[Hogan773]

Hi all,

I’m cross shopping the new Pilot Elite and Acura MDX. I test drove the MDX this weekend and was pretty happy with the overall interior quality and driving performance. I‘m not in love with the exterior design - it looks like a wagon to be honest and I find the headroom to be a little tight.

Has anyone compared the new Pilot Elite with the Acura MDX? I‘m guessing it’s a step down in interior quality but I like the Pilot’s exterior design and boxy shape, I like how it’s a lot taller which I assume gives you much more headroom. Is the interior of the new Pilot Elite a big step down compared to the Acura MDX in terms of quality and fit and finish?

thanks.

Hmmmmmm, funny you ask

Yes you should read these forums. You can also go hang out at MDXers and you will get more views there.

I shopped both and just put down an order for Pilot Elite. IMO, Pilot has a much more functional 3rd row. More legroom, much more headroom, and that 3rd row reclines while MDX does not. My wife says MDX 3rd row feels claustrophobic and like looking out of a little airliner window. Pilot is no Odyssey but it is much more useable if you do need that 3rd row.

I personally like the MDX styling a little more (although the A logo on front is garishly huge) but I agree Pilot is a huge step up vs the last one. It looks like an SUV. It looks more masculine. My wife didn't love it because it looks "boxy" and she likes the 2022s, but no I'm not buying a 2022 at this point when that whole thing is so dated and on its way out.

You really need to go drive and sit in both of them, same afternoon if possible. I was lucky that my Honda dealer had an MDX out front in the used car section so we drove both all in the same visit. My impression was Pilot interior is a little more spartan. Dash is less fussy and I actually like that. Pilot has a simple touchscreen while MDX has that touchpad thingy that takes up space on the console, and MDX has that silly giant Drive Mode dial right in the middle of the dash for some un-fuggging-known reason. But at the core of it they are very similar cars. Basically same platform and engine. Same removable seat, same panoramic moonroof, and Pilot Elite has the same full digital dash with the little car icon on it and everything.

MDXers board you will find lots of talk about how Acuras are not Hondas in any way, they are much more luxurious and sporty and whatever. I don't really subscribe to that philosophy in this case. I think you just go see both of them and you will know what you like. If you really need 3rd row space then you will likely tilt to Pilot, while if the sportier look and the fake Vrooom Vrooom sound that Acura adds into the audio system while you are accelerating gets your heart beating that you have a sportier luxury marque then you may want to spend up for the MDX.

 

[Hogan773]

Appreciate the feedback. The MDX interior was quite nice, but not nice enough to win me over. Great to hear that the Pilot’s third row is more useful. Can you comment on the difference in headroom? I’m not particularly tall, but for some reason, the drivers seat in the Acura did not have much vertical range. I set it at the lowest position but the top of my head was only 3-4 inches from the ceiling.

You really need to go sit in and drive the Pilot to see. From a specs standpoint, the MDX and Pilot list very similar numbers for 1st and 2nd row dimensions. It is the 3rd row where Pilot has like 2.5 inches more legroom and I think over 3 inches more headroom, and that 3 inches is huge in terms of making it feel more spacious.

 

[Hogan773]

I own neither but have researched both the MDX and Pilot. The little car icon. Is that the one that shows when your headlights are on and which turn signal is activated, etc.? I thought that was a cool thing in the MDX. I'm not a fan of the fake Vroom Vroom especially since there's no way to turn it off or lower the volume of it. I also much prefer the knobs for the A/C controls in the Pilot. It's rare to have a dial for the fan speed which really is the most user-friendly IMO instead of having to repeatedly push an up or down button. I hope the A/C system in the Pilot is able to cool off the interior on the hottest of Summer days. I've seen comments that the MDX A/C doesn't cool adequately which seems to be more common across many brands these days - probably for fuel efficiency reasons.

Yes re: little picture of the SUV with the turn signal and headlights on or off etc. I think doors open too but not sure. AGREE on the fake Vroom Vroom....for the life of me I don't know why that can't be a SETTING in the system that the user can change. They let you change to various drive modes....why not sound modes? You could have one that actually uses active noise cancelling to make the cabin even quieter, one that is basically nothing (off), one that has some light Vroom Vroom, and even one more that is a more throaty growly Vroom Vroom. I mean if it is all just fake sound anyway, why not have variations? It's not like engine auto stop/start where they need it for EPA certification purposes and so don't let you permanently shut it off. Maybe they are worried that by offering a setting and choice, it exposes them for faking it in the first place! (you mean this is the SAME ENGINE as in the Pilot???? and all that sporty acceleration I am feeling, I am not really FEELING but rather just HEARING because again, same engine???)

 

[Hogan773]

My wife and I are currently shopping for our first SUV and have narrowed it down to either a 2023 Pilot Elite or a 2023 Acura MDX (most likely A-spec). We have also driven the Telluride, Palisade, VW Atlas, and Pathfinder. We have looked at the Grand Cherokee as well. For whatever reason haven’t considered the Highlander. We loved the telluride and Hyundai but just can’t buy them feeling confident about reliability. We could be totally wrong and in 10 years find the 2023 pilot was a complete hunk of junk vs those two. At this point we are most likely going to choose the Pilot over the MDX. This decision is being made with the following conditions in our market: Acuras are readily available for about 5% below MSRP (about 3K to 4K below MSRP depending on trim level) and 3.9% financing. 2023 Pilots are at MSRP, probably around 4.5-4.9% financing, but no one has an Elite in stock and we are being quoted March/April availability. The main reason we want an Elite over any MDX: the 360 camera is highly desired by my wife who has never driven an SUV. You can’t get a camera like that in an MDX unless you go to the Advance package which is out of our budget. She also likes the front ventilated seats in the Elite and the 3-prong plug (though hasn’t given me a clear answer about what she would use it for), as reason to pick it over the Touring. I love the 2023 Pilot with the only two hesitations: (1) the side cameras I n our two current Hondas are no longer available on any Honda (but both telluride and palisades have them). We got used to having a camera view on our right side instead of using the mirror and it will be missed. (2) I don’t love the idea of buying a car first year of redesign and being on the bleeding edge of any recalls. I have seen 3 different 2023 Pilots in person and none of them had a misaligned hood as has been posted on this forum. One salesmen opened and closed the hood without any force and it aligned and shut fine. The MDX is more luxurious than the Pilot and has a sexier exterior but the few reasons against it are: (1) 3rd row is much smaller. At 6ft2 I couldn’t put my head straight up without hitting the ceiling. The window felt smaller and my wife did she was nauseous sitting back there. Pilot was much better. (2) no 360 camera on Lower trim, (3) no remote start on lower trims (but they are doing 3-year free Acura link on all 2023s and after that remote start from an app will cost about $110 per year, (4) recommended premium gas where in my area is about $1 to $1.30 more than regular, (5) true touch in Acura took a while to get used to vs actual touch screen in the Pilot, (6) about 20% less cargo space than the Pilot. Overall, the MDX is a sexier car and If you care more about looking good, it’s not a bad choice. With my current market and interest rate incentives you can get a MDX Technology package cheaper than an Elite and the gas/maintenance may be a bit of a wash with theoretically higher resale value on the MDX in 5 years. But for us the pilot is an amazing car.

Well said and we came to the same conclusion. The MDX to me was an amazing car and I almost bought it about a year ago. Luckily I waited because I feel like I now get way more features plus more space for a lower price, while giving up the Acura marque for whatever prestige that is really worth and a different interior. I say Different not Better because while the MDX may have softer touch materials etc, I actually prefer the clean look of the Pilot because it doesn't waste space with the touchpad and it doesn't have the silly giant drive mode selector right smack in the middle of the dashboard. Yes it has a 9" screen instead of 12" but those other items weigh more negatively for me on the MDX dash layout.

 

[Hogan773]

Both the Pilot and the MDX are excellent choices for a family SUV. Contrary to what you might hear on the MDX forum, the Pilot and MDX are built on the same platform and share a lot in common and there is not much of a difference other than creature comforts, looks, front suspension, and interior space. Objectively, the Pilot is a better buy than the NON Type S MDX.

Also, I do not believe you are REQUIRED to put premium in the MDX. It is only recommended and this topic has been beaten to death. For the MDX Type S, definitely premium.

Question - IN THE PAST has there been more of a difference between Pilot and MDX? Meaning, yes they might have shared a chassis or something but they were more different than they are now? I am always just curious at some of the guffaws from MDXers but most all of the guffaws come from people who own prior generation MDXs. I know some people just overplay the Acura brand or the "sportiness" or whatever but I am wondering if they are just not up to speed on the similarities in the latest iterations of a common platform

 

[Hogan773]

Regarding premium gas: you are right about premium being recommended but not required. I talked to about 15 different people about this. Most of the salespeople said they highly recommend it which is kind of odd because you would think an eager salesman who was confronted with a customer concerned about gas prices would be more inclined to say “go ahead put in regular its fine”. I polled a few random people on the street and they all said they were putting premium in their MDX. And lastly I talked to a couple mechanics (non dealer). Both are highly trusted. One said they would for piece of mind, better gas mileage, better performance and possibly better longevity. The other said “I wouldn’t waste my
Money on it, it’s not like this is a Porsche engine”

Based on that feedback, if I buy an MDX I would most likely put premium in it.

People do it because the manual recommends, and they want to tell themselves they are buying a sporty car and they are wealthy enough to buy expensive "premium" cars like this and how can people who are wealthy then cheapskate about a few hundred dollars of gas here and there. Most people wouldn't question the manual. A salesperson is going to just repeat what the manual says and they also probably want to imply that this Acura is somehow different and more powerful and more sporty and whatever which is why it needs the hi-test juice. My view is they are effectively the same engine and how often are you going to be pushing that limit where the engine can develop the marginal 5hp at the total limit because you used Premium? I suggested that people do a blind study and see. Have your wife fill the car the next 6 times. Wait until it is pretty low too so you don't have mixing. Have her flip a coin and choose 87 or 91 and keep track of it but don't tell you. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that you will have trouble figuring out which is which. You need to do it a bunch of times to move past the 50/50 guess possibilty so you need to write down your guess and then after 6 fills compare it to the real info and see how you do.

 

[Hogan773]

$70k out the door (taxes included) for ‘23 mdx with advance package. I paid msrp minus dealer’s installed accessories. They claimed to be over $4k.I think they cost about $1k. I wanted an aspec model with black trim & red interior. Wife likes the advance model better. I talked to a guy there who just pulled a trigger on the white type s mdx for his pregnant wife. Out the door price was $84k. Man i was glad my wife was in the show room at the time.

Enjoy the MDX! I am getting the Elite at MSRP and others have as well for what it's worth and mine is high 50s all in with TTL so the MDX premium is still real