Ever since the car was invented, kids have been yelled at by their parents from the front seats. Every parent that has driven with kids in the car understands that sometimes your voice requires extra volume to deliver a message to your precious children. This happens naturally to overcome noise from the road and the stereo, and of course, has no bearing on the rage inside of the parent doing the yelling. Luckily for parents, the Honda Pilot solves this age-old problem.

The Honda Pilot has CabinTalk

This is a problem that we never thought could be engineered away. However, Honda has overcome the need for parents to yell at their kids in the car. It’s called CabinTalk, and it was first introduced in the 2018 Honda Odyssey. This family-friendly feature is also available in Honda’s midsize 3-row SUV, the redesigned 2023 Honda Pilot.

CabinTalk is an in-car intercom system. When mom or dad touches the CabinTalk icon on the Display Audio infotainment system, it activates the microphone in the front seats and amplifies the loving parent’s voice to the rear-seat passengers. CabinTalk brings a parent’s authority to the speakers in the audio system, and it switches back to your Honda Pilot’s previous audio source when you turn off the app.

In the Odyssey, this even works if the kids are watching a movie on the rear entertainment system. The driver can choose to have their voice come over the speakers, the headphones, or both. It even pauses the movie to encourage the passengers to give the front-seat occupants their undivided attention.

This is both a convenience feature and a safety feature. The microphone makes it easier to talk to your passengers while keeping your eyes on the road. No more twisting your neck to gently remind your kids to share the Nintendo Switch.

Convenience comes at a cost

There’s just one catch to the CabinTalk system in the Honda Pilot. It only comes standard on the top Elite trim, which starts at $52,380. That’s a pretty penny for a Honda SUV, but it’s worth it for drivers who can afford a premium family hauler.

Other features in the Elite model include leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, Bose audio, a head-up display, and a panoramic sunroof.

However, no matter which trim you get, every Pilot is a great family SUV. Standard features on every trim include 3-row seating, the Honda Sensing safety tech suite, tri-zone automatic climate control, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and one-touch second-row seats that make the third row easy to access.

Minivan convenience in an SUV

Since a 3-row crossover has the same use case as a minivan, it makes sense for minivan features to migrate to family SUVs. CabinTalk must have been a popular feature in the Odyssey because Honda is bringing it to a wider range of families. Specifically, families who are too cool for a minivan but want the convenience that comes with it.

We hope to see more Odyssey features make it to the Honda Pilot, like CabinWatch, Magic Slide second-row seats, and a rear entertainment system. Until then, parents can enjoy CabinTalk and maybe spare some pain in their necks and their voices.