While Honda’s three-row Pilot is the carmakers top selling SUV, their 2026 Passport two-row AWD SUV takes Pilot’s capabilities to the next level with slightly higher ground clearance, an upgraded suspension, along with 18-inch General Grabber, 9.5-inch wide, deep lugged tires for true off-road ability, especially the TrailSport version we tested.
Passport is in its fourth generation and it not only differs from the three-row Pilot having two rows, but it has been completely redesigned with chiseled styling lines, improved powertrain and new tech features like a 12.3-inch infotainment display.
Aside from Passport’s tough exterior looks, its interior is strikingly sharp and sporty as well. Leather trimmed, heated/ventilated front seats are two-tone in color, are heavily padded and nicely supportive with extended under thigh support.
The 12.3-inch infotainment display is complimented with a 10.2-inch instrument cluster that displays a host of operating information. The infotainment display itself serves the gamut of navigation, features, functions, rearview and front view cameras plus Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Google Assistant and Alexa connectivity, and a few more.
A wide attractive console houses a push button gear selector that once acclimating to it, is actually easy and enjoyable to use. In front of it is a cell phone charging pad and below it a Drive Mode toggle switch for Eco, Normal, Sport, Snow, Trail, Sand and Tow modes. And when the going gets really tough, Passport TrailSport came with a rear locking differential engaged by pressing a switch.
The digital gauge cluster also displays mode selections in addition to a host of other functions, features and alerts.
Step-in into the back seat is a low 21 inches where the seats are also heavily padded with good leg and headroom for three as there is no transaxle hump as the floor is virtually flat that allows decent leg room for a short legged, middle row passenger. The rear of the console contains separate HVAC controls for second row passenger comfort.
Back in the cargo area, and with the rear seats upright, there’s a cavernous 44 cubic feet of cargo space that measures 42 inches deep 48 wide and 32 high. Flip the rear seatbacks and space expands to 83.8 cubic feet for 72 inches (a full six feet) of depth. Lift over onto the cargo floor is an easy 32 inches along with a power lift-gate. And below the cargo floor is a 4-inch deep removeable plastic bin to stow dirty or wet items like hip boots, ski boots or other dirty items that would dirty the carpeted cargo floor. There’re also small spaces around the spare tire to stuff small items.
Passport gets its grunt athletic grunt from a proven 3.5-liter V6 that generates 285-hp and 262 lb/ft of torque for EPA mileage estimates of 18 city, 23-highway mpg with a standard, smooth shifting, 10-speed automatic transmission that is supplemented with paddle shifters. In Sport mode rpm’s increase about 500 for livelier acceleration and passing power.
Ride wise, it had just the right amount of tautness for off-road and on-road travel. Passport parked easily and was nimble yet was planted in tight, sharp turns.
With an extremely long list of safety features such as collision mitigation braking, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, vehicle stability assist, remote start, walk away auto lock, rain sensing wipers, TrailWatch camera with washer, rock rails, tire pressure monitoring and many more., the only extra cost option on the test car was $455 for Ash Green paint. While the Monroney (sticker price) did not have a price, Honda lists the TrailSport Elite we tested at $51,420. A plain TrailSport fetches $47,634 and an RTL base model starts at $44,133.
To its credit, the Passport TrailSport Elite received four out of five government safety stars for driver/passenger frontal crash and four for rollover. Side crash was not rated nor was an overall safety score.
Passport TrailSport comes with a 3 year/36K mile basic warranty, 5/60K drivetrain warranty, 5/Unlimited rust proof protection, 3/36K roadside assistance coverage and a 1/12K free maintenance warranty.
If you don’t need three row seating of the Pilot, Passport combines utility, stylish design and an all-weather 4WD that will take you on and off-road and in deep snow conditions that are forthcoming here in the Snowbelt according to predictions from the new Farmers Almanac. Plus, Passport is a real eye-grabber.
