HONDA PILOT

HONDA PILOT

(maisto 1:42 scale)

The Honda Pilot is Honda's second SUV fully built and designed by Honda, released in the summer of 2002 for the 2003 model year. The Honda Pilot is built in Lincoln, Alabama and was built in Alliston, Ontario, Canada up until April 2007. The Pilot is now built exclusively at the Lincoln, Alabama plant. Honda's initial SUV offering for many years was the Passport, which was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo. Where the Passport was truck-based, it replaced the extended-wheelbase EX trim of the Passport. The Pilot shares underpinnings and the powertrain with the Acura MDX, which has a lineage which can be traced to the Honda Odyssey minivan. The Pilot’s unibody construction, however, is fortified with integrated perimeter frame rails, which helps it withstand light off-road use.

The Pilot was designed to fill a large American demand for SUVs. Prior to the introduction of the Pilot, Honda only had the smaller CR-V based on the Civic, and the aforementioned Passport. However, the CR-V lacked in features many American consumers looked for in an SUV, which are overall size, passenger space, and towing capacity. The Pilot is at most designed to withstand light-duty off-roading. The Pilot has been a best-seller for Honda, with Honda selling over 100,000 Pilots in 2004, an increase of almost 20% over 2003. The Pilot is sold in North America, while Japan and Australia get its relative, the Honda MDX instead. In the Middle East, the Pilot is sold as the Honda MR-V.

For 2006, the Pilot received new front and rear fascias, a redesigned interior, and various standard safety features.