Compare the2024 Honda PilotVS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

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 Pilot are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Pilot deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Pilot’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Grand Highlander’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Both the Pilot and the Grand Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Honda Pilot is safer than the Grand Highlander:

The Honda Pilot achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Grand Highlander is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

As tested in Motor Trend the Honda Pilot is faster than the Toyota Grand Highlander:

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

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Pilot’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Pilot uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Highlander Hybrid Max requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Pilot has 1.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (18.5 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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 Grand Highlander 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 Grand Highlander.

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

The Pilot stops shorter than the Grand Highlander:

For better traction, the Pilot TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Grand Highlander (265/60R18 vs. 255/65R18).

The Pilot LX/EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Highlander XLE’s 65 series tires. The Pilot Sport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition’s tires have a lower 50 series profile than the Grand Highlander Limited/Platinum’s 55 series tires.

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 Grand Highlander 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 Grand Highlander; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Pilot is 2 inches wider in the front and 2.2 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Grand Highlander.

The Pilot TrailSport handles at .85 G’s, while the Grand Highlander Platinum AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Pilot Elite executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Grand Highlander XLE AWD (27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.6 seconds @ .58 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Pilot TrailSport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Grand Highlander (8.3 vs. 8 inches), allowing the Pilot to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Honda Pilot may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 250 pounds less than the Toyota Grand Highlander.

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 Grand Highlander 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 Grand Highlander doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the Pilot TrailSport is quieter than the Grand Highlander Platinum AWD (66 vs. 67 dB).

The Pilot has 5.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Highlander (158.4 vs. 153.3).

The Pilot has 1.9 inches more front hip room, 1.7 inches more front shoulder room, 1.3 inches more rear legroom, .4 inches more rear hip room, 2.9 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.1 inches more third row headroom and 2 inches more third row shoulder room than the Grand Highlander.

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

The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Pilot’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Grand Highlander’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite/Black Edition’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Grand Highlander has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Pilot and the Toyota Grand Highlander, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its January 2024 issue and they ranked the Honda Pilot Elite higher than the Toyota Grand Highlander XLE AWD.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Toyota Grand Highlander by over two to one during 2023.