The new Honda Pilot provided impressive crash performance when it was tested by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), which awarded it its highest Top Safety Pick+ distinction.
It passed all crash tests with at least Good ratings, and that goes for the tricky small overlap test as well. However, had it not been for the slew of active and passive new pieces of safety tech, the Pilot would not have gained the plus in its TSP+ rating.
The previous-gen Pilot struggled in the small overlap crash as “the driver space was seriously compromised. The parking brake pedal moved nearly 17 inches inward, and the door hinge pillar moved in about 14 inches.”
All of that is gone, and as you’ll see in the video posted below, the new Pilot seems very structurally sound and suffers surprisingly little deformation in the small overlap. We’ve not seen many A-pillars come out looking so straight and not mangled after this harsh crash.