Quote:
Originally Posted by EJ Mac
Man how did I miss this. Congrats that thing is sweet. I have never driven one of them, but have always liked the looks of them. If I ever find one when the money is right I will jump as well. Please report back with a full performance report and enjoy that sweet ride.
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Ok guys,
today was the first real riding day for me in the new Pilot. As for power, I would rate it an 8 out of a scale of 1-10. Just from the ole butt-o-meter it doesn't feel quite as fast as my FL350, however I could be wrong because the suspension on this thing is so smooth & it soaks up the deep whoops and ruts so well that the actual speed can be very deceiving. Today I breezed up some very big sand hills that my 350 was unable to climb, however just from the seat of your pants the 350 feels faster.
I need to brake out the GPS and do a few WFO speed runs and that will end the guessing, my 350 clocked 67.8 mph.
Now on to handling & suspension, It took me a little bit to get a good feel for the Pilot in the tight corners. the front end is a bit wider than my 350, so it took a little getting use to before I was comfortable to just keep the throttle pinned though the tight turns. My Pilot also has an aftermarket rack & pinion set up on it so it takes a bit more muscle to turn it than my Odyssey, however there is zero bump steer when you hit a deep rut or rock. The rack set up seems to absorb the shock and you dont feel it in the wheel like you would in the Odyssey. Here is a quick example, the last time I rode my Odyssey out at the place I went today i blipped the throttle over a jump and came down right front tire first and tagged a rock that was in the path.
It hit so hard that I thought I broke my thumb when the steering wheel kicked from the impact. Here is what was left of my front wheel & tie rod...
Now in all fairness I didn't land on any rocks today but I blasted over some serious ruts without feeling anything through the wheel, so for the handling I would give it a strong 9 or maybe even a 10.
Now onto the suspension. this Pilot has the stock shocks on all 4 corners and it is freaking amazing over the endless deep whoops out here. I have never been able to go even remotely close to this fast over the whoops in my Odyssey. This thing you can just pin the throttle and hang on.
i would hit one whoop and jump completely over the next one and then just do it all over again. It was so easy to get into a rhythm thought the whoops in the Pilot that I could never begin to do while riding my Odyssey. Now mind you my ody handles well, but this thing is freakin amazing!! No comparison, Nope not even close!! I thought I was pretty fast driving my Ody though the whoops... Nope!
But in this Pilot, I challenge anyone to try & keep up.
On the suspension for a stock buggy, I rate it a 10.
It must be pretty obvious after reading this I was impressed with the Pilot, guys if you ever get a chance to ride one don't pass it up, they are an amazing machine.