Friday, September 18, 2015
DRIVE NOW
today’ s drive ay’sdrive 20 16 Honda Ford Pilot
B01
SPECIAL SECTION courtesy of the SURREY NOW Your journey starts here.
Your journey starts here.
Focus ST
This new car makes the outgoing model look like the shipping container for the new, curvier generation.
BY BRENDAN McALEER
brendanmcaleer@gmail.com Tweet: @brendan_mcaleer
It’s no wallflower, shouting its intentions to the world On the upswing - the crossover segment. Sliding down the sales-chart banisters - the minivan market. Thus, where the two meet, a nexus is formed.
Highlander’s built-in shelf, but the between-seat storage bin is large enough to house an elephant. Thankfully, Honda’s gone to a single touchscreen rather than its confusing multi-redundancy twin screen layout as found in the Accord.
setup. Additionally, the Pilot comes with a proper torque-vectoring system to aid in cornering. Add in a lightened curb weight and the Pilot turns in a surprisingly spirited performance. You won’t be yanking and banking like a Honda S2000, but this big rig is actually light on its feet, driving much suspension and brake-based torque like the current Accord does. The vectoring give the ST a chance to by really performance envelope is set the bite into the corner and then scrabble low rolling-resistance tires, but forward is better than average. out theacceleration other side. The more
Meet the new Honda Pilot, bigger, longer, more CRV-like in appearance, and more capable of taking your family on a – ahem – Odyssey This has a tendency to little on the small side for some than ever before. It’s astill an all-wheel-drive smudginess, thanks to an @brendan_mcaleer duties, and strapping in a rear car crossover, but Honda has sanded the edges off ultra-glossy finish. However, their largest all-wheel-drive machine in hopes seat gets a bit onerous as theit’s rear so much faster than previous, that it’ll find favour with thoseparcel who’ve been and while there are a few menu shelfmigrating is tricky to remove. sized and practical over to the Korean competition. quirks to get around (the audioaggressive are, the it and Roll intoyou the throttle onhappier the highway ing around children Apart that, it’s level adjustment is pretty deeply It’s a farewell to sliding doors, of sorts,from a declaration thata regular revs–come up quickly, with a tire hissing VTEC gets and the bigger the bill. roceries. little hatch, thatofmeans buried in sub-menus), it’s overall a huge neither the minivan nor the mid-sized sedan isand a staple kick-in that helps you zip past a dawdling semiimprovement for the brand. Look forward to the Canadian family. Accordingfolding to market results, Pilot seats forthe a hockey notThis all.isMost hot adequate hatchbacks trailerThat’s with ease. more than power this tech proliferating throughout Honda’s lineup. should sell very well; the question is, has it landed at the for this size, and a considerably sprightlier drive if than you’ll practice, or room enough to display nice safe understeer turbulence? ? right runway, or is it bound forpick However, where the Pilot needs to deliver is not so much find in a Toyota Highlander. up three friends from the you push them a bit hard. Ford, the front seats but the rear, and here it’s very good. Both Design: airport. Let whom ever is your on the other hand, has engineered an over boosted Features: second and third-row space is big enough for even taller Anonymously handsome. That seems to be the design Even more in interesting the Pilot’s standard kids, and they have an easy-folding function that beats best friend ride up front. lift-off than oversteer into their driving little g brakes, punchy brief of Honda’s styling crew, and they’ve pulled it off for characteristics are its semi-autonomous features. Lane-keep pretty much everything on the market. Instead of pulling hooligan. Pop off the accelerator likegood a disgruntled and bad. Where once theThe Pilot front was squared off and assist will nudge you back into your lane, and its good Recaros for both driver a lever, just push a button on the side of the seat bottom, mid-corner, the back end this new outgoing model look like lete angular, with seats thatcar makes theand enough sharply not to ping-pong betweenand the lines. The automatic right in line for shorter kids and everything slides easily. It passenger are some of the the shipping container for the new, curvier generation. comes around like its on casters. This Mustangs. cruise-control makes longer drives in heavy traffic a cinch. even lights up at night. mostthe aggressive But the new Pilot wouldn’t fit inside old one. seats ever fitted to a behaviour feels infotainment tamed compared to the Again, the new 8-inch system looks great Also clever is the rear cargo area when all seats are deployed. mainstream car. The side-bolstering is acts overseas, but 20mm longer than The Pilot is now before, although (when clean) and operates simply. Not sopresent great is Honda’s first editions of the ST, but is still and Ordinarily, three-row crossovers have little space when fully huge, see to the pointinthat someutilized, everyday users tting90mm usedless-tall, to these. and you can certainly the bump decision to only putwon’t navigation in the top model: people but the Pilot’s two-stage rear floor drops down to still something you find elsewhere. interior space despite the smoothed-off appearance. might actually find it a tad uncomfortable. If you think “Mustang,” are starting to expect sat-nav as a mid-grade feature, and create a bit more room. Official figures are 524L, about the if they and wander over thrilling to the Nissan showroom, they’ll find it. the twisty bits, though, they’re keeping youand shape ofOverall, more driving experience same as wonderful, most hatchbacks, but the size the space it’s a faster usable is the samehit Thehatchback front is essentially as the new CR-V, except Perhaps see buttoned-down that trickle down in Germanic a future update. seems to handle larger strollers with ease. embiggened. Honda’s three-bar firmly corporate grille is due strapped intoplace. than you get from thewe’ll more start making its way through the fleet, so you can expect an Official fuelthe economy forlatter, the Pilot competition. Fly under radarfigures in the orare by9.3L/100kms the seat Performance: Accord coming shortly with thisMyFord new look. It’s not bad at all. Touch continues to improve, but can still be cus RS currently on the highway, and 12.4L/100kms in the city. Mixed use of your pants in this thing: it’s your choice. Under its smoother snout, the Pilot carries a V6 that’ll mileage seemed to hover in the 11s, which is not really all considered todominated be the Achilles’beheel of the Focus. Screen ng power output From the side, the Pilot’s profile ends up being familiar in specification to any Honda fan: 3.5L in that much worse than the current crop of four-cylinder by wheel choice. 20” alloys arefonts part ofare the small, top-specand a bit of adisplacement, reach while on the move. at the regular variable valve-timing (VTEC), 280hp at crossovers. Touring, a trim Honda says sells in surprisingly large However, voice commands work far better thanaton the No surprisesThe 6000rpm, and 262lb-ft 4800rpm. here. does it work as an optional go-faster stripes from Ford add a hundred volume in the Canadian market. 18” alloys are standard Green Light: whileathe curve littlelearning more unusual are is theatransmission choices. on the car, and while they don’tsystem’s quite haveoriginal the flash,rollout, andPerhaps horsepower each - proven fact. Surprisingly nimble; quiet on the move; usefully sized; A conventional six-speed automatic is the standard bit steep, the system works well with familiarity. they’re still a good-looking split-spoke 5-arm design. plenty of safety offering, but there’s also an Acura-style nine-speed Besides that, the ST is very features well equipped standard, with automatic, one that comes with paddle-shifters for added Environment: d news for the ST the only real options Stop being Sign: navigation and a package theoretical sportiness. I can’t imagine owners actually using Inside, the Honda is pure Honda. If you’re seeking an Underwill the Focus’ new hood isthese, the but familiar 2.0L Screen prone to smudges; sat-nav on top-spec car; very he Focus recently containing dual-zone climate control and only a 10-speaker there they are. upgrade from your CR-V, this vehicle offer a pleasant firm seats turbocharged engine, punching out 252hp and 270lb-ft ew front end and audio upgrade. The latter is as punchy as the ST’s familiarity. Further surprises abound in the form of a selectable terrain
Features:
Performance:
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torque. Much more than what’s offered rivals at Rover – choose hts now include turbocharged engine, but subtracts trunk space with a rearsystem that’s like afrom simplified Range from The Checkered Flag: The seats are quite firm on firstof introduction, but bear VW or Honda, the ST’s straight-line performance is strong, andup a power bulge sand, snow, gravel, or tarmac. Wheelspin control,mounted throttle subwoofer. A double-dose of CR-V; Honda avoids any stunts, but sticks well under longer drives. The dashboard layout response, and starting are all part of this easy-to-use the landing. is conservative, not offering clever touches like punctuated bythemore than a hint of torque steergear scrabble. Official fuel economy figures for the ST are quite good at 7183835 As a highway car, the no-shift passing response is very re pretty tame – the 7.3L/100kms on the highway, and 10.2L/100kms in the good. Lots of low-end torque means you can just leave the nteel machine. city. Observed real-world economy is really going to depend manual-only shifter in top gear and just let your left foot ng its intentions to on how often you ignore the upshift indicator and just floor get you up to speed. Road noise from the 18” alloys and mborghini-ish centrebut the ST can handle a gentle commute without being LIMITEDWRX. STOCK, CALLit, TODAY! performance tires is less intrusive than in a Subaru s. too painful at the pump. AT: until the However, the ST doesn’t reallySTARTING wake up $ road gets $ ng. On the negative 1-888-854-2634 Dealer #30377 /MONTH Light: $ Green twisty. The advantage of having a dedicated European TAX INCLUDED! ng. That *Limited centreModel Shown ADDITIONAL CASH www.peacearchtoyota.com Characterful, engaging drive; usable passenger and cargo Payment based on model LEASE, performance arm for decades is thatFREIGHT Ford’s hatchback INCLUDING PURCHASE DICOUNT 60 MONTHS who would wish to@ ZFREVT AM for 60 months ONLY $600 DOWN! AND DELIVERY OFF AWD MODELS 1.99% lease rate Total price $26,095 space; grippy seats KING GEORGE BLV, SURREY 3174 offerings have been fighting off a much larger competitive arket offerings look segment than we experience in North America. Here, we