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Pilot vs Blizzard of 2016?

27K views 61 replies 26 participants last post by  Wanderer 
#1 ·
Any proud owner currently living within the path of this monster blizzard and is brave enough to pit their Pilot against the huge dump of snow currently wreaking havoc on the ground? Care to share pics? What's your vedict as to its performance?
 
#4 ·
That is, honestly speaking, amazing vp2010! 16 inches of snow is nothing to be sneered at, and it's nice to know that your Pilot was able to accomplish its goal at that time, that is, not to let you get stuck.

Were you using the stock OEM tires, or swapped it with winters?
 
#9 ·
#7 ·
I went to my camp right after getting the Pilot and we had about four inches on snow on the ground. I couldn't even get started up my driveway....not even started. My buddy made it up with a two wheel drive pick-up with his ATV in the back. Waiting for him to go up in front of me, my Pilot started sliding backwards just sitting still on the road. Before I blame it all on the Pilot, I'll consider the tires may be the worst snow tires I've ever had on any vehicle. My Element and my CRV both easily went up this driveway with more snow than I had this time out. In fact, every vehicle I've owned for the last thirty-five years did better than the Pilot did. All of my previous vehicles were either AWD or 4WD. I tried the Pilot in every mode available and even in reverse. It never even got started going up the driveway. My summary is this: it's the worst AWD vehicle I've ever owned. Your mileage may vary.
 
#8 ·
Bryced15 -you are a hoot. - Those were videos were hilarious. To be honest though, we got 14" last Sunday night, I plowed a little bit, and then were off. Nobody talks about the "lake effect" snow we get every year in Northern Michigan. I guess we've gotten about 30-36" in the last week and a half. Your drive looks like our normal commute. But we don't live in a big city w/millions of people and cars. And we've got bigger snow plows. :)

QCEng1 - I would seriously wonder if there's something wrong with your Pilot - it should get around better than that - as long as it's the AWD model, and you weren't trying to get up a steep driveway w/ice underneath.
 
#16 ·
Agreed - I have the Continental tires also - of course the consistency of the snow makes all the difference. The snow around here recently has been all light and dry. I could get around in probably 12" of this type of snow a lot better than 2-4" of heavy wet snow.
 
#18 ·
Ok, snow can be very different depending on conditions. You can get 16" of the light fluffy stuff which any vehicle even a sedan with AWD can plow through or you can get 4" of the heavy wet stuff which will wreak havoc on any AWD system and vehicle. Just because the Pilot can push through 16" of snow doesn't mean anything. I've seen an Audi S4 do the same thing...it's on youtube. And ice...good luck...need dedicated winter tires with studs for that stuff on any vehicle.
 
#19 ·
Agree. But their soft tread compound and generous sipes help dedicated non-studded winter tires do a lot better on ice than all-season tires.

Worst conditions I've ever driven in ( and the reasons I drive an AWD with winter tires ):

1) Black Ice. The real stuff. Micro layer of ice on otherwise clear pavement. Deadly. Don't know it's there until you lose traction and bad things start happening.

2) Frozen hardpack/ice ruts. Add freezing fog to really spice it up. Yikes. Only better than black ice cuz you know it's there!

4) Inches of slush resulting from vigorous application of salt without plowing. Don't even get me started...

5) Deep wet mashed potato snow. Packs up under the chassis and you're stuck. Hence the collapsible shovel. And the snacks. And the emergency blanket/sleeping bag...

Of course hills/mountains raise everything to another level!
 
#22 ·
I compared my Pilot to a Range Rover and found the Pilot to have every bit of the traction of the Range Rover and the Pilot also was more stable once underway. The Rover wanted to kick the tail out but the Pilot remained firmly planted. Snow tires on both. Thank goodness for stability control!

By the way, this in on an LX Pilot without the modes.
 
#23 ·
Last two days, I've been trying to put my Touring with OEM 20" Continentals to test in the snow here in post blizzard MD. My results seem typical to others. Here's a quick summary:

--fluffy snow up to 8" in level road, no problem.
--highway with slushy patches, no problem.
--4" of packed snow in level road, no problem.
--4 to 5" of slushy stuff on gradual incline, some slipping but otherwise no problem.
--1 ft snow/ice mound left by a plow across a driveway, no problem (inched over it slowly)
--12" of heavy (wetter) snow, got stuck. Snow packed under chassis, made front wheels spin freely and no traction. Snow mode did not help. Interestingly, back wheels did not engage. Was about to try other modes but helpful neighbors came out with shovels. They cleared the snow out from under car and freed me, so my experiment was cut short.
 
#27 · (Edited)
VTM-4 lock button. It locks the rear differential, so it's as if a solid drive axle were driving the rear wheels. It also increases torque transfer to the rear differential. It automatically disengages above about 15mph to prevent drivetrain damage from driving on dry pavement with a locked differential. This feature does not exist on 2016 Pilot ( or 3rd-gen MDX ) due to the different AWD system. But the vehicles that had VTM-4 lock didn't have the same level of electronic control over individual wheel spin via the ABS system. I would hope "snow mode" would do the job. I haven't had to put my 2016 Touring to this severe a test. Snow mode did make a noticeable difference in 6 inches of dense snow with deeper drifts.

Owner's Manual page for 2005 MDX:

Text Font Line Illustration
 
#30 ·
While not a panacea, and not really designed for the rock-crawling crowd, it is a handy get-out-of-jail-free card in the winter.

 

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#31 ·
Ok, here's a good video of how the Intelligent Traction Management System performs under certain condition.


It may not be a full front and rear diff lock, but I don't think it needs to since we're not rock crawling this thing. In normal mode you're going to have issues in slick snow/ice, mud or sand, because the system is meant to get the vehicle back under control when it sense slippage. It will reduce throttle, apply brakes, etc in order for the driver to not lose control. This is why in a Jeep Wrangler or any other 4WD vehicle you want to disengage traction control when off-roading. You can disengage traction control in the Pilot and in some cases you need to especially if you're stuck and none of the traction control modes help. I think what Honda is trying to do is trying to get the best out of the traction control system by programming these modes in order to get the best performance out of the system and keep it safe. If you disable traction control totally, you better know how to drive in the snow/ice.

Again, it's not a full locked up front and rear diff, but if you're that stuck then you probably took a wrong turn or shouldn't be out in whatever weather caused you to get stuck. I saw a pic of a tricked out Pilot with off-road upgrades installed and it looked pretty nice. They put some beefy off-road tires on as well like Duratrac's or something. I have them on my Jeep Wrangler and they do wonders in the snow and dirt.

Bottom line is if you're in snow put the system in snow mode, same for mud and sand. You're not going to damage anything if you're in snow mode and come across dry pavement.
 
#33 ·
I think what Honda is trying to do is trying to get the best out of the traction control system by programming these modes in order to get the best performance out of the system and keep it safe. If you disable traction control totally, you better know how to drive in the snow/ice.
When I was stuck in the snow, I really wanted to try out the different modes and play with the traction control to learn their behavior so that I could manage better in the future, but with the nice folks trying to dig me out, I didn't get a chance.

For reference, after I was stuck, I selected snow mode and tried backing out. Only the front wheels spun and throttle was greatly reduced (even though I had it floored). Guy asked, "Isn't this AWD?" I just shrugged.

I wanted to let it spin wheels a bit longer to see if the car would figure it out, but people kept crowding around (to help), so I let off gas.

I'd like to find a more controlled place to experiment and see what happens.
 
#35 ·
I watched that video prior to buying my Pilot. All I can say is, it's a great marketing tool. As a retired OEM engineer I know that all of these types of videos are scripted and released by the marketing departments. They're entertaining but not necessarily accurate in the real world. There are better tests utilized that use inclined rollers, etc.
 
#43 ·
My Pilot this morning impressed me again.I was waiting for the light on a slight incline making a right turn stopped on slush & ice there was a school bus then a Toyota Highlander then me the light changed the bus spun out the Highlander had a hard time too then it was my turn it went like a dream then I blew around them. When I got to the next light I got dirty looks from the guy in the Toyota. I again would say the AWD system is just as good as my 2012 EXL Btw it was in normal mode. I always turn off the traction control when I drive in deep snow





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#44 ·
Just purchased a 2106 Pilot EX L AWD after driving an 2006 Pilot. My question is: when driving in snow you can employ the intelligent traction management function and move it to "snow mode" which is understandable. However when you then enter pavement that is not snow covered the only way to get back to "normal mode" is to move first to mud and then sand and then normal. Does that mean you should come to a complete stop before switching back to normal mode. Any clarification would be appreciated.
 
#45 ·
I have not found it necessary to stop the vehicle when cycling through the traction modes. None of them lock the differentials, so there should be no harm in running any of them on dry pavement. Some of them may, however, defeat the vehicle's stability assist and/or traction control features and make the vehicle less resistant to getting "out of line".
 
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