I started in Jacksonville, FL and finished in San Diego, CA. I took I-10 West from Jacksonville to Tucson. Then I-8 for the final portion between Tucson and San Diego, and got in this afternoon. Total mileage was around 2500 miles. I'm spending 2 days here in San Diego and then I'll head up to the Apple Valley area north of Los Angeles. I'll be working there a few months.
Positives:
1. The vehicle had zero issues. The tires had zero issues. No warning lights whatsoever, no hiccups, just took it like a champ.
2. The V6 is quite strong if you choose the right fuel, drive mode, and distribute the cargo wisely. It accelerates strongly up through 90+ mph even loaded down heavy if switched into (S) first.
Cargo weight distribution:
I have the 2nd and 3rd row down and the vehicle was heavily loaded. I didn't weigh it, but I'd estimate at least 500 lbs of cargo plus me, another 185 lbs, so estimating 685 lbs of total added weight. I even have a full set of 5-10-15-20-25 lb set of dumbbells on the floor between the second row and third row seats. That said, as I played with the loading and the weight distribution in the days before setting off on the trip, it performed a lot better when the weight was as far forward as possible, keeping the heaviest items forward of the rear axle and closest to the front driver and passenger seats, and keeping any cargo behind the rear axle on the lighter side.
Octane considerations:
One of the things I've noticed on this trip is that higher octane fuel makes a noticeable difference when loaded down heavy with cargo. 89 octane just didn't seem to perform as well, but 91 or 93 felt noticeably stronger and also improved the mpg's. When climbing up steep hills all the way up to 6200 ft elevation in Dragoon TX, the higher octane seemed to help pull harder considering the heavy load. Switching into Sport (S) seemed to help but it also increased the RPM's. A little more torque and less RPM's would have been what I was looking for. Here's where one wishes for a big American V8 or diesel. I found myself wishing I had the Ram, or Super Duty, or Tahoe/Yukon that passed by instead of the smaller, less powerful Pilot. I passed only 2 or 3 other Pilots during the entire trip.
Trip highlights:
Louisiana roads are the worst. San Antonio to Fort Stockton TX is beautiful scenery and fun roads, makes me wish I had a motorcycle through there. Arizona and New Mexico were also pretty. Southern California traffic is no joke - there are a LOT of people here. The Eddy Hotel (Hilton Tapestry Collection) in Tucson AZ is amazing and I HIGHLY recommend it - best hotel on my trip. The food at the Eddy was more amazing than I was prepared for. I would love to revisit and check out more of Tucson. Buc-ees billboards had me laughing hard, though I've yet to visit one. Mooo's Creamery in Yuma AZ was a nice little pit stop for some ice cream.
Texas has a sense of humor. Boracho means drunk in Spanish.
Rugged Texas scenery.
Mooo's in Yuma.
The desert dunes in southern California, just west of Yuma.
San Diego, near Petco Park.
Fuel Mileage:
I only use Shell or Chevron, 89 or higher (power delivery goes to Chevron, but Shell's app is awesome and saves good money). The fuel mileage in certain sections was only around 17, especially in very windy Texas open country or very hilly/mountainous west Texas. The RPM's stayed in the 2500-3000 range just to maintain 78 mph with strong headwinds of 20-25 mph. That obviously made the mpg's suffer. In flatter areas with less wind, consumption was around 22 while driving around 77-81 mph, which is not terrible considering the heavy load.
Final impressions:
All-terrain tires on a long road trip leaves you wanting for smoother, more highway oriented tires, even if they have a good amount of rubber on them and plenty of sidewall ratio. Secondly, do I wish I was driving a Tahoe or Yukon with a 3.0 Duramax diesel, air ride suspension, and SuperCruise for a 2500 mile trip that includes crossing Texas? Very much so. Is the Pilot a pretty decent alternative with some compromises for $25k less? Yea, for $25k less it gets a 7.5/10 for a cross country trip. But honestly, I'd rather just figure out how to afford the $25k difference if I were doing long trips often. Because you're left wanting the 495 lb-ft of torque and better fuel consumption of the 3.0L diesel, you're left wanting the cushier more cloud-like ride on the more awful and bumpy roads (the Pilot Trailsport, even designed or prepped for a soft trail environment, is still not smooth enough for my liking in regards to suspension and damping - some of those terribly bumpy roads made you want to slow way down to make it less harsh), and you're left wanting a cruise system that can be as hands off as something like SuperCruise. Having just 10 seconds to be hands off the wheel in the Honda gets very, very annoying for 2500 miles. Over and over again adjusting the steering wheel slightly just to shut the system up got old very fast. You're also left wanting a more comfortable seat, and some ventilation, and perhaps some massage function. I think my next vehicle will better cover these bases before I were to consider moving into a Passport Trailsport that still suffers from the same drawbacks as the Pilot in this regard. You just end up using the highway niceties far more than the off-road niceties.
