The 2026 Honda Pilot is a Love Letter to Families, Signed, Sealed and Delivered
With a spacious third row, clever storage spaces, a removable middle seat and all-wheel drive, the 2026 Honda Pilot feels too good to be true. Except it is.
Some of us feel loved when someone else takes the time to make life’s “simple” chores and errands easier. If engineers could put that feeling into car form, it feels like the 2026 Honda Pilot. This family-sized SUV checks every box, giving families a long list of amenities, excellent passenger capacity, and thanks to a recent redesign, handsome styling.
Let’s be honest for a second: no one understands the need for practicality in a car like a parent whose days consist of school drop-off and pick-ups, extracurriculars, and grocery shopping. You can feel the impact of moms on Honda Pilot’s design team. The Elite AWD is the top-tier model I reviewed, and it has a family-friendly price, too, starting at $53,695—less than the top-shelf Kia Telluride or Hyundai Palisade.
Families are grateful for a car that is designed with them in mind, and the 2026 Honda Pilot AWD Elite is no exception.
This story is 100% human-researched and written based on actual first-person knowledge, extensive experience and expertise on the subject of cars and trucks.
From the Outside, You’d Never Guess the Honda Pilot Has So Much Space
Aside from the updated design on the outside, one of the first things I noticed was the space on the inside. The cargo space behind the third row is pretty impressive, with more than enough space for groceries or a small stroller. I never imagined that there’d be as much space, based on how big it is. What really shocked me, though, was the underfloor storage in the trunk.
The space is made to store the removable middle seat in the second row, so it’s still with you but out of the way. If you keep the middle seat installed, then you can use that space to keep other items handy but out of the way, like muddy shoes or boots, sweaty sports gear, or things like gallons of milk or bottles of wine from being slung around. I was thinking it’d be great for keeping other items like a first aid kit, boxes of tissues, or cleaning supplies in the car but out of sight, too.
Access to the rear cargo space was easy, too, with features like a hands-free tailgate opening and an easy-to-reach close and lock-all-the-doors button, which will keep parents feeling spoiled for a long time.
Good Looks Like this Don’t Need Cheesy Pickup Lines
One of the things I loved most about the Honda Pilot is its rugged exterior. This is no typical “mom car,” it’s a highly capable SUV with ground clearance that’s high enough to cross streams at 7.3 inches, and a V-6 engine that produces 285 horsepower—just enough power to pass on the highway, but feel poised around town. It’s torquey, too, and strong tow up to 5,000 pounds, making it powerful enough to haul most trailers and campers. The interior and driving style, though, are still sophisticated enough to take you and your girlfriends to the mall without it cramping your style.
But the Pilot can be what you make it. Depending on the trim you choose, you could have a handsome, rugged Trailsport with a roof rack, sporty fender flares, all-terrain tires and more fun colors, or a solid white and premium-leaning Elite model with suede-like trim on the seats, quilted leather seat backs, and a Bose sound system to serenade you. The Elite comes with 20” alloy wheels, giving you that extra bit of curb appeal. There’s also a stealthy Black Edition, too.
There’s a Drive Mode for Every Mood
The trusty V6 is a strong point, but the drive modes helped it feel and behave differently, and in such a nice way. There are a few to choose from: Normal, Eco, Sport, Snow, Trail, Sand and Tow. All seven can change how the engine, all-wheel drive, and transmission behave, depending on what you need it to do, and what kind of terrain you’re tackling.
If you’re dropping the kids off at school or running errands, Normal or Econ mode will do just fine. It also helps keep mileage high during normal driving. If you’re feeling a bit more spry, Sport mode will give you a thrill with its grippier handling and more reactive acceleration. Trail, Sand, and Snow are built for off-roading, and it’ll automatically sharpen the all-wheel drive to improve traction in those situations.
Towing, as implied in the name, changes the engine and transmission to keep the gears low and torque high for the best pulling and hauling conditions.
Honda Designed the Pilot to Fit Seamlessly Into Different Lifestyles
Honda’s mission for the Pilot in 2026 was to make it more accessible to just about every family’s lifestyle, and that rings true with all seven trims, different add-ons and packages, and the company’s decision to make more top-end features available on lower-end trims, so picking the less expensive model to fit your budget doesn’t feel like a compromise.
For instance, the Sport edition of the Honda Pilot starts at a more affordable $42,395. The Pilot tops out around $55,195 for the Black Edition, which is even spicier than the $53,695 Elite we drove. Between there you have EX-L, TrailSport, Touring, and Touring Blackout editions to choose from. All-Wheel Drive (AWD) is available on all the trims, but the new 2nd-Gen Intelligent Variable Torque Management AWD System is only available on TrailSport and above. It’s reserved for the adventurous bunch, as the system detects and directs power to the wheels that need extra help, unlike regular AWD, which just sends power from the front to the back.
The Elite is for those who want a more well-dressed and posh Pilot, with luxurious interior materials, and all-wheel drive for year-round security. But Honda makes that an option. You can truly build the Pilot to fit your vision of the perfect family SUV.
What My Family and I Loved About the Honda Pilot
There’s a reason the Honda Pilot has been a staple in elementary school pickup lines since the dawn of family SUVs: they’re engineered for the job. But that’s easier to say, and harder to illustrate. Here’s a list of features that make me say, as a parent, that’s absolutely true.
- Passenger space is everything and the Honda Pilot can seat 7 or 8, no matter the trim you pick. The middle seat in the second row can come out and be stored under the cargo area in the rear, giving you a captain’s chair configuration in the second row. Or it can fold down and provide a very nice separator with cup holders. It can be flipped up to be an extra seat too, with a LATCH and top tether system.
- The 3rd row seats 3, unlike most mid-size 3-row SUVs, which only give you two seatbelts.
- CabinTalk – this system allows you to speak at normal levels in the front seat and have everyone in the back hear what you’re saying. No more shouting. And the Bose sound system in the Elite trim makes listening to your favorite music or podcasts a treat.
- The Honda Pilot has great camera views all the way around, so you can feel confident backing up, a beautiful panoramic moonroof, and heated seats for second-row passengers. The off-road modes will automatically engage them to help detect obstacles.
- The heads-up display helps reduce distracted driving with navigation and media displays, and it’s customizable.
- Lots of physical buttons and knobs for common driver controls. No digging around in the multimedia display
- The fuel economy on the Honda Pilot is pretty impressive for an SUV of its size. I averaged 19 mog around town and about 27 on the highway.
What Families Need to Know
While it may seem like there’s nothing but cons regarding the Honda Pilot, but like people a few things are keeping it from divine perfection. Here are two things that come to mind:
- An average of 19 mpg might be an expensive figure for families, depending on where they live. In California, where gas is $6 per gallon for regular, that can be a tough pill to swallow. In my home state of Texas, where gas is closer to $3, that’s perfectly acceptable.
- Since each trim offers a different experience, it’s important to do research into each one before you head into the dealership. This way, you can avoid being swindled into the most expensive trim.
There’s Plenty to Inspire Confidence for Families
While good looks paired with a great personality is great, the glue that holds the formula for a great family car together is a car’s dependability and security in reliability. Honda Pilots have an excellent reputation for being long-lasting, solid family cars, and spending a week in one really drove that home for me. I knew it was reliable enough for the long haul, while looking and feeling great.
The interior materials felt luxurious, comfort levels exceeded our expectations, and Honda’s safety systems put me at ease behind the driver’s seat with features like lane departure sensing and warning, auto braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise, and traffic sign recognition. It’s capable enough to bring my family home safe in a snow or rain storm, it’s safe enough to inspire the confidence to keep driving, and it’s reliable enough for me to know I won’t need to make a service appointment when I finally make it home. All for a very fair price. There’s not much else a parent could really ask of their perfect family SUV.
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