 20mpg, depending of course on none of us actually being allowed to drive it that is

The new Pilot manages to make all other crossovers, and certainly every SUV ever look ridiculous by somehow actually delivering on the utility they've always promised but never delivered. It's safe, it tows, it carries eight, you could move house in it, and it drives well. It's even good off road. Imagine that. This is great news to tens of thousands of American families with the good sense to buy one, but bad for us. Not just because Gawker's too cheap to ever actually shell out for a car, but because, caught up in our own fantasies of performance and image, we'll never be smart enough to buy one ourselves. We'll be missing out. Honest.

As you can tell, there's not a huge difference between this an the concept, other than a revised headlight and a bit more curve in the hatch area. The interior for this particular model is interesting as well.

Specifically, grab us some interior shots along with some great exterior shots of the new 2009 Pilot and if you've got the best pics and you get them in first, we'll pay you some cold hard cash. Just e-mail us at tips-at-jalopnik-dot-com once you've got them and we'll talk you through how you can send them to us. Now hop to it — the deadline's tomorrow night at midnight. Also, standard contest rules apply. [via Car & Driver]