2019 Honda Pilot Review

There were already a lot of things we liked about last year's Honda Pilot. Even among its all-star midsize SUV rivals, the Pilot got high marks for its spacious interior, powerful and efficient V6 engine, and clever storage solutions. Our only significant gripes concerned the unrefined nature of the gear shifts coming from the available nine-speed transmission and the unintuitive touchscreen infotainment system. Well, now we don't even have those to complain about.

For 2019, Honda has retuned the nine-speed, eliminating much of the low-speed stutters and jerkiness that it used to exhibit. It's still not as smooth as the six-speed transmission found on the less expensive trim levels, but it's considerably better than last year. The infotainment system's user interface has also been updated. It's more intuitive to use this year and has a physical volume knob that replaces the previous touch-sensitive volume slider. Rounding out the 2019 Honda Pilot's changes are new tech features, added standard safety features and styling enhancements.

Considering that the Pilot was one of the highest rated in the class before these improvements, we're certain that we'll like it even more now. We're sure you will, too. In a segment that includes the very desirable Mazda CX-9, Toyota Highlander and Volkswagen Atlas, it could very well be the best when it comes to a family-friendly choice. The Pilot definitely deserves a spot on your short list.

Notably, we picked the 2019 Honda Pilot as one of Edmunds' Best Midsize SUVs, Best Family SUVs, and Best Gas Mileage SUVs for this year.

What's it like to live with?

With a spacious cabin, exceptional comfort and a tremendously roomy cabin, the Honda Pilot is the quintessential three-row crossover. As soon as we got behind the wheel of this newest model, our editors universally agreed: The Pilot was the best of the bunch. We immediately reached out to Honda and secured a fully loaded Elite model for our long-term test fleet. Over the course of a year and 25,000 miles, we drove our Black Forest green tester to Las Vegas, Sacramento and Oregon. Usually, it performed the commuting duties typical of a family-friendly SUV. To read about our experiences, read our long-term Pilot test. Note that while we tested a 2016 Pilot, most of our observations still apply to the 2019 model. The only exceptions deal with the infotainment and transmission improvements Honda made for this year.