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Want to feel like a celebrity? Forget the Lamborghini. Save the quarter-million bucks and buy a Honda Pilot instead.

Im serious. The all-new 2016 model I tested had the townsfolk swarming around it like bees to sweet, sweet crossover honey every time I parked it. They gathered, gawked and used the word awesome to describe it more times than any pilot since Capt. Sully.

Awesome? A Honda Pilot?

Granted, I got my hands on one before it went on sale, so it was the first one anyone had seen, but I was still amazed at its impact. I suspect that will change when its everywhere, which shouldnt take too long.

The new Pilot marks a return to form for Hondas three-row not-a-minivan. The last generation was a boxy, pug-nose affair that tried too hard to look like a truck. Its sales were respectable, but nevertheless disappointing. So this time around, Honda has gone back to the 2003 originals successful formula and basically made a supersized CR-V.

In fact, the Pilots resemblance to Hondas best seller is so uncanny that I walked up to a CR-V in a parking lot one day and tried to get in. If Id succeeded, I wouldve noted that the cabins share a similar style, too, but quickly realized Id entered less cavernous space.

The Pilot is huge from front to back. Theres room for tall folks in the third row and four carry-on suitcases behind it. The center consoles storage compartment could double as a bassinet. The top-of-the-line Pilot Elite comes with second row captains chairs that slide forward with the press of a button for easy access to the cheap seats. Other trim levels have a bench in the middle and provide accommodations for eight.

The driver and front passenger get the best seats in the house, of course, and theyre heated and cooled in the Elite. Cushy on top, but perfectly supportive, theyre more comfortable than any chair in my home and would give the ones http://cwtrans.com.au/