The Pilot's front seat is spacious, with two comfortable bucket seats and a versatile center console. The seats give excellent access to all the controls. In a particularly clever move, the largest dial in the center of the instrument panel is the switch to shift the audio controls from front- to rear-seat audio. Several observers with young children immediately recognized that as the control they would use most, and they appreciated the its large size and central placement.

The headliner-mounted DVD screen does not take up much space when not in use, and is highly visible to small children in the second- and third-row seats.

The front-seat center console includes a fold-out cell-phone holder with a power outlet. Unfortunately, this was the only interior feature that did not seem to be fully thought out. Whenever the cell-phone holder was in use, it completely blocked the two cupholders mounted in front of it in the console. However, the console provides plenty of storage space, with a compartment behind the cell-phone holder (where my cell phone actually ended up most of the time), and a covered compartment located on the Pilot's centerline provided more storage in the space between the console and the instrument panel.

The other instruments and controls will be familiar to anyone who has ever driven a Honda. The company does not vary much from the layout that decades have proven to be a model of ergonomics.

Passive safety features include dual-stage/dual-threshold front airbags, front side-impact airbags with occupant position sensing on passenger side.