2011 Honda Pilot Touring 2 WD vs 2010 Toyota Highlander

[junoonfan]

Folks,

I am trying to decide between 2011 Pilot Touring 2WD and Highlander Limited 2WD.
I am leaning towards Pilot because of the overall configuration. However, I can't digest that Pilot only has 17" alloy wheels.

My two questions to get opinion from other folks:

What impact performance wise would be if I change the 17" to say, 19 or 20" wheels?
Also, the folks who have compared the SUV's, what do you like personally about Pilot over Highlander?
I'd appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,

[gewf631]

Originally Posted by junoonfan

Folks,
What impact performance wise would be if I change the 17" to say, 19 or 20" wheels?
Also, the folks who have compared the SUV's, what do you like personally about Pilot over Highlander?

With a 2WD, you're obviously not planning on any off-road adventures, so why the necessity to add such large wheels? On thing that will add, is money, not only initially, but replacement tires will be more expensive. The vehicle is engineered with 17" wheels, so adding larger tires would most likely reduce the ride/performance.

As for Pilot versus Highlander - why are you looking? Do you have a family, and if so, how large. In my case, the Highlander just wouldn't fit my 3 kids comfortably across the rear seat, and forcing one of them to climb into the 3rd row, just didn't make sense (same reason we ruled-out the CX-9).

[cwa107]

I was very close to pulling the trigger on a Highlander. In fact, I probably would have had the dealer been willing to negotiate.

I liked the styling of the Highlander a lot more, same goes for the interior, which I felt was more "upscale". It also felt like it had a lot more low-end torque. My only major critique was that the third row was very tight and the steering wheel felt very loose - reminded me of my parents' 1985 Ford LTD wagon. There was absolutely no sense of "sport" in the way that it handled - very trucklike IMO.

Now, the Pilot has a little less power and the gas mileage is lower, but the dealer was much more willing to work with me. The Pilot definitely has more space and adults 6' tall can sit comfortably in the third row. Although some will disagree with me here, I also thought the Pilot handled more like a car - much more confidence-inspiring than the Toyota - which is really something considering the size of this beast.

And of course, in a Honda you won't be "Moving Forward".... whether you want to or not!

[sdg319]

They are both excellent vehicles, you'd be happy with either one. Yeah, Toyota has had quite a year with their recalls and such, but I have owned several Toyota vehicles in the past and have been very happy with them.

First, to answer your question about wheels. You wouldn't notice much of a handling/ride difference with 18" wheels (Honda has accessory 18" for the Pilot). With 19" or 20" you'd probably feel sharper steering/handling and of course a slightly rougher ride. From what I recall of members on here who have gone to bigger wheel packages, they have still been happy with the ride. I would recommend doing a search for tire/wheel upgrades on here, you should find a few threads (look in the tire/wheel forum as well).

The biggest thing I can recommend when upgrading to bigger wheels is to stay as light as possible. Heavier wheels mean more unsprung mass, meaning longer braking distances, worse ride, more wear on suspension parts. A quality wheel will hopefully keep the weight down, helping you to minimize the performance impact of upgrading your wheel/tire package.

My wife and I liked the Highlander a lot, but ultimately went with the Pilot becuase of these Highlander issues (many of them similar to what people have already posted):

• Lifeless steering, unfortunately for me it really hurt the "fun to drive" category
• Small back seat, and it isn't a split design... so you either have almost no luggage space or you have luggage space and no third row
• Unlike the Pilot that is LX, EX, EX-L and Touring... I literally could not find the configuation of Highlander I wanted because there are so many options/packages. And, if you do find the exact options you want (good luck), it probably won't be the color you like. Say what you will about how Honda does it, but I like picking a trim and a color and being done.
• My wife thinks the Highlander looks too "carlike" (she likes the butch look of the Pilot redesign).
• We were trading an Odyssey and no Toyota dealer would come within $2,000 of the trade-in offer from my Honda dealer. Pile that on top of Toyota not wanting deal on the Highlander and the Pilot came out to be less expensive for us (by a few grand).
• The Highlander is based on the Camry platform (not a bad thing), but I prefer the more "truckish" platform of the Pilot (to me it feels more solid and capable)... even though they are both basically cars compared to a true body-on-frame SUV.

[netman88]

I test drove both. I felt the Pilot has more headroom and a lot of hip room compared to the Highlander. I also felt the ventilation airflow in the Pilot was better overall.

It's gets stuffy inside the Highlander.

Styling is about the same for both for me.

Highlander layout looked more neat IMO. I hated the power window buttons on the highlander tho.

[xGS]

Search online and you'll find many complaints about poor treadlife from the Highlander's OEM tires and the very limited choice and expense for replacements to fit the 19" wheels.

[jackjroadster]

Originally Posted by xGS

Search online and you'll find many complaints about poor treadlife from the Highlander's OEM tires and the very limited choice and expense for replacement Honda parts to fit the 19" wheels.

Apologize for the late post but i agree on you. I also observed several com paints about the highlander. some said it's too big for the vehicle. there is not set interval alignments too.