2023 Honda Pilot brings back the DOHC V6 for cleaner emissions

With a new Honda Pilot comes a new version of Honda's evergreen V6. This time around, the 3.5-liter motor adds dual overhead cams even as it dispenses with Honda's signature VTEC system. There's a slight power boost as well, but nothing drivers will likely notice.

Notably, as Car and Driver points out, the engine marks Honda's first naturally aspirated DOHC V6 since the original NSX. However, that glorious motor was augmented with VTEC, Honda's game-changing variable valve timing system. VTEC intake camshafts had two profiles, one for low-rpm efficiency and one for performance that would activate at a certain rpm. It all worked mechanically, using oil pressure to switch profiles. Unlike in the NSX, however, the Pilot's V6, referred to internally by engine code J35Y8, does not have VTEC.

VTEC was cutting edge Formula 1 tech in 1989, but here it's been replaced with cam phasers that continuously change timing for both intake and exhaust valves. From a driver's standpoint, this means power will be delivered more smoothly without that trademark VTEC jolt. Power grows a bit, up 5 horses to 285, while torque stays the same 262 pound-feet. Maximum output of both arrive a few hundred rpm higher.