Honda hasn’t announced when it will officially reveal the 2023 Honda Pilot SUV, but it has released a few teasers. Now Honda has announced that an early production version of the 2023 Pilot will make its competition debut at the 2022 Rebelle Rally, an eight-day competition through the unforgiving desert conditions of the American Southwest from October 6-15.
Honda claims that the Pilot TrailSport is its most rugged SUV yet and it’s out to prove it by racing an unmodified version. The Pilot TrailSport is ready for an adventure with its standard all-terrain tires, steel skid plates, raised off-road tuned suspension, expanded all-wheel drive system capabilities, full-size spare, and front and rear recovery points.
The 2023 Pilot TrailSport will be piloted by two Ohio-based Honda associates: Liz Long, a chassis reliability test engineer at Honda’s North American Auto Development Center, and Hillary Tate, a project administrator of design and construction for Honda facilities across North America. Competing as “The Co-Pilots #208” in the X-Cross class, Long and Tate will put the Honda Pilot TrailSport to the test over 10-12 hours of off-road driving per day.
“The all-new Honda Pilot TrailSport has been tested on challenging terrain all over the country, and we can’t wait to showcase its rugged capabilities in one of America’s most demanding off-road competitions,” said Long. “We’ve engineered the Pilot TrailSport to perform in these environments, and we’re excited to hit the trail.”
