© Mercedes Lilienthal
Team Nor Wester Tackles the 2023 Rebelle Rally
Team Nor’Wester #211, the author’s team, isn’t a stranger to multi-day rallies or time-speed-distance (TSD) competitions. The pair just completed the 2023 Rebelle Rally, a 1,300+ mile-long off-road traditional navigation competition, partnering with America Honda Motor Company, Inc., to drive a bone stock 2024 Pilot TrailSport SUV across the finish line. Oregon-based freelance journalist/photographer and this article’s author, Mercedes Lilienthal, has competed in several automotive endurance rallies, including multiple Rebelle Rally competitions, winter and summer Arctic Alcan 5000 Rally events (the longest on-road rally in North America), the Great Race vintage car rally, and local TSDs. Seasoned navigator Emily Winslow lives near Seattle. She’s competed in multiple Rebelle Rally events as well as the NW Rally Council’s TSD Friday Nighters evening rallies for the past six years. Winslow and her husband are helping the organization expand its presence. She appreciates the sport’s accessibility.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Zero Issues and Tire Punctures
In its eighth year of running, the 2023 Rebelle Rally started in Mammoth, California, and wound its way through the California and Nevada desert over 1,300 miles of dirt, rocks, silt, and sand. With its largest number of entries yet, 65 teams competed with 10 being crossovers of different types. Of those, only two were bone stock vehicles: a Ford Bronco and Team Nor’Wester’s 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport. Whereas other teams suffered a variety of mechanical issues and other problems—at one point over 20 teams visiting the mechanics with concerns in one day—Lilienthal and Winslow’s trusty Honda SUV exhibited zero issues throughout the competition.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
2024 Pilot TrailSport Attributes
The 2024 Pilot TrailSport, like the bone stock one that was run during the event, has an MSRP of $48,800 (plus $1,345 destination charge), excluding tax, license, registration, and various options. Though fuel economy varied when driven off-pavement, EPA ratings are 18 miles city / 23 highway / and 20 combined. The TrailSport comes with integrated normal, econ, snow, tow, trail, and sand drive modes, the latter two most helpful during the competition. Trail mode, along with 8.3″ of ground clearance, helped the vehicle conquer rocky, steep, uneven terrain, whereas sand mode changed gearing and the vehicle’s dynamics to allow greater traction in soft sand. Additionally, the SUV showcases a one-inch raised off-road tuned suspension and an expanded all-wheel drive system that quickly adjusted to changing desert conditions.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Barbie meets Marvel
One of Honda’s senior designers from the styling and design department, Lili Melikian, created the colorful wraps that adorned the three Honda SUVs. “Wraps are tiny glimpses of the timeframe in which they will be displayed,” she said. “This makes it really fun and effortless to design a wrap because you’re free to do something wild and crazy without having to look timeless. In car design, we often aim to be timeless and have themes that will transcend generations, it’s really fun to do wraps because you’re just designing for the moment and can be trendy.” This year’s theme was “Barbie meets Marvel,” a twist on comic book graphics in a fresh, colorful way.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Push Beyond Boundaries
This year’s course was incredibly difficult for crossovers due to flood damage and other issues Mother Nature presented. Team Nor’Wester is proud of how they worked together to conquer various challenges head-on as Honda’s first journalist, non-employee team. The 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport had zero mechanical issues after 3,604 total miles and 16 total days on the road. That’s a true testament to the TrailSport’s capability right off the showroom floor. Navigator Emily Winslow nailed more difficult invisible black and black X checkpoints (with zero wide-miss penalties). Driver and author Mercedes Lilienthal focused on honing specific driving skills, such as left-foot braking, giving her some of the best high-speed driving days to date behind the wheel of this fun-to-drive and capable three-row seven-passenger Honda SUV.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Maxxis RAZR All-Terrains
Though Continental Terrain Contact all-terrain tires are offered standard on the TrailSport trim, the bone stock 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport was shod with aftermarket Maxxis 265/60 R18 RAZR all-terrain rubber. These tires offered increased sidewall protection, reinforced internal structure, and beefier traction ability with their large 3D tread blocks, staggered block placement, and lug pattern. The tread components prevented the overall tread from flexing and enabled even pressure distribution. Additionally, the stock wheel design incorporated inset spokes. This reduced trailside damage from nearby branches or rocks from clipping the outer edges of the wheel.
© Paolo Baraldi
Driving in Manual Mode
The 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport boasts a peppy 3.5-liter V6 powerplant generating 285 horsepower paired to a smooth-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission. Paddle shifters can be used in D (drive) mode to quickly down shift for immediate power. It responds and then switches back to D mode within a reasonable amount of time (usually within several seconds to half a minute). S (sequential) mode was used in certain situations to hold engine revs in steeper terrain when vehicle control is critical. For instance, S mode was beneficial when descending tight long, twisting tracks to relieve constant braking—both on- and off-pavement.
© Nicole Dreon
Recovering Yourself
The author’s team, #211 Team Nor’Wester, used MAXTRAX recovery boards to help get themselves unstuck in soft, hot sand. With temps soaring to 104 degrees, Lilienthal carefully dug out sand away from the tires with a DMOS Delta shovel in her intended path of travel. She then laid down traction boards, one next to each tire, as flat as possible against the bottom of the tire tread (making sure to kick the board end under the tire). She then slowly drove forward, and once the tires grabbed onto the recovery boards, she progressed to firmer ground and celebrated a successful vehicle self-recovery with her teammate Winslow.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
No GPS, Only Maps and a Compass
The nine-inch infotainment screen includes a knob for power and volume, as well as tactile buttons for home and back buttons. Whereas regular Pilot models may come with navigation as a standard feature, TrailSport iterations only offer a digital compass for wayfinding navigation. However, this was ideal for this competition as zero technology of this sort is allowed for teams as all GPS units are disabled and cell phones, tablets, laptops, and other techie bits are “confiscated” by the organization until after the rally ends. Only topographic maps, a compass, and latitude/longitude numerics help teams find their way throughout the desert to hidden checkpoints and eventually, to the finish line at the legendary Glamis sand dunes.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Pilot TrailSport Features
The 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport boasts several menus that can help drivers understand critical vehicle systems when off-roading. These include tire pressure, fuel range and total capacity, trip odometers, and various safety systems that can be individually turned off if desired when venturing off the pavement. These components are controlled by the steering wheel’s left-side scroll and home buttons. Additionally, the Pilot features paddle shifters that are thoughtfully placed in a close-in position to the rear of the steering wheel, making for an intuitive, fun driving experience when used. Whereas other manufacturers’ paddle shifters make a noticeable clicking noise when shifting occurs, Honda’s versions were virtually silent when engaged.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Climate Control Low-Down
The 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport’s tri-zone automatic climate control system has oversized buttons and easy-to-grip knobs that were easy to use. The air conditioning quickly cooled the interior cabin, even when enduring sweltering 104-degree days. On the flip side, comfortable seats that kept occupants from experiencing fatigue over the eight-day off-road rally. They had three adjustable heated settings for the driver and passenger, allowing near-immediate warmth when temps dipped into the teens during early-morning pre-dawn competition starts. However, the center stack’s high-gloss finish made it a challenge to keep the console clean during the dust-filled event.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Push-Button Transmission
Although most manufacturers love to use high-gloss piano black for interior bezels and finishing bits, it can easily be scratched or blind occupants if the sun hits it in just the right spot. The Pilot TrailSport features auto start/stop, hill-descent control, brake hold, various drive modes, and an electronic parking brake, packaged in a simple and easy-to-use array of controls. However, the push-button transmission was cumbersome to use when driving tricky or technical terrain where quick gear shift changes from drive to reverse or D (drive) to S (sequential) was needed. It wasn’t intuitive to feel each button’s placement without looking directly at it and away from in front of you. Incorporating a standard PRNDL or dial-style shifter would make off-road driving simpler and more natural in these situations.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Gobs of Space
The 2024 Honda Pilot TrailSport is a three-row seven-passenger SUV. To make room for necessary rally gear, the second and third row seats were removed. This let the team accommodate a second full-size spare tire, a Pro Eagle off-road jack on a skid base, a full-size fire extinguisher, five-gallon water container, vehicle recovery kit, medical equipment, and more. With so much gear on board, D-rings were installed where existing seat base bolts were. This allowed for secure ratcheting points throughout the interior. Straps were checked throughout each day to make sure everything was in check during the grueling eight-day competition.
© Nicole Dreon
Four Total Honda Teams
For the first time, four teams piloting Honda vehicles competed in this year’s Rebelle Rally, a 1,300+ mile-long off-road traditional navigation competition. From left to right, Team 208: Liz Long, a chassis reliability test engineer at Ohio’s Honda Auto Development Center (ADC) and Hillary Tate, a project administrator of design and construction for Honda facilities across North America. The pair collectively drove a modified 2024 Pilot TrailSport. Team 211: Honda’s first-ever journalist and non-employee team of navigator Emily Winslow, a project manager who specializes in first responder pre-employment testing and Mercedes Lilienthal, an award-winning freelance journalist/photographer and this article’s author who piloted the bone stock 2024 Pilot Trailsport SUV. Team 212: Serena Halterman and Nicole Rotondo, Honda Performance Development (HPD) IndyCar trackside engineers who drove a customized Passport TrailSport. Team 201: privateers Lisa (Lola) Wolford (driver) and navigator Noelle Sanders who took Wolford’s 2007 Honda Ridgeline across the finish line.
© Nicole Dreon
Team Nor Wester Finishes!
Temperatures swung drastically during this year’s competition. Teams endured 14-degree nights at the start and up to 114 degree Fahrenheit at the end of the eight-day off-road desert rally. However, spirits were high for Team Nor’Wester #211 as they brought Honda’s bone stock 2024 Pilot TrailSport across the finish line. They had no issues as the toughest rally terrain-wise, in its eighth year of existence, came to a close. Author and driver Lilienthal as well as navigator Winslow pushed beyond their boundaries to learn critical skills to forge ahead for future competitions. Additionally, mechanical sympathy was a key component to practice, maintaining a safe-and-steady driving demeanor, ensuring the vehicle was always in tip-top shape.
© Mercedes Lilienthal
Multiple Firsts and Making History
In 2018, Emily Winslow placed 2nd in the crossover class. In 2018 and 2019, she competed as a privateer in her Subaru Crosstrek with a manual transmission. In 2018, Mercedes Lilienthal competed as a privateer in her then navigator’s husband’s Toyota Tacoma 4×4 (also with a manual). In 2021, Lilienthal and Winslow partnered with Volkswagen of America and piloted an all-wheel-drive ID.4 EV crossover. They made history as the first team to bring an all-electric crossover across the rally’s finish line. In 2022, the pair partnered with Jeep, a subsidiary of Stellantis, and drove one of three bone stock Wrangler Rubicon 4xe plug-in hybrid 4x4s. They became the first duo in the rally’s tenure to compete with an ICE engine, EV powerplant, and plug-in hybrid. Now, the duo finished in 2023 with Honda as the manufacturer’s first-ever journalist team in a bone stock crossover, a three-row seven-passenger 2024 Pilot TrailSport SUV—with zero mechanical issues, no flat tires, and without a single wide-miss navigational penalty.
