Toyota Highlander vs Honda Pilot

Highlander vs Pilot: Performance, MPG, and Towing

Do you love family road trips? Do you prefer to bring along a trailer when you head to the campground? If so, you’ll find lots of power under the hoods of the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot. Both vehicles offer healthy V6 engines; however, their difference comes in power output:

• Highlander: 295 horsepower
• Pilot: 280 horsepower

These stellar performances can provide speedy acceleration; however, you may start up more quickly in the Toyota. Their healthy figures also help both of these vehicles sport a maximum 5,000-pound towing limit when properly equipped. In the Pilot, however, only all-wheel drive models can tow this amount. The Toyota’s base trim starts out at 5,000 pounds—you’ll be able to carry heavier items from the jump!

Miles to Go

Your dream destination may be out of town, but that’s nothing the Highlander or the Pilot can’t handle. While both models offer similar figures, you’ll be able to travel a few extra highway miles in the Toyota.

• Toyota Highlander: EPA-estimated 21 city MPG/29 highway MPG^*
• Honda Pilot: EPA-estimated 20 city MPG/27 highway MPG

Toyota Highlander vs Honda Pilot: Dimensions and Technology

One thing you’ll notice about the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot is their spacious and accommodating interiors. These 8-passenger SUVs are great for growing families! But which model offers more wiggle room for your kids and dogs? The Toyota offers more headroom and legroom compared to the Honda:

On-Road Entertainment

Your kids won’t be asking, “Are we there yet?” every five minutes with these SUVs’ slew of technologies, especially the Toyota Highlander’s! You’ll find these standard features in the Toyota:

• 8-inch touchscreen display
• Apple CarPlay®
• Android Auto™

Both vehicles offer Bluetooth® wireless technology to help promote attentive driving. However, the Honda Pilot comes standard with a much smaller 5-inch color LCD display and only makes Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ available on its base trim. To get an 8-inch display and standard mobile device integration in the Pilot, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher trim level.

Highlander vs Pilot: Safety

When you’re hitting the open road, it’s always best to have a few safety features watching your back, especially when you’re venturing into new territories. Luckily, the Toyota Highlander and the Honda Pilot offer standard safety suites: Toyota Safety Sense™ 2.5+ and Honda Sensing®, respectively. These systems share some similar features:

• Pre-Collision System with Pedestrian Detection  
• Dynamic Radar Cruise Control
• Lane Departure Alert
• Automatic High Beams  
• Lane Tracing Assist

The Toyota offers an additional feature that makes driving on new roads more convenient: Road Sign Assist. This standard feature takes note of all posted speed limit signs so you’ll always know how fast to go, even on new roads.