Compare the2023 Buick EnclaveVS 2022 Honda Pilot

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Honda Pilot doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Enclave are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Pilot doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Enclave has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Pilot doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Enclave offers an optional Surround Vision to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Pilot only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the Enclave and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Buick Enclave is safer than the Honda Pilot:

	Enclave	Pilot
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	15.6%	28%
Leg Forces (l/r)	53/40 lbs.	46/243 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Compression	51 lbs.	478 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	258/133 lbs.	478/436 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Buick Enclave is safer than the Honda Pilot:

	Enclave	Pilot
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	69	109
Hip Force	204 lbs.	269 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	134	233
Spine Acceleration	39 G’s	42 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches
HIC	251	406
Spine Acceleration	34 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	554 lbs.	838 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The Enclave’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Pilot’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 83 percent more Buick dealers than there are Honda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Enclave’s warranty.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Enclave’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Pilot’s camshafts. If the Pilot’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Enclave has a standard 170-amp alternator. The Pilot’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick above average in initial quality. With 8 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick second in reliability, above the industry average. With 83 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 24th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Buick fourth in overall reliability. Honda is ranked fifth.

Engine

The Enclave’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 30 more horsepower (310 vs. 280) and 4 lbs.-ft. more torque (266 vs. 262) than the Pilot’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Enclave AWD’s standard fuel tank has 2.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Pilot (21.7 vs. 19.5 gallons).

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Buick Enclave higher (6 out of 10) than the Honda Pilot (3). This means the Enclave produces up to 23.4 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Pilot every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

The Enclave’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Pilot are solid, not vented.

The Enclave stops shorter than the Pilot:

	Enclave	Pilot
70 to 0 MPH	176 feet	183 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	130 feet	136 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	141 feet	153 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Enclave has larger tires than the Pilot (255/65R18 vs. 245/60R18).

The Buick Enclave’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Honda Pilot only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

Suspension and Handling

The Enclave offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Pilot’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Enclave’s wheelbase is 9.9 inches longer than on the Pilot (120.9 inches vs. 111 inches).

The Enclave Avenir AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Pilot Elite 4WD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the Enclave has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Pilot (7.5 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Enclave to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The front grille of the Enclave uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Pilot doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Enclave has 5.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Pilot (157.3 vs. 151.7).

The Enclave has 3.1 inches more front headroom, .3 inches more front legroom, .2 inches more front shoulder room, .4 inches more rear hip room, 1.6 inches more third row legroom and 3.9 inches more third row hip room than the Pilot.

Cargo Capacity

The Enclave’s cargo area provides more volume than the Pilot.

	Enclave	Pilot
Behind Third Seat	23.6 cubic feet	18.5 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	57.7 cubic feet	55.9 cubic feet

Pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Enclave Premium/Avenir’s third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The Pilot doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Servicing Ease

The Enclave uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Pilot uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Buick service is better than Honda. J.D. Power ranks Buick fifth in service department satisfaction. With a 37% lower rating, Honda is ranked 25th.

Ergonomics

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and tachometer readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Pilot doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Enclave’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Pilot’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Enclave and the Pilot have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Enclave is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Pilot prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Enclave’s front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Pilot’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Enclave’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Pilot doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its HondaLink Assist can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Enclave’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Pilot’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

The Enclave has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Pilot Elite.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has standard massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Pilot.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Buick Enclave has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Pilot SE/Elite//Black Edition offers wireless charging.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Enclave is less expensive to operate than the Pilot because typical repairs cost less on the Enclave than the Pilot, including $13 less for a muffler, $97 less for a starter, $40 less for a fuel pump and $62 less for front struts.

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