TOV had a great Q&A interview with the two members of the 2009 Pilot's product development team, Rob Keough and Marc Ernst. Rob Keough is the Sr. Product Planner for the 2009 Pilot while Marc is the Assistant LPL in charge of Testing.
Here are the highlights as I see them;
-the 2009 Honda Pilot is more squared off compared to the competition due to the fact that they wanted to maintain good headroom in all 3 rows. By sloping to the back like others, you'd loose alot of headspace.
-the 2009 Honda Pilot is 'stretched' a little more than the previous version to increase the cargo space behind the 3rd row. Where that additional stretch went also into was in passenger legroom.
-this is not just a totally onroad vehicle - it does have some offroad capabilities and we wanted to communicate that in the styling, and that's how we came up with the overall shape.
-a new upscale 'Touring' trim level is going to be introduced plus the base model (LX) will come with even more standard features than now. I imagine it will be alot like how the Honda Odyssey Touring is pkged.
-the engine will have the 2nd generation variable cylinder management, which has 6-, 4-, and 3-cylinder modes for the best fuel economy.
-A.C.E. body structure will be incorporated along with the increased use of high tensile steel. (stronger=safer, lighter steel as well).
-the 2009 Pilot will not have a diesel engine, although we won't talk about plans for years beyond that.
-the body weight increases only slightly and they managed to improve fuel economy as well as the overall capacity of the vehicle.
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