Honda USA has announced pricing for their 8 seaters, newly designed Pilot SUV. Prices start at MSRP $ 27,595 for the entry level Pilot LX and will rise to $38,395 for the flagship Pilot Touring.
"The timing is right for a vehicle like this as fuel prices drive families out of larger SUV's even though their lifestyles still require the type of functionality that Pilot delivers," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of Honda USA.
The Honda Pilot is powered by a 3.5 litre, 250bhp i-VTEC V6 engine with Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) which can switch between six-cylinders and 3-4 cylinders depending on circumstances so it achieves 17 mpg in the city, 23 mpg for highway driving and 19 mpg on the combined cycle.
Staying with the Honda Pilot, the new SUV will also be sold in Russia. Russian-bound Pilots will still be produced at Honda's Alabama production facility but Honda doesn't expect Russia to be a large market for the Pilots with only 3,245 units are slated for the Russian market for this year but that number should climb to 4,650 by 2011. The first Pilots will be shipped to Russia this summer.
Honda engineers didn't have to tweak the Pilot much for Russian consumptions with the only changes being the addition of headlight washers, rear heated seats and reflectors on the rear bumper.
Russian-bound Pilots will also get different corrosion protection — to guard against chemicals used to melt snow but will still be powered by a 3.5 litre V6.
As with the previous-generation Pilot, the new SUV will also be sold in Canada, Mexico, the Middle East and South America.
