Compare the2025 Honda PilotVS 2025 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.

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 Palisade’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

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.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Honda Pilot is safer than the Palisade:

The Honda Pilot has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned an “Acceptable” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Palisade is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2024, though it hasn’t yet been rated in the updated moderate overlap frontal test, a requirement for the “Top Safety Pick Plus” award.

There are over 27 percent more Honda dealers than there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Pilot’s warranty.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 6 places higher in reliability than Hyundai.

As tested in Motor Trend the Honda Pilot is faster than the Hyundai Palisade:

On the EPA test cycle the Pilot gets better mileage than the Palisade:

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.

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:

The Pilot stops shorter than 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.

The Pilot TrailSport handles at .85 G’s, while the Palisade SEL HTRAC 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 Palisade Limited HTRAC (27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.3 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Pilot TrailSport’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Palisade’s (37.7 feet vs. 38.7 feet). 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.

As tested by Car and Driver while cruising at 70 MPH, the interior of the Pilot TrailSport is quieter than the Palisade Limited HTRAC (66 vs. 69 dB).

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.

The Pilot’s cargo area is larger than the Palisade’s in almost every dimension:

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 using the keyless remote. The driver of the Palisade can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

Both the Honda Pilot and Hyundai Palisade offer exterior mirrors that can be folded to provide convenience. The Pilot offers available power folding mirrors, which allow for easy, one-touch folding or unfolding at the driver’s discretion. This provides added convenience when maneuvering or parking, as well as when walking past the parked vehicle. In comparison, the Palisade’s foldable mirrors are manual, requiring the driver to get out and physically fold them once parked and unfold them before getting in.

Insurance will cost less for the Pilot owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Pilot will cost $595 less than the Palisade over a five-year period.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda Pilot and the Hyundai Palisade, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Hyundai Palisade by 23% during 2023.