Anyone tow with a Honda Pilot?

Hi, just wondering if anyone tows with a Honda Pilot. We currently tow with
our old Ford Exploder. It's just getting a little tired, and the wife would
like something a little newer.

The Pilot is rated at 3,500 lbs towing, or 4,500 when using high octane fuel
(sounds kinda cheesy). The towing prep package is a dealer installed
option. I can't seem to find what it includes. I don't think the Pilot
comes with an extra transmission cooler standard. The engine is rated at
255 HP and 250 ft/lbs torque. It sure rode nice. But I wonder how it would
tow our 1,800 dry Coleman Yukon. I'm guessing that with water, gear, fuel
and passengers, we'd be something like 2,300 lbs (is that good guess for a
family of 4 (2 toddlers) + a beagle?). Our Explorer is rated for 5,000 lbs,
but it seems to work pretty hard. It has a tough truck chassis and good
cooling though. It's been reliable, it just creaks a lot now.

Just wondering if any other people tow with their Pilot. Seems like if
you're going to buy an SUV, and use it as such, you'd want to take it off
road. But you probably can't sleep in it, especially a family of 4. You'd
tow a trailer. Too bad Honda doesn't have a bigger engine for the Pilot.

Oh, the Chevy Trailblazer and new Ford Explorers were nice as well. But
they sure get crummy gas mileage. We only tow out trailer 6 or 7 times a
year, but I'd like to think that will increase as the kids get older!

Thanks in advance for your input.

--


Richard Minami
'94 Ford Explorer XLT 4x4
'97 Coleman Yukon

Richard Minami wrote:
 > Hi, just wondering if anyone tows with a Honda Pilot. We currently tow with
 > our old Ford Exploder. It's just getting a little tired, and the wife would
 > like something a little newer.
 >
 > The Pilot is rated at 3,500 lbs towing, or 4,500 when using high octane fuel
 > (sounds kinda cheesy). The towing prep package is a dealer installed
 > option. I can't seem to find what it includes. I don't think the Pilot
 > comes with an extra transmission cooler standard. The engine is rated at
 > 255 HP and 250 ft/lbs torque. It sure rode nice. But I wonder how it would
 > tow our 1,800 dry Coleman Yukon. I'm guessing that with water, gear, fuel
 > and passengers, we'd be something like 2,300 lbs (is that good guess for a
 > family of 4 (2 toddlers) + a beagle?). Our Explorer is rated for 5,000 lbs,
 > but it seems to work pretty hard. It has a tough truck chassis and good
 > cooling though. It's been reliable, it just creaks a lot now.
 >
 > Just wondering if any other people tow with their Pilot. Seems like if
 > you're going to buy an SUV, and use it as such, you'd want to take it off
 > road. But you probably can't sleep in it, especially a family of 4. You'd
 > tow a trailer. Too bad Honda doesn't have a bigger engine for the Pilot.
 >
 > Oh, the Chevy Trailblazer and new Ford Explorers were nice as well. But
 > they sure get crummy gas mileage. We only tow out trailer 6 or 7 times a
 > year, but I'd like to think that will increase as the kids get older!
 >
 > Thanks in advance for your input.
 >

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