2025 Honda Pilot vs 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport

The 2025 Honda Pilot was available in several trim levels, including Sport, EX-L, TrailSport, Touring, Elite, and Black Edition. While the Sport trim was budget-friendly, it lacked many desirable features, making the leather-lined EX-L a more appealing choice. Prices ranged from $40,200 to $54,580, plus a $1,395 destination charge. The Black Edition, evaluated in Southern California, featured a Modern Steel paint job and no additional options, bringing its MSRP to $55,975, including destination. This edition, based on the Pilot Elite, showcased black wheels, blacked-out exterior trim, and black badges. Inside, it boasted black leather seats with red perforation accents, red contrast stitching, and red ambient lighting. The Black Edition's unique styling was more suited for suburban environments, despite Honda's efforts to give the Pilot a rugged appearance with its 2023 redesign. The interior, while thoughtfully designed with quality materials, lacked a significant "wow factor" due to its modest digital displays.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport emphasized a sportier aesthetic within the Range Rover family. Its taller stance, shorter wheelbase, and chopped top contributed to a more athletic appearance, though it sometimes appeared too tall and narrow. The lineup included SE, Dynamic SE, Autobiography, and SV Edition Two trims, with a Stealth appearance package available for the Dynamic SE. The SV Edition 2, tested in Marl Grey, was the highest-performance model, featuring carbon-fiber wheels and hood. Inside, it offered red leather upholstery, sport seats with light-up "SV" inserts, and illuminated steering-wheel paddle shifters. The minimalist interior design, while sleek, sometimes compromised functionality. The Range Rover Sport's cockpit-like feel was enhanced by high console, dash, and door panels, though it could feel cramped. Material quality met luxury standards, but the use of reflective piano black plastic was excessive.

The 2025 Honda Pilot was equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 engine paired with a 10-speed automatic transmission, producing 285 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. This setup allowed most Pilot models to tow up to 5,000 pounds. It offered various driving modes, including Normal, Econ, Snow, Tow, Sport, Trail, and Sand. Models with Honda's Intelligent Variable Torque Management (i-VTM4) AWD system featured hill descent control and up to 7.3 inches of ground clearance (8.3 inches for the TrailSport). The AWD system's torque vectoring allowed up to 70 percent of engine output to flow to a single rear wheel (75 percent in the TrailSport). While the V6 provided good acceleration, the transmission occasionally felt slow to downshift. Fuel economy was unimpressive, with city-heavy driving yielding 17.8 mpg and an evaluation loop averaging 20 mpg, below the EPA rating of 21 mpg combined. The Pilot's handling was predictable and secure, though an adaptive-damping suspension system would have benefited the Elite and Black Edition models. The compliant suspension was advantageous in typical driving situations, and the Pilot maintained a traditional Honda connection with the road surface.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport offered multiple powertrain options, all with an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard four-wheel drive. The base SE model featured a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six with 355 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. The Dynamic SE offered a higher output of 395 hp and 406 lb-ft, along with a six-cylinder plug-in hybrid powertrain rated at 454 hp and 487 lb-ft. The Autobiography trim increased the plug-in hybrid's output to 543 hp and 590 lb-ft, and could also be equipped with a BMW-sourced twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8 producing 523 hp and 553 lb-ft. The SV Edition Two used the same V8, but with output pushed to 626 hp, making it the most powerful production Range Rover model. It could accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds and had a top speed of 180 mph. The Range Rover Sport's sport-tuned air suspension allowed it to handle corners well, while four-wheel steering and brake-based torque vectoring enhanced agility. The Terrain Response system, hill descent control, and ascent control supported off-roading, with the Autobiography trim offering a two-speed transfer case with low range. Standard air suspension increased ground clearance to 11 inches, providing a 33-degree approach angle, 29.8-degree departure angle, and 26.9-degree breakover angle.

The 2025 Honda Pilot excelled in form and function, with three rows of comfortable seats and thoughtful storage solutions. However, the Black Edition's front passenger seat had limited adjustability, lacking height and cushion tilt adjustments. The front seats were otherwise comfortable, supportive, and equipped with heating and ventilation. The second-row seats were roomy, with a removable center section for creating captain's chairs. The third row was habitable for adults if the second row slid forward. The Pilot featured a remote engine starting system, triple-zone automatic climate control, and a panoramic sunroof. Cargo space included 18.6 cubic feet behind the third row, 48.5 cubic feet with the third row folded, and a maximum of 86.5 cubic feet with both rear rows folded.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport, positioned between the Range Rover Velar and full-size Range Rover, offered a two-row, five-seater configuration. Front-seat occupants had similar headroom to other midsize luxury SUVs, though the Acura MDX and Audi Q7 offered more legroom. The sloping roof didn't significantly impact rear-seat headroom, and reclining rear seats were standard. The Range Rover Sport provided 31.9 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row and 53 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. It lacked a split tailgate but featured power operation and an "access height" setting for easier loading. The Range Rover Sport's towing capacity was 7,716 pounds for turbo-six and V8 models, and 6,614 pounds for plug-in hybrids.

The 2025 Honda Pilot's technology appeared dated, with smaller display screens compared to rivals. The Black Edition featured a 10.2-inch digital gauge panel and a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, offering wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, text-messaging support, and wireless smartphone charging. However, the wireless CarPlay function was problematic, and Honda's voice recognition system was inconsistent. The 12-speaker Bose audio system was adequate but not exceptional. The Pilot included a CabinTalk feature for driver-passenger communication and a small four-inch head-up display.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport shared its screen setup with the larger Range Rover, featuring a 13.7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 13.1-inch touchscreen for infotainment. Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Amazon Alexa integration were standard. The minimalist design sometimes compromised functionality, with climate control and drive mode adjustments requiring screen widgets. Steering-wheel controls offered limited alternatives. The Pivi Pro infotainment system was responsive, with natural-language voice recognition. The SV Edition 2 test car featured "Body and Soul Seats" with embedded transducers for music synchronization, though the experience felt somewhat gimmicky.

The 2025 Honda Pilot came equipped with standard Honda Sensing safety features, including forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, lane-centering assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and adaptive cruise control. The Black Edition also had parking sensors and a multi-view camera system with TrailWatch technology. However, the adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist systems exhibited issues, and the road sign recognition system was inaccurate. The Pilot earned high marks in crash tests, with the IIHS naming it a Top Safety Pick+ and the NHTSA giving it an overall rating of five stars.

The 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Sport included standard driver-assist features such as automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and a driver attention monitor. The standard 360-degree camera system and digital rearview mirror aided parking, though parking sensors were overly sensitive. The IIHS and NHTSA had not released safety ratings for the current-generation Range Rover Sport at the time of publication.