How much more black can the 2020 Honda Pilot Black Edition be? None more black
The Black Edition lives atop the Pilot lineup and commands a pretty penny.
Honda should have gone all-in and painted it Vantablack. You can't get a speeding ticket if light is incapable of reflecting back to a police officer's laser, after all.
Murdered-out cars, as people often like to call them, are basically painted as dark as possible in as many areas as possible. While it's always been a popular idea with people who like car customization, it's a growing factory option as automakers try to align with everyone's tastes. The latest entry in this field takes a darker approach to a traditional three-row family crossover.
Honda on Monday unveiled the 2020 Honda Pilot Black Edition. Living at the top of the lineup and borrowing most of its kit from the formerly tip-top Pilot, the Black Edition focuses on improving the car's aesthetics -- there don't appear to be any equipment upgrades that aren't also present on the Pilot Elite.
On the outside, the Pilot Black Edition is available in one paint color -- Crystal Black Pearl. It wears 20-inch alloy wheels finished in black, and there are chrome-removing "blackout" parts in the grille, headlight trim, door handles, window trim, fog light accents and side trim. As you might expect, there are also a pair of Black Edition badges on the tailgate and grille, because a model is only good if it comes with a badge.
There's a fair bit of darkness in here, but the red does a good job of balancing it out so it's not a total cave.
The interior keeps things a little lighter -- in terms of the number of changes; it's still very black. The black interior gets red accents on the first- and second-row seats, in addition to a Black Edition logo embossed on both the seats and the floor mats. That stitching extends to the door panels and steering wheel, too. To cap it off, there's red accent lighting on the dashboard, doors and center console.
Otherwise, the trim is just about the same as the Pilot Elite, which carries as much kit as any Pilot. Standard equipment on this trim includes a panoramic moonroof, a heated leather-wrapped steering wheel, illuminated cupholders, three-zone automatic climate control, a hands-free tailgate and rain-sensing wipers. Lane-keep assist, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control are all included, as well, as is an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Then again, for the price Honda's charging, all that stuff had better be standard. With its 280-horsepower V6 and standard all-wheel drive, the 2020 Pilot Black Edition costs a mighty $50,715 including destination, a $1,500 premium over the Pilot Elite. The rest of the lineup is a bit more affordable, though, with a FWD Pilot LX starting at $32,645.
