Honda Pilot test drive since 2009 SUV

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The Honda-Pilot Monmerizer showed a wide variety of talents, says Denis Harutyunyan, having traveled on it along the roads of Karelia. Photo by the author.
Both Shvets and Reaper
In the list of countries where large cars love, the USA and Russia probably occupied the two upper lines. Honda marketers finally drew attention to this before the pilot sold only behind the ocean, but in the fall it will appear with us. The solution, albeit belated, but true: I think many people like the motto that guided the Japanese designers Bold and Modern Crimely and modern.
At the sight of a car, you are involuntarily imbued with a cautious respect for its owner: well, it cannot be that a student-ochkarik or a fragile young lady controls such an impressive suitcase. But it is worth opening the door instead of a dozen rude man in the imagination an elegant, silent and helpful butler, ready to fulfill any whim. To get into the car, you do not need to step over the arshin threshold or, conversely, fall into a low chair. Everything is in order with the finish too: the skin is pleasant, the plastic is soft, and the milk-white rounds of the devices with a silver edging resemble the old clock on the fireplace shelf. From the overall picture, only a pale green spitting of an audio system is knocked out. Need to decompose the little things? Not a problem: the passenger is not only a glove compartment, but also a long shelf, but in a wide boxing box, in addition to a 12-volt outlet and a connector for external media under the sliding curtains, small compartments, a couple of cup holders and even a coin!
The internal volume of the pilot is fantastic. Neither the driver nor the front passenger will complain about the tightness. Yes, and at the back of the place are more than enough: even having spent a dozen hours there, passengers will never contact your elbows, and the three of them can live comfortably here. By the way, manufacturers call the pilot eight, which means that three more should fit the gallery. We start the experiment: the first one went, the second went to eat? A little, but there is. Children or subtile adults will be sustained more free.
On all wheels master
Outside the window, centuries -old pine trees, mirrors of lakes flickered occasionally. Carried away by beauty, he did not immediately realize: he was used to the car, not noticing it himself. Convenient landing, good visibility, soft lulling the grumbling of the motor, I want to relax and just enjoy driving. It seems that the food was not in a hurry, but the speedometer's arrow has already exceeded the fine of the motor, and they clearly worked well on the aerodynamics despite the angular shape of the body, there is no noise of wind even at high speed.
But you should not relax on Karelian roads. Separate areas resemble the notorious washing board with uneven waves. With such obstacles, the soft and long -flowing suspension of the pilot copes playfully, but the machine demonstrates the features characteristic of many Americanized cars after each bump of the body makes several smoothly fading jumps. At the wheel, I paid a little attention to this, and an angry grunt came from the rear sofa: they say, you don’t take potatoes! After sitting from behind, he felt: from vertical swing the esophagus experienced obvious discomfort. It was my turn to besiege a zealous driver.
At first, he was not very believed by the instructor claiming: this road is normal, bad is waiting ahead. Pretty soon the road workers forgot doubts, it seems that they had once started to build a highway, and they threw it so. Here you evaluate the softness of the suspension in a completely different way: if you do not drive more than 5060 km/h, the car is quite comfortable even on a very broken primer. I do not advise you to go faster the probability of breaking the suspension rises sharply.
Suddenly, like a ray of light in a dark kingdom, a perfectly even highway arose. I took advantage of the chance to grab for his pleasure. It is amazing not even that the pilot holds a piece of meat straight, like a bulldog, and the fact that in quick turns the rolls of the body is much less than expected! So, the American car managed to instill good manners. The painting of the machine gun complements the picture and the solid supply of traction of problems on overtaking will not arise.
Fuel consumption indicators, depending on the driving style, change in a very wide range. The reason for this is the electronic system of VCM. Toward the end of the route, he argued with himself: how much will it be possible to moderate the appetite? It turned out that in forty minutes of calm driving you can reduce the average consumption from 18.6 to 13.8 liters per hundred result for such a large and heavy model is very worthy!
The element where the pilot can save real off -road. Unlike many competitors, he has neither honest mechanical nor modern electronic locks, and a multi -disk electromagnetic coupling is responsible for the distribution of the moment along the axes. Yes, and geometric patency is not so hot: the road clearance is not bad (about 200 mm), but the overhangs are too big. However, I will ask the usual question: do the owners often drive the car on real off -road?
From the tent base camp to Petrozavodsk we were taken at Honda CR-V. Sixty kilometers to the airport, I was tormented by the thought: why is it not on the pilot because it is more spacious, comfortable, more comfortable and better adapted to local roads! Not everyone can leave such an impression from the first acquaintance, the master of his craft.
From three to six
For the sake of saving fuel, the Honda designers equipped the pilot’s engine with the VCM (Variable Cylinder Management) cylinders system. With maximum load, all six cylinders work, under lighter conditions, two turn off, and with a calm movement in cruising mode, the machine goes on three cylinders completely!
The struggle for savings was not simple. The most difficult thing is to defeat vibrations and noise. To do this, the vibration -insulating active mount of the ACM engine and the noise -absorbing ANC coating was used. Technical tricks brought the fruits the motor works so gently and delicately in all modes that even sitting at the wheel to catch the moment of turning on-off the cylinders is almost impossible.
Honda Pilot is a lot of space and many opportunities for quite acceptable money.
Denis Harutyunyan
 
 
 

Source: The magazine "Driving"