2025 Honda Pilot vs 2024 Subaru Ascent
it's time for another comparison of midsize three row SUVs why because you keep buying so many of them and CU manufacturers keep putting out brand new models we got the 2025 Honda Pilot and the 2024 Subaru Ascent both of them sell in very high volumes but the way they transport people Comfort them and bring a lot of Technology it couldn't be any more different so let's check it out and what makes really one better than the other midsize three row SUVs are the core of the new vehicle Market the pilot has been brand new for 2023 and it's in the fourth generation the Subaru Ascent was brand new for 2019 and it's still in its first generation for 2023 it got a refresh we've already compared the pilot versus the kiai ride versus the Honda CRV and also the Honda Passport versus the Subaru Outback so now we're bringing these two together the Honda Pilot has a truck appearance it's based on a car platform so it rides and it handles like a car but all the angles here the upright faes all of the door panels the creases it looks more like the first generation pilot when that debuted over 20 years ago and everyone liked that truck look so much that Honda had to bring it back for this 2023 redesign for 2025 nothing major changes except for this top trim it's the Black Edition it goes one above the elite and it blackens the grill the areas around the grill the headlights it also blackens the roof rails the side mirror caps even the back of the bumper everything is a Polish black it adds some extra appearance including these 20-in black wheels and you got black addition badges that is the major change here you're getting an appearance and it does look pretty good especially in this red the Subaru Ascent not quite as good as the pilot I'll be honest it really doesn't look that great at all except in this green and it is the touring trim so you got the bigger 20-in wheels and the nice Chrome accents on the lower portions of the grill but to me really even though this looks like a car more than a truck I think it looks more like a distorted version of a Forester or an Outback and both of those cars have much better proportions but that's very subjective if you can get past that the color is good the step in height is great it's 8.7 in of clearance which is way more than that pilot and really stepping in and out makes this thing so easy including getting access to the roof rails for practicality purposes the Subaru might win on that alone but for style really on every angle it loses on the outside the pilot is 3 in longer and 2 and 1/2 in wider these cars both share the same wheelbase but it's the Subaru that's riding much higher off the ground 8.7 in versus only 7.3 on the pilot and if you get the pilot trail sport you can get 8.3 but the Subaru that's the SUV you want for going Offroad
while style may not be Subaru's selling point the engine on this Ascent actually shines it's a 2.4 L flat 4 cylinder with a Turbocharger that's posting some pretty healthy numbers compare it to the much larger V6 engine on that pilot and yes the pilots make slightly more horsepower but the Subaru makes a ton more torque further down on the Rev range which means when you get off the line it's the Subaru that's that much quicker than the pilot despite the Subaru having a CVT no gears versus 10 gears on that pilot despite all that they get the exact same fuel efficiency pretty wild on the EPA cycle doesn't often happen with two very different powertrains and if you're comparing Towing it's 5,000 lb on either car the back ends of most SUVs aren't much to look at but I do think that the pilot wears it a bit better it actually looks more like a Land Rover with Pilots spelled out in all caps that is a trend nowadays but this is the Black Edition so it blacks out those pieces whereas the the scent really chromes out those pieces it all depends on which you prefer but the pilot is just better proportion to me and I just like it whether or not it's the Black Edition it's better the pilot is more like a truck inside here everything just feels more square and upright whereas in the Subaru it really could just be a slightly larger Outback for an SUV I prefer this the pilot Black Edition actually adds a lot of red on these perforated seats the stitching even the accents on the steering wheel and also embroidered headest and floor mats to let you know it's the Black Edition there's also more red red accent lighting in all the rows and extra door lighting upper versions of the pilot have heated and cooled front seats there's only four-way adjustment for the front passenger seat but the driver gets the full 10 there's also a very deep storage cubby here I like that and the doors have three tiers of storage like three different shelves a lot of space in here there's just over an inch more Headroom and leg room in these first two seats than the pilot and I do like the seats better they are more comfortable and this is using softer Nappa leather and they're cooled I prefer the color scheme on the ascent this rich brown leather even the fake wood it's fake but it actually looks okay everything on this car is nice and softt touch but I don't really like the design as much as I do in the pilot but the color schemes and the way this car is presented well it feels like just about any high-end Subaru and that can be a really good thing the sight lines are very good Subaru is known for having a lot of glass area and Low Shoulder lines it's a little bit better than the pilot even though the pilot is very roomy and square this feels more like a car there's more than two in of extra leg room and another 1/ in of Headroom now this version of the pilot does not come with Captain shares only the trail sport does but this Center seat does fold down and not only do you have cup holders here you can actually take this out and stow it underneath the cargo floor so it will give you seven passenger seating if you desire but the pilot is ultimately more flexible seven or eight still have rear sun shades on the side heated outboard seats and third Z climate is standard across all Pilots the rear doors of the Subaru sent open extra wide almost 90° that makes getting in and out that much easier than the pilot now if you want a center seat that's only available on the lower three trims the top five trims come this way only as Captain's chairs and they are more comfortable than the seats back in the pilot they also have armrests and you're still getting the same panoramic moonroof heated outboard seats and third Zone climate the pilot has just over 3 in of extra head room and almost an inch of extra leg room that makes this third row way more livable for adults and kids versus the ascent the third row of the ascent has notably less head room and less leg room these front seats will move forward but back here it's definitely not the place you want to be for a long time if you're over 12 years old there's also only usba a ports back here not the newer USBC because the pilot has that much more room in the third row seat you can guess which one has more cargo room that one now behind the third row they're roughly the same when you fold it down the pilot starts to walk away from the ascent and when everything is folded we're talking just over 86 on that pil with about 76 for the ascent that is a big difference especially when you're moving compared to the Subaru this screen is way smaller it's 9 in and it's horizontal as opposed to the portrait mode but I do just like this better the tight faces the graphics and the response it's just a whole lot better this is based on the Android operating system it's not Google native so when you go to the navigation for example this is good but the response in general and the graphics not quite up to speed but then again neither is anything in that Subaru so this is not so bad now just like the Subaru if you scroll around for the some of these apps it's a feature called cabin talk which is a very nice PA system for anyone who's in the back can turn that off it's kind of gimmicky you can just yell and scream in the car everybody does that anyway multi view cameras okay you see the front tires that's very helpful not a whole lot there with 360 cameras but a 12 speaker Bose stereo is included on these upper rims and there's also just so many settings here just like the Subaru you can adjust these but the tight faces I just think this is a more adult looking system it's more serious looking and it's easier to use ultimately that's what I'd like but I would like Honda to stretch this screen a little bit wider the pilot has a gauge cluster that looks like it's 20 years newer than that Subaru there's two thumb scroll wheels on either side so it makes it really easy to adjust most of it is audio and phone controls on the left and a ton of information on the right for example if I go into the gauge display settings I can even change the design right from here if you like a bar graph and when the driver assists are on for example it'll minimize this so more of that information is there all the time and it shows a little graphic of the pilot with brake lights and turn signals that's nice and at speed it'll actually show you the curves so this is really a much much better display the Subaru has an 11.6 in Port portrait touchscreen that occupies a lot of the dash and it removes a lot of the physical controls the only things you get are the temperature the defroster some volume and T knobs and of course the hazards but everything else including for the X mode that you go over here for extra traction that's up here they're not buttons anymore it's still a relatively simple system but it's very cartoonish and it is sluggish but you do get Wireless Apple carplay and Android auto that is a saving grace and the nav also isn't n all that bad truly but it also runs really slowly but eyesight is really good there's a lot of settings everywhere here including a driver monitoring system with the camera just above this screen plus it also has facial recognition that allows you to save multiple user profiles that is also nice but I just wish that this worked a little bit better just like the Honda did the functionality is here it's just the way it is organized not so good but just like the Honda cabin connect is an incar PA system that will amplify your voice to the back rows not really necessary but seems to be the trend now in three row SUVs I just think Subaru truly needs a new reskin and just a new rethink in General on infotainment the ascent uses two analog gauges that do look good but unfortunately you do have to use this really crude and rudimentary Center screen for a lot of features well some features most of them are in the touchcreen but just looking at this really just reduces the functionality it looks like a much much much older system really the pilot being all digital is just way better overall instead of a Turbocharger or a hybrid setup Honda relies on a large naturally aspirated V6 and now that this pilot this generation uses the 10-speed opposed to the nine-speed that nine-speed was made by ZF this is now Honda's transmission and it's a lot better it shifts better for one it's not missing shifts like the old 9-speed did and now that I'm driving this got to say the engine does not sound as thrashy under Full Throttle like it used to actually sounds a lot better so hoay for 2025 maybe that's the magic year for the pilot it's notably better and versus the Subaru I would say having actual gears does work better than the CVT when you're really on the gas for mid-range acceleration Subaru has a good CVT it mimics eight different ratios and I actually like it but here it's notable on the highway that it helps off the line around town that turbo Subaru is actually pretty good and it feels actually slightly quicker than this Honda this Honda takes a little bit longer to get on the board oil cuz it doesn't have much low-end torque so it really is relying on multiple gears to get through whereas the Subaru kind of it feels like it jumps off the line a bit better but in terms of road holding the clear winner is the pilot the steering is so much better it does not require any corrections it's a lot more accurate it feels nearly as quiet as that Subaru it's kind of hard to say without a deciel meter but in terms of control on the highway I like this pilot better and I just like the interior that I'm sitting in you have to stare at the interior of a car for hours when you're inside it right and I'd rather look at this one the Subaru despite the nice colors doesn't do a lot for me with the dash it looks a lot older than it should both the Honda and the Subaru are pretty quiet on the highway and that's really what you want these are the top trims of big SUVs they're meant for Highway cruising long distances that's what really relaxes you over the long term which is actually more comfortable it's kind of a tossup they really both are both the seats are great the sight lines it makes it easy to drive Honda sensing is standard just like Subaru eyesight there's a whole load of driver assists including a semi-automated feature really easy to activate here in the steering wheel it traces the lanes very well and you can see it happening right right on the insrument panel that is not something that Subaru will display not as well you can also see cars in the blind spot so that's really nice Illustrated for you right here but both of these systems are not truly hands-free systems and they don't really offer the level of control that you'll find from some luxury automakers despite that Subaru having a flat 4-cylinder engine which is supposed to have a lower center of gravity for the entire vehicle it's the pilot that feels more Nimble more carlike more agile a big reason is the accuracy of this steering it feels nearly as good as driving a Civic which is so much smaller and that really helps you when you're driving a larger SUV so you feel really like you're connected more to the road I've said that before in other reviews and it matters having to course correct not knowing really where the wheel is placed when you have to kind of seesaw back and forth that's not what you want ideally no the Subaru is doing that and the Honda it's like perfectly positioned it truly is it's also just more fun to drive it feels like it's more stable and there's some roll but really Honda has tuned this chassis better it's not like this is a sports car but when you have a bigger vehicle that you can maneuver easier in the end that's what matters I think the pilot will make anyone feel like a better driver and also just enjoy it more really does now both these SUVs have all-wheel drive but only one has mechanical torque vectoring and what that does is that it overdrives the outside of the wheel so if you go a little harder into a turn the trajectory stays right on track you're not under steering and going into someone else's lane or driving off the road those are important things especially if you give it to a teen driver in your family and any driver is going to like the brakes the brakes just feel really easy to modulate they're a little tighter a little firmer than the Subaru the ascent has a different way of ascending to speed it's got a CVT so it kind of confuses you that there's gears cuz it has a shift pattern in a way where the revs really rise and fall like gears and then it just drops down so a lot different than the pilot but because of the turbo the response is better and I got to say even though it doesn't have wheel gears the response on this transmission it's easily one of the best cbts out there and it doesn't really need to make an excuse for being a CBT it's still responsive and smooth and just not annoying at all it really is good it cares well with this engine truly in the ascent the turbo 4 is really where it starts and stops there's no other engine choices but compared to other heavy SUV like Vehicles such as the Outback you can get a naturally aspirated 4 in the outback but the turbo is just so much better in response and the ascent being a larger car definitely needs it a lot of Subarus are often just slow and languid but the ascent gets up to speed and that truly is what you need in a big family vehicle it's very quiet in here extremely plush the seats are comfortable like the pilot they are not very supportive laterally but in a straight line where this car is going to be doing probably 95% of its work it's just fine my gripe though when you're going straight is that the steering wheel is not always going to be pointed to straight there's a a lot of just slop offc Center and it's a little disconcerting when you're just driving straight when you take turns you don't ever feel like you're in as much control in the ascent as you do in the pilot Subaru's eyesight system works well on the highway it traces Lanes really well just like the Honda it's not using any map based subscription it's just the sensors and there's also a driver attention monitor with forward Eye camera looking at me from the dash so it doesn't get blocked it's right over there that's very useful really around town the asent is pretty Pleasant and it's actually easier to drive than the pilot just in terms of Feathering the throttle feeling like you have you know just enough power to move around so from a Powertrain perspective it's a lot better than you would expect for a vehicle of this size and that size engine it's really just around turns that the steering just really feels a lot looser you may like that but for me even the standard setup in the Pilot in the standard driving mode the steering is just it just feels tighter it feels like it's really more wound up picture it as say loosening or tightening your shoelaces and you feel your foot start to slip out when you're walking a little bit when the shoelaces are loose it's not really the greatest feeling especially when you're walking at a good clip I liken that to steering feel it doesn't mean that you can't steer it just means that you're steering with more confidence and in the ascent it just doesn't have it comes to me as strange from a company that makes a car like the WRX if Subaru can make that type of performance car why can't they dilute it and take a little bit from it and put it here kind of makes no sense to me the ascent has no driving modes it's just point and go and because of that doesn't quite handle or drive as well at a Corners like the pilot yeah don't do that the ENT doesn't want you to do any of that which is a shame because it's a Subaru and it's supposed to be a rally company and even the brakes don't feel like the pilots really from a driving Dynamic perspective I would would expect Subaru to inject a little bit more it would make an SUV this large drive a whole lot better the 2025 Honda Pilot starts at $39,900 there are six Trims and as tested with red paint and destination this black edition is 56130 the 2024 Subaru Ascent starts at 34395 there are eight trims the as tested trim here the touring with destination $50,400 Honda has gotten its act together with the new pilot it's looking more European which to me makes this pilot look like a larger BMW or an Audi and in this price segment the non-luxury segment that is a very good thing the ascent doesn't have its act together the engine is more powerful but it doesn't drive as well especially for handling and steering it also doesn't fit as many people inside as this pilot and there's considerably less cargo space the technology is way down Honda really has it all except possibly the engine I think that could be improved but dollar for dollar and square inch for square inch this pilot excels but 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will see you next time with more comparisons and single car test reviews see you next time
2024-11-06 04:44
