Compare the2023 Honda PilotVS 2023 Hyundai Palisade

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Honda Pilot have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Hyundai Palisade doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

The Honda Pilot has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Palisade doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Both the Pilot and the Palisade have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

There are over 29 percent more Honda dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Pilot’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Hyundai vehicles. With 2 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Honda higher than Hyundai.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 8 places higher in reliability than Hyundai.

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Pilot’s fuel efficiency. The Palisade doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Both the Pilot and the Palisade have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. All Pilots have a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily. A disable switch costs extra on the Palisade.

The Pilot has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Palisade doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Pilot, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Palisade.

For better stopping power the Pilot’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Palisade:

For better traction, the Pilot has larger standard tires than the Palisade (255/50R20 vs. 245/60R18). The Pilot TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Palisade (265/60R18 vs. 245/60R18).

The Pilot has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Palisade doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Pilot TrailSport has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Palisade; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

For better maneuverability, the Pilot’s turning circle is .9 feet tighter than the Palisade’s (37.8 feet vs. 38.7 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Pilot TrailSport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Palisade (8.3 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the Pilot to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

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

The Pilot uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Palisade doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Pilot has 3.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Palisade (158.4 vs. 155.3).

The Pilot has .3 inches more front hip room, .7 inches more front shoulder room, .1 inches more rear headroom, .9 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.5 inches more third row headroom, 1.1 inches more third row legroom, .9 inches more third row hip room and 4.3 inches more third row shoulder room than the Palisade.

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

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Pilot. The Palisade doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

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

On a hot day the Pilot’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Palisade can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Pilot has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Palisade SEL/Limited/Calligraphy.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Hyundai Palisade by 20% during 2022.