2009-'15 Honda Pilot Good WS Vehicle

[donwh]

Hi All, I posted a while ago about vehicles to replace my '02 Volvo XC 70

http://www.iwindsurf.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29546&highlight=volvo

Looking for thoughts on the newer (not latest) style Pilot, ie, do the front seats move forward enough to allow the boards/sails to go in with the seats flat, or do the front seat headrests remove like my Volvo to allow the boards to lay on top of them?
Use my wife's Stow and Go minivan occasionally and that thing kicks ass for ws with all it's configurations. Need AWD and large towing capacity.

Also have the Mazda CX-9 in the loop.

[motogon]

My WUV is real 4x4 and has great towing capacity ... it's called Tundra

[isobars]

I'd start with defining "large" and then Googling for actual data on the factory towing capacity specs of any vehicle you're considering. They are engineering figures calculated very carefully by the manufacturers with regard to drive train, braking, weight distribution, cooling capacities, and many other factors. They are not determined by what some guy manages to pull with his vehicle. Mfrs must walk a pretty fine line between a) overstating them and getting sued when something goes wrong and b) understating them and losing sales to the competition. (b) can cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars; (a) can cost them tens of millions.

For example: "The 2009 Honda Pilot with two-wheel drive is rated to tow 3,500 pounds, while four-wheel-drive Pilots can haul a maximum 4,500 pounds. A Class III trailer hitch comes standard on every 2009 Pilot, as do heavy-duty cooling fans and transmission and power-steering coolers to keep fluid temps down during heavy towing." That last, Italicized, phrase is vital if you don't want your vacation to end at the crest of your first big uphill climb or after a year of lesser abuse.

Then there's the driving safety issue. Back when I was choosing between towing a trailer vs buying a vehicle big enough for all my stuff, my research found that trailers are correlated with a far higher accident rate. That was the large scale statistics at the time; I'll spare you the anecdotal horror stories except for a bud whose dirt bike trailer passed him on a freeway and the times my dirt bike trailer filled my side view mirrors ... and those were just thousand-pound trailers behind 5,500-pound towing rigs. Imagine a 5,000 pound tail wagging a 4,000 pound dog.

[U2U2U2]

Divine large towing capacity ?

[donwh]

Around 4k towing weight of my boat. Maximum 10 miles to boat ramp.

[isobars]

That makes a ton of a difference ... until the day you hit that traffic circle and forget the boat's behind you.

It looks like all the AWD Pilots can handle > 4,000#, and unless you enjoy traffic circles as much as I do, your tail shouldn't wag your dog very often in a 10-mile trip. As for long-term use, I'm guessing all the AWD Pilots come with the extra cooling features, and even without them a 10-mile trip shouldn't matter much except for that hypothetical Dead Man's Hill.

Now it's down to the board-carrying configuration.

[swchandler]

Could a diesel van be your best choice, or maybe a Chevy Suburban if you want a SUV configuration?

[U2U2U2]

Many questions would need to be answered to suggest other vehicles. What size boards being one and why you need AWD would help...do you need. To pull the boat and have boards and gear, passengers as well
??

As a common use one vehicle a mini van , long wheel base would be difficult to top,AWD is available but not many companies only 2 come to mind.

The Sprinter would be a optimum pick if windsurfing gear were the sole objective , don't think AWD.

The Pilot is not a very good choice, looking at a new one, it has 3 row seating, maybe the 3rd row is remove able, this leaves still the second that does only fold the seat backs forward , perhaps a board or 2 would fit between the front buckets, or not.

Honda has 3 drivetrain , depending on year options, 4WD , the driver activates the 4wd, an automatic 4wd, where the vehicle senses the road conditions and activates according, and the current AWD.

My Honda CRX did 320,000 before it blew a head gasket on the original clutch, they are mostly great value and very good cars.

[whitevan01]

Sprinters are now available in 4x4.

[donwh]

Thanks for all the info.
Really just need to know if the front headrests are removable (Like the earlier version Pilots) and if the passenger seat moves down and forward enough to fit my 8' jp and 7'8" Naish. Gonna check one out for myself and measure...