Will you drive your Pilot off road?

[a2Pilot]

According to the Press, the majority of SUV owners NEVER take thier SUV off road. This seems to conflict with the very image of SUV's. Will you take your Pilot off road?

[PChiu]

Just prepare myself for the Canadian winter.
If the weather do not force me to go off the road, I will stay on road.

[Dano]

If the opportunity presents itself, but won't go looking for it. Maybe on the beach or something

[djs]

I certainly will try it at least once. This is one very capable SUV and between taking it on the beath and up into the woods where I hike it will certainly do fine. I will, however look out for low hanging branches and anything that might touch the sides and scratch it. It already has seen a few dirt trails in Maine and performed like a champ. It took the boat out of a very small stone and sandy steep ramp with a sharp curve in the ramp. Just pushed the button, took it slow and it was a piece of cake. The front wheels were in pretty deep sand pulling up a steepish incline and were pointed left. I can't tell you how impressed I was. It doesn't even breathe hard.
Love my Pilot.

#09131 SS EX

[Threadhead]

Offroad, like this one from my last TTORA run?

[a2Pilot]

Go Threadhead!!

Well, maybe not THAT off road!

[djs]

No. not THAT offroad for me either (LOL). You are the man, Threadhead.

#09131 SS EX

[njpilot]

Yes! Off the road ... and into my garage.

[chinalfr]

The answer is YES !!! Definately.

That the reason for me to own the car.

[banningjr]

It was a fairly steep hill. I was more interested in not scratching the Pilot than finding the Rubicon Trail. Coming up the other side of this hill was even better but it was too dark. The other side was about twice the height. I know it's hard to judge the slope in pictures so take a look at how much of the roof you can see.

Just past the rocks at the bottom of the screen you will find there is a gulley so the hill actually drops down before it starts the incline.

[PrG]

That is a great picture ...

PrG

[Eddie Joe]

Banning Jr.:

That road is about what I would limit my Pilot to: that isn't "offroad", its onroad, although a gravel one. Sand, gravel, and unimproved roads should be fine, with me. True "offroading" requires a truck frame, more ground clearance, big ole tires, a short wheel base, a low gear range, and more yahoo than smarts. Here in the south ole boys do it for fun, and go around with mud on their trucks to prove the point.

EJ

[banningjr]

Like I said I wasn't looking for the Rubicon here. I just wanted to try a couple of quick hills to see what it could do. I did do some rock trails as well, of which it did just fine. Of course by then it was pretty well dark and the pictures would have been a waste of time. The PA Tacoma club uses this same area for some of its meets so it's not exactly a completely worthless area and based on what I paid for this vehicle I can wait to scratch it up.

I'm sure your '79 Chebby could do plenty more than the Pilot but I'll deal with that. True off-roading is not flying around like an idiot. Did you ever hear of a campaign call 'tread lightly'? It's so boneheads don't go running around destroying not just their trucks but also the wilderness these trails go through. It's the people who are using too much gusto and not enough brain that kill these places. You should travel to the capabilities of your vehicle and even the best of us will probably need towed out sometime reguardless of our vehicle. Like I said later on we did do some fairly decent rock trails where you needed to drive over the rocks rather than straddling them. Even thought the one I have here was one of the small/ mid-sized ones it was still a nice little test to see what a set of stock tires and no lift could do.

So, I beg to differ, true off-roading IS about brains not braun and if you check with any real off-roader I'm sure you'll find the same answer. The only people who go flying through the wilderness are on closed course commercials or the fools who try to recreate that scene in their own little world.

[wildpanda86]

Sometiime soon i am gonna take the Pilot to a local offroad park in Asuza Canyon (here in California) just to see what its limits are & take pics. I know to stay away from the mud pit and deep water, but i think it should be pretty capable for everything else... Besides my buddy with a Chevy Z71 is gonna be there also to help me out if i get in over my head. Anyone else is free to come along. I also plan to maybe participate in adventure rally's with it

Hopefully when i am done with my other project (an E46 BMW) i can start modding our Pilot with more capable offroad tires, JAOS rims, and hopefully JAOS skid plates (when available).

look at www.jaosusa.com to see what i mean.

[a2Pilot]

Go BanningJr!!!

You guys are right. There are different degrees of "off road". When I posted the poll, I was thinking of two track dirt/sand/rock roads through the wilderness. Many of them are considered "fire roads" to allow access for fire fighting. I guess the better term is "off pavement"? Most SUV's never leave the pavement.

I would never consider boldly going were no truck has gone before in my Pilot.

I'm a cautious trail driver. I try to get maps, bring along basic tools for getting out of trouble, and walk uncertain ground before driving it. Don't forget the cell phone! I became this way a few years ago after getting my Expedition so deeply stuck in the mud I had to wait until the next day so a bulldozer could pull it out. Never again!

I leave the wild, no-holds-barred off-roading to others. I've seen those guys in their mud covered '77 Chevies so banged up you could not tell they hit another tree last night. "Hey Bubba, hold my beer and watch this!!"