Honda Pilot and Fit get retooled, slightly larger

There’s news both big and small at Honda this year.

The brand’s largest SUV, the eight-passenger Pilot, is restyled and revamped as a slightly larger, second-generation model for 2009. The Pilot’s underlying platform is revised for improved ride and handling, and the SUV is powered by a 250-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 with 253 foot-pounds of torque.

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KIICHIRO SATO/Associated Press

The Honda Pilot’s underlying platform has been revised to improve its ride and handling. Honda’s biggest SUV gets up to speed with a 3.5-liter V-6 that produces 250 horsepower.

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At the other end of the size spectrum, Honda’s Fit subcompact hatchback is slightly larger inside and out, has improved suspension, and a 120-horsepower, 1.5-liter, fuel-sipping, four-cylinder engine.

Honda also is beginning to lease its hydrogen-powered fuel cell sedan. The aerodynamic, four-door FCX Clarity is the first hydrogen-powered car to go to regular people — well, some celebrities, too — as an everyday car, albeit leased, not purchased.

It operates on compressed hydrogen, emits no pollutants from the tailpipe, and travels quietly as hydrogen is used to produce electricity onboard to power the vehicle.

Only 200 FCX Clarity cars are planned for lease over the next three years.

Elsewhere, the Ridgeline pickup truck is mildly freshened inside and out, while the Civic gets front and rear touchups, and the Element is mildly restyled.