Moreover, the Pilot's seating/cargo arrangements are exceptionally versatile. Both rows of rear seats split 60/40 to fold, for a mix of people and stuff that suits the moment.

The second- and third-row seats are slightly higher than those ahead, theater style, improving forward visibility for passengers. The second-row seatbacks recline, albeit with limited range, and this year the second row can slide forward or backward in its locked position, allowing leg room for the second and third rows to be adjusted according to the size of the passengers. The pass-through to the third seat, already one of the easiest going, has also been improved. With one motion, a lever on the seat edge allows the second seatback to pivot forward while the entire seat slides forward (further than before). The seat returns to its original position by pushing on the seat back.

The second seat folds away easily with one lever accessed through the rear passenger doors. A four-bar linkage automatically drops the seat flush to the floor. There are no gaps to limit the ease of sliding cargo, and there's room for a lot of cargo.

With both rear rows folded flat, the Pilot offers 90.3 cubic feet of cargo space. That's considerably more than the GMC Envoy or Chevy Trailblazer (80.1 cubic feet), Ford Explorer (81.3) or Toyota Highlander (81.4). Moreover, the Pilot's load floor is four feet wide, allowing full sheets of building materials to fit inside.

The Pilot's front seats are spacious, with two comfortable buckets and a versatile center console. The seats give excellent access to all the controls and the view out is excellent in all directions, with as little obstruction as you'll find in an SUV. The LX model's manual seat adjustments are simple but effective.

In a particularly clever move, Honda made the largest dial in the center of the instrument panel a switch to shift the audio controls from front- to rear-seat audio. Several observers with young children immediately recognized this as the control they would use most, and they appreciated its large size and central placement. The other instruments and controls will be familiar to anyone who has driven a Honda. The company seldom varies much from the layout that for decades has proven to be a model of ergonomics. Most of the Pilot's switches operate with a satisfying, positive action.

All is not perfect inside the Pilot, however. The minivan-like column shifter is spindly and moves in an ovoid path, like that of the Odyssey. The thin, sliding plastic lid over the center console works fine, but is not aesthetically appealing and sounds cheap when you drop a set of keys on top of it. Buttresses on the sides of the center console look like they'll collect detritus. The fold-out cell-phone holder with a power outlet seems at first a nice feature, but blocks the two cupholders in front of it. Nonetheless, the console provides plenty of storage space in a compartment behind the cell-phone holder (where our cell phone ended up most of the time). A covered compartment located below the Pilot's center stack provides more storage in the space between the console and the instrument panel.

The Pilot is loaded with kid-friendly stuff. There's a cupholder for every seat and pockets on the seatbacks in the first two rows. The EX includes a second-row fold-down activity tray with more cupholders and storage for pocket-sized electronic games or fast food, including a little spot that cradles sauce containers.

The optional seven-inch, headliner-mounted DVD screen doesn't take up much space when not in use. Yet it's easily viewed from all of the rear seats when deployed. Audio and video input jacks allow a wide variety of additional equipment to be plugged in, from camcorders to portable VCRs to game consoles. The system includes two sets of cordless headphones, with jacks for three more wired sets. And when the Pilot is equipped with the DVD player, that big control in the center of the dash allows parents in front to override whatever is playing.

Honda's DVD-based navigation system is among the best. Its picture-in-picture capability permits the simultaneous display of a large-scale map and detailed route instructions. The database includes 3.7-million points of interest, with restaurants (searchable by type of cuisine), airports, hospitals, hotels, parks and ATMs. Finally, this nav system will track the Pilot's position with dots on the screen, even in remote areas not covered by the nationwide map. A driver who ventures off road can simply turn around and follow the dots back to where he or she started. Unfortunately, you can't order a Pilot with both the DVD video and navigation systems.

Overall fit and finish inside the Pilot is familiar Honda, right down to the new-car smell emanating from freshly molded plastics. There's nothing garish or even particularly luxurious about the Pilot's interior. The aesthetic here is the beauty and simplicity of form following function, and that suits us fine. The panels match precisely throughout, and the materials, including cloth upholstery, are for the most part high-grade.

Passive safety? The Pilot is designed with crumple zones both front and rear. Honda claims its SUV can take a rear-end impact at nearly 35 mph without the rear seat being breached, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gives Pilot its highest rating (five stars, relative to other vehicles in the class) for both front and side impacts. Safety features include dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags and front side-impact airbags with occupant position sensing on the passenger side. If there's a smaller child or lazy, leaned over adult in the seat, the bag won't deploy.