One of the main features of a vehicle we seriously want to have is safety. In a high powered sports car we want to be able to walk away in case of an accident and we want to be able to do this in any vehicle we purchase. As much as we love power most of us would love to be able to see another day and spend more time with our families rather than be the victim of an automobile crash. This makes having a vehicle that meets the top IIHS safety standards a very important factor.
For 2016 the Honda Pilot has been redesigned and comes into a new generation. With this new vehicle the IIHS has been able to stamp it with its highest honor of being a Top Safety Pick +. This rating will go a long way toward helping the Pilot be a great selling SUV and convince us to purchase the model with the semi-autonomous accident prevention technologies which are designed to help keep us safer and let the vehicle assist where needed by applying brakes or steering. Let’s take a look at how the Pilot scored out and what made it a top pick.
The first part of this illustrious designation comes from the fact that the Pilot has the Honda Sensing system which is a front crash prevention system. This system is not offered on the base LX, but does come in at the EX, EX-L, Touring and Elite trim levels. The frame of the Pilot called the ACE body structure features a three bone floor frame with a third longitudinal rail to give it more strength. In addition to this frame strengthening the Pilot has ultra-high-strength steel around the door frames and a quicker engagement from the front end to more easily collapse the steel up front around the engine. This helps the Pilot pass the overlap test to keep parts from entering the cabin of the vehicle.
Three of the Pilots were needed to complete the testing, one for braking, one for the roof crush and another for the small offset test. All three did exceptionally well during the IIHS testing. This new structure is expected to be used in the new Ridgeline and Odyssey when it’s time for those two to be redesigned. As it stands now the Honda Pilot has actually lost about 300 pounds, which is a factor during a crash, and increased the torsional rigidity by 25 percent and the mass rigidity by 67 percent.
This weight loss, which seems to be what every automaker is working towards, does more than just help vehicles perform better out on the road, it does impact crash tests and what would happen in a crash. Because the speed you are travelling is a factor as is the weight of the vehicle in a head on or any collision, having less weight and more strength makes for a formidable combination for the Honda Pilot testing.
The features that also helped to give this awesome score for the Pilot include the collision mitigation braking, forward collision warning, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and road departure mitigation. These features all help make this top safety score which Honda is especially proud of. To see the pictures, you can easily understand how your safety is taken care of and how easily you will survive in a crash in the new Honda Pilot.
Honda is not about to stop with the Pilot. They have already announced they expect to have at least eleven of their 2016 models with either the Honda or Acura badges on them make this top score from the IIHS. If I were looking for a vehicle full of great safety features to keep my family secure, I would be looking to the Honda and Acura lots to find what I felt would take care of everyone in case of a crash.
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