2009 Honda Pilot In Depth

Press Release

2009 Honda Pilot: Safety

Honda has consistently challenged itself to pursue vehicle safety as part of its core business strategy. The company seeks to provide a high level of occupant protection and pedestrian injury mitigation in all of its cars and trucks through a comprehensive and evolving approach to vehicle safety. This process benefits all new Honda vehicles – regardless of size or price – while also increasing compatibility with other types of vehicles in a frontal collision.

The 2009 Honda Pilot exemplifies the Honda approach to safety. Every Pilot incorporates side-curtain airbags and dual-chamber, front-side airbags with a passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS); and active front seat head restraints that are designed to help reduce the severity of neck injury in the event of a rear collision.

An Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE®) body structure in the front of the vehicle, now added to Pilot for the first time, makes the new Pilot highly effective at absorbing the energy of a frontal crash and helps minimize the potential for under-ride or over-ride situations that can occur during head-on or offset-frontal impacts with a significantly larger or smaller vehicle. Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA®) and an Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) with brake assist are standard equipment on every Pilot.

Additional standard safety features include dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags, front seatbelts with automatic-tensioning systems and load limiters, and a pedestrian injury mitigation design in the front of the vehicle. Driver and front passenger seatbelt reminders and daytime running lights are also standard equipment. A class-leading total of four Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) positions provide rigid attachment points for up to four child seats.

The 2009 Pilot safety features include:

Standard active safety systems

• 4-wheel disc Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and brake assist
• Standard Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA ®) with traction control (Electronic Stability Control)
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)

Standard passive safety systems

• ACE body structure
• 3-point seatbelts at all positions
• Front seatbelt load limiters and automatic tensioning system
• Dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags
• Advanced dual-chamber front-seat side airbags
• First, second and third row side curtain airbags for outboard occupant positions
• Active front seat head restraints
• Head restraints for all second and third row seating positions
• Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren (LATCH) system (four seating positions total)

Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE®) Body Structure

At the heart of every new Pilot is an exceptionally strong foundation based on the latest version of Honda's Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE®) body structure technology. New on Pilot for 2009, the revolutionary ACE system makes the new Pilot highly effective at absorbing the energy of a frontal crash and helps minimize the potential for under-ride or over-ride situations that can happen during head-on or offset frontal impacts with a larger or smaller vehicle. Using a sophisticated computer-assisted design process, the ACE system creates a network of fully integrated load-bearing elements that help attenuate peak impact forces by more evenly distributing them across a relatively large area in the front of the vehicle.

Unlike most conventional designs that direct frontal crash energy only to the lower load-bearing structures in the front end, the ACE system actively channels frontal crash energy to both upper and lower structural elements, including the floor frame rails, side sills and A-pillars. By creating specifically engineered "pathways" that help distribute these frontal impact forces through a greater percentage of the vehicle's total structure, the ACE system can more effectively route them around and away from the passenger compartment to help limit cabin deformation and further improve occupant protection. Integral to the ACE concept is its unique front polygonal main design structure.

Structural Enhancements

Comprehensive structural enhancements can be found throughout the Pilot unit body, which now contains 52 percent high-strength steel. New and more robust rear structural elements add rigidity and help the Pilot meet the stringent FMVSS 301 regulations.

The new FMVSS 301 regulation is more severe than the previous standard. This regulation began its phase-in during September 2006 and must be applied to all production vehicles after September 1, 2008. In the new requirements for the FMVSS 301 standard, a 1,360 kg (2,992 lbs.) deformable barrier strikes 70% of the vehicle's width at 50 mph.

In contrast, the previous FMVSS 301 used a 1,814 kg (3,991 lbs.) flat rigid barrier that struck the full width of the vehicle at 30 mph. The new standard requires more body energy absorption than before.

Pedestrian Safety Design

Structures in the front of the Pilot are designed to help absorb energy in the event of a collision with a pedestrian. Research by Honda shows that the following features can dramatically improve a pedestrian's chance of survival if struck by a moving vehicle.

Key pedestrian safety features:

• Hood is designed to deform if contact is made with either an adult or a child pedestrian
• Sufficient clearance exists between the hood and hard engine parts
• Energy-absorbing fender mounts and supports
• Deformable windshield wiper pivots
• Deformable hood hinge

Standard Vehicle Stability Assist™ (VSA ®) with Traction Control and Brake Assist

Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) is an electronic stability control system that works in conjunction with the Pilot's drive-by-wire throttle and its 4-channel ABS systems to enhance controllability while the vehicle is accelerating, braking, cornering or when the driver makes a sudden maneuver. VSA functions by applying brake force to one or more wheels independently while also managing the throttle, ignition and fuel systems to help the vehicle maintain the driver's intended path of travel.

The VSA system constantly analyzes data from seven sensors that monitor wheel and vehicle speed, steering input, lateral G forces and yaw rate. It compares the driver's control inputs with the vehicle's actual response. Whenever the actual response falls outside of a predetermined acceptable range, VSA intervenes with a corrective action.

For instance, if VSA detects an oversteer condition, the system may apply braking force to the outside front and rear wheels to counteract the unintended yawing effect. In the event of understeer, VSA may apply braking to the inside rear wheel while reducing engine power to help return the car to its intended course. VSA also provides a limited-slip differential effect for the front wheels by applying braking force to a slipping wheel, thereby redirecting driving force to the wheel with more traction.