The rearmost row is more of an opportunistic affair. It's useful if you have 4 adults and a couple of kids to take somewhere. The kids fit fine in the rearmost row, and they can clearly see the DVD Rear Entertainment system. While adults could probably origami themselves into the 3rd row for very short trips, it's just not prudent to think of taking more than 4 adults on any long trips in the Pilot. With the high load floor dictated by the AWD system and general SUV packaging, there's very little room behind the 3rd row of seats for hauling luggage or cargo. With something like an Odyssey, you can truly haul 7 adults in reasonble comfort, and you still retain a huge amount of cargo area behind the last row of seats.

The seats themselves are well designed and quite comfortable. I once again must take issue with the use of perforated leather, however. I'm not fond of it in general, and in this Pilot's case the seats required a "shave". There was some strange fuzzy stuff poking out of the perf holes on parts of both the driver and passenger seats.

From the driver's position, everything falls within easy reach, and the gauges are large and easily legible. Our EX-trim test model included an impressive list of features including HomeLink, power windows, door power locks, power seats, keyless entry, and a great sound system. With a 10" subwoofer buried in the cargo area, the "no-name" system in the Pilot carried some nice "thump".

From a convenience perspective, the Pilot doesn't disappoint. There are cupholders and storage areas scattered about the cabin. Interior lighting is decent too. It's certainly better than past Honda efforts, but still not quite up to American vehicle standards. One area that could use improvement is the floorboard lighting. With two small kids it seems I'm always groping around for stuff that falls on the floor, and I can never see it due to the general lack of illumination in my Honda and Acura vehicles.