2021 Honda Pilot vs Ford Explorer

When you want to get out of Gulfport, Long Beach, or Biloxi, Mississippi, for a weekend escape or a far-flung family vacation, an SUV serves many purposes in transporting you there. Picking the right SUV for your travels may mean being torn between two choices.To help you make your decision before your vacation, our team at Pat Peck Honda created a 2021 Honda Pilot vs. Ford Explorer comparison. While we cannot promise to help plan your trip, we can advise you on which vehicle serves as a better vacation companion.

Outdoor Assistance

2021 Honda Pilot Gray Depending on how far you plan to travel, you may drive during evening hours or overnight to avoid congestion. What better time to use your Honda Pilot LED fog lights—standard on the EX, EX-L, Touring, Elite, and Black Edition trims—to light up your way? Only three Ford Explorer trims offer standard LED fog lamps—they are unavailable in the entry level trim and optional for the XLT trim.

Day or night, your side mirrors help you see inaccessible angles. The heated power side mirrors with integrated LED turn indicators in the Pilot come standard in the EX, EX-L, Special Edition, Touring, Elite, and Black Edition trims. If you want to use them for the Explorer, you must choose the Limited, ST, King Ranch, or Platinum trims.

Honda Pilot vs Ford Explorer Interior Specs

Once you duck inside both SUVs, differences between amenities in each become glaringly apparent.

In the Pilot, eight people fit comfortably in the LX, EX, EX-L, Special Edition and Touring trims. The Explorer only fits seven people, regardless of trim level.

If you take a cross-country road trip or go to a family reunion seven states away, you need ample cargo space for luggage, a stroller, and a portable crib. Go for it in your Pilot—you have 109 cubic feet of room! You’ll have to squeeze items in the Explorer since it only has 87.8 cubic feet of cargo volume behind the first row.

Unique Tech Options

2021 Honda Pilot White Both vehicles contain a swath of useful and innovative entertainment and safety features. When planning a road trip or extended mountaineering vacation, though, you need to keep antsy little ones entertained while you drive.

Bring along some DVDs or stream your children’s favorite TV shows in the back seat with the Pilot’s available Advanced Rear Entertainment System. If you ride in the Explorer, it may get a little noisy without such a system available.

How can you get the whole gang’s attention when you’re all the way in the driver’s seat? Use the Pilot’s available CabinTalk® in-car PA system, which enables you to communicate with your backseat passengers to tell them to buckle up or to repeat the answer to the commonly heard question, “Are we there yet?”

Unfortunately, no comparable feature can be found in the Explorer.