Honda Pilot (YF9) review: the three-row Honda for families who need to tow
4.1/5motorssouq Editorial Team
The Pilot makes sense for a specific Bahraini buyer: someone who regularly carries eight people, occasionally tows a boat trailer to the marina, and wants Honda's reputation for mechanical simplicity in a segment where rivals reach for more complicated turbocharged and hybrid drivetrains. It gives up some outright refinement to the Highlander in exchange for that straightforwardness.
Pros
- Genuinely usable eight-seat, three-row layout for adults on short trips
- 3.5L V6 gives real towing capacity for boats or jet-skis
- Mechanically simpler than turbocharged and hybrid three-row rivals
- Smooth 10-speed automatic and good highway cabin isolation
Cons
- Fuel consumption is the segment's honest weak point with a V6 this size
- Parking in older Manama and Muharraq structures needs extra care
- Resale trails the segment-leading Highlander due to lower sales volume
- Road noise on rough tarmac is more present than in Honda's sedans
Honda kept the Pilot's formula deliberately old-fashioned while everything around it went turbocharged and hybrid: a naturally aspirated 3.5-litre V6 making 285 hp, a 10-speed automatic, and i-VTM4 all-wheel drive on the grades built for it. In a segment where the Highlander now offers a hybrid and the Explorer went turbo-four, the Pilot's V6 is almost a statement of intent.
Space for eight and the ability to tow
Eight seats across three rows is the headline, and unlike some rivals the third row is genuinely usable by adults for short trips rather than being a legal fiction for child seats. Towing capacity with the V6 comfortably covers a jet-ski or small boat trailer, a real consideration for Bahraini owners who use the causeway to reach the marinas on the Saudi side.
The trade-off for that size is exactly what you would expect: parking in older Manama or Muharraq structures takes more care than in a CR-V, and fuel consumption on a V6 this size is the segment's honest weakness rather than a surprise.
Living with it day to day
The 10-speed automatic shifts smoothly enough that most owners will never notice the extra ratios beyond seamless highway cruising at low revs. Cabin isolation at speed is good, though not quite at Accord level — road noise from the larger tyres on rough tarmac is more present than in Honda's sedans.
Servicing follows the wider Honda network and pricing, so there is no premium for the larger engine beyond the naturally higher consumable costs of a bigger, heavier vehicle. Resale trails the segment-leading Highlander slightly, reflecting lower sales volume in the Gulf rather than any real shortfall in the car itself.