Why you should buy the 2009 Honda Pilot:
You have kids and take them places. Those places include bulk discount stores, the mountains, the beach, Home Depot and lacrosse practice. The utility in SUV appeals more than the style or image. You find the prospect of carrying sheets of plywood bizarrely intriguing. You need to tow, but don't want to buy an otherwise impractical vehicle in order to do so. You think that Ohio deserves just as much of your hard earned as Detroit.

Why you shouldn't buy this car:
You think an SUV will make you look tough and/or sporty. You're single. You live the kind of "Xtreme" lifestyle that requires a plethora of tribal tattoos. You think SUVs are the living embodiment of Hitler and George W. Bush combined.

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

All of our reviews are always available by clicking the Jalopnik Reviews tag in the masthead.

The 2009 Honda Pilot isn't the fastest or most exciting car to go on sale this year, nor is it the best looking. But, if we're honest with ourselves — which honestly, we aren't very often — it's probably the one we should buy. But that's the problem with honesty, it just isn't very exciting.

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.

Earlier today we asked all of you in the Detwa area to see if you could grab a photo of the 2009 Honda Pilot, and one of you rose to our Honda Pilot spy photo challenge by snapping photos so quickly that you beat an actual spy photographer that tried to do the same thing. Props to Steven Menlen who was in the Ypsilanti area and grabbed some great photos. We'll be contacting you soon with information on the $500 smackers you earned. In the meantime, everyone enjoy photos inside and out of the new Pilot.

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.

When we saw the 2009 Honda Pilot in person, we couldn't help but notice it looked conspicuously different from the Honda Pilot sketch released earlier by Honda. It's not news that sketches are often exaggerated versions of the production models (few production models end up with 40-inch rims, for instance). But the Honda Pilot sketch v. Honda Pilot reality is a particularly striking difference. Our analysis below the jump.

Overall, the sketch was significantly more aggressive looking than anything we'd expected from Honda. Thus, we were not surprised when the final version showed up as a rather milquetoast version of what was hinted at.

1. Ginormous Wheels &ndash Though the wheels and fenders are larger than sketched, the real difference is the aggressive looking five spokes get swapped for very urban looking six spokes.

2. Ride Height &ndash The Pilot does carry some stature into the production model: it is disappointingly not two feet off the ground.

3. Bumper/Grille/Hood &ndash The sketch promised a refined Grand Cherokee from the front, with sharply raked headlights and grille. What we ended up with is less macho off-roader and more doughy eyed, bucktooth kid from the end of the block who isn't quite right.

4. Short Greenhouse &ndash We knew this was too good to be true. A short, sporty greenhouse on a Honda SUV? The high, slightly angling beltline that was so compelling in the sketch becomes too Duplo block on the production version.

5. Mirrors &ndash We were hoping that Honda would be bold enough to build a truck without mirrors. No luck.

6. Curves &ndash The rear is the most misleading portion. Taking into account that, yes, the car has taillights, there's basically nothing about the curvy rear quarter of the sketch that makes it into the actual production model.

7. Door handles &ndash Once again Honda gives into the pressure we've put on automakers to provide door handles. Wimps.

While we're mostly having a little fun at Honda's expense over a practice that all automakers engage in, this particular example is particularly hilarious given that they released the sketch in December and have been testing this version since at least August according to Honda Pilot spy photos from earlier in the year.

The 2009 Honda Pilot shares a platform with the '07 Acura MDX, starting at a lower price, with simpler features, seating 8 people. It also features a new Variable Cylinder Management system, which means the engine, can run on 6, 4 or 3 cylinders. The looks draw heavily on classic American SUV design themes, but improve upon them in a clean, contemporary way. Just look at the area behind the C-pillars for instance; it resembles what the Jeep Liberty should have looked like. Inside, the central instrument binnacle is highlighted by a clear, lighted cover that certainly looks much better than the shabby black plastic you'll find there on most vehicles. The full press release follows the jump.

01/13/2008 - DETROIT -

A prototype of the next-generation Honda Pilot is being unveiled at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today.

The prototype conveys design features of the more boldly-styled 2009 Pilot, set to debut in spring 2008, which emphasizes authentic SUV styling, clever and more accommodating interior packaging and advanced technologies for safety, fuel efficiency and convenience.

"The Pilot's pioneering formula improves for 2009 by enhancing its combination of refinement and efficiency with even more traditional SUV strengths," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda. "A powerful exterior design communicates strength and allows for more space inside."

Functional eight-passenger seating, a hallmark of the Pilot, becomes even easier to access in the third row as key dimensions for legroom, cargo and occupant space increase in all seating positions. A redesigned platform allows even more refined handling and ride comfort to exist seamlessly with all-weather and medium-duty off-road capabilities.

To further enhance safety, the Pilot will feature the Honda-exclusive Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE®) body structure and the most extensive use of high-strength steel in any Honda product to date.

The ACE body structure enhances frontal collision compatibility with vehicles of different sizes and bumper heights. A pedestrian injury mitigation design in the front of the vehicle is designed to help absorb energy in the event of a collision.

A crossover SUV platform underpins the Pilot to provide the best of the car and truck worlds by integrating the refined traits and packaging advantages of a unit body car design with the utility and capability of an SUV design. A V-6 engine introduces the latest generation of Honda fuel-saving Variable Cylinder Management™ (VCM®) technology that operates in 6-cylinder mode for power and 4- and 3-cylinder modes for efficiency, an improvement compared to the existing Pilot's available VCM system that works exclusively in 6- and 3-cylinder modes.

Three rows of seats provide a high degree of adaptability for people and large cargo loads. The first row provides a commanding view of the road from two captains' chairs. A wide center stack and center console form the styling anchor for the interior with a design that emphasizes spaciousness and power, while allowing for convenient access to navigation, entertainment and climate-control systems.

The 60/40 split second row, now more spacious, slides further forward for increased ease of access to the third row. The 60/40 split third row, now supplies enough knee room for an above-average-sized adult male to fit comfortably, making the Pilot's third row among the most practical in the industry. Each side of the second and third row independently folds down for cargo. A flat floor is created when the second and third rows are folded down.

The Pilot originally debuted as a 2003 model in July of 2002. Design and development of the 2003 Pilot and the 2009 Pilot were carried out at Honda R&D Americas in Raymond, Ohio, and Torrance, California. The Pilot is assembled* at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln.

Among its numerous accolades, the Honda Pilot has earned Car and Driver Magazine's prestigious "5Best Truck" award on six consecutive occasions (2002-2007). The current-generation 2008 Pilot is also among an elite group of vehicles to receive both a "Top Safety Pick 2008" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and a 5-star crash safety rating for frontal and side collisions from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)**.

* Honda products are produced using domestic and globally-sourced parts.
** Government star ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) New Car Assessment Program (www.safercar.gov. Model tested with standard side-impact airbags.)

Honda's CEO, Takeo "The First Person to Call Me Dr. F Loses an Eye" Fukui says the company is working up a clean diesel V6 that will likely power the Honda Pilot and Acura MDX, AutoWeek reports. The prospective V6 is the second of Honda's new diesel engines to come to light, the first being a 2.2-liter four set to arrive in 2009, potentially in the Civic and CRV. In the same interview Fukui also said the company's recent move to turbocharge its new RDX may trickle down to Honda brand products, which may finally vindicate the kids with boost gauges sprouting from their Civics' A-pillars like weird, analog fruit. – Mike Spinelli

Honda developing diesel V6 [AutoWeek]

Related:
Honda's Oil Burner Is Nigh: Clean Diesel Coming by 2009 [internal]