Trail Ready, Road Perfect: The 2026 Honda Passport Trailsport Elite In-Depth

MotorTrend

The 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport is tougher

Transcript

00:00What Honda has pulled off here with this Passport is super surprising.

00:14It's not surprising because it's more capable than you'd expect in the dirt.

00:17The surprise comes from the fact that that extra capability not only pays off here in the dirt,

00:22but it makes it a better Passport out in the real world.

00:25This is the 2026 Honda Passport.

00:30This specific one is a Trail Sport.

00:32This is Honda's off-road trim package.

00:34There was one available in the last generation Passport,

00:36but it was more of an appearance package.

00:38This time around, they've equipped it with these rather serious looking 31-inch

00:42all-terrain tires.

00:43They've changed the suspension tune to be more compliant off-road.

00:47They've fiddled with the torque vector in the rear end.

00:50They've lifted it up a little bit.

00:51But overall, this dovetails with the Passport's just tougher new look.

00:55And this makes sense.

00:56The Trail Sport makes up the majority of the Passport lineup.

01:00While they all look like this generally, where they are wider because they are wider,

01:04they're longer because they're longer, and they're boxier because they're boxier.

01:09But we're here to see how the Passport balances this newfound off-road capability

01:15with what the Passport's been known for and how it's really used day to day,

01:19which is out here on the road.

01:24So what are we doing on-road in the Trail Sport,

01:27which is supposed to be the off-road Passport trim level?

01:30Well, this is where most Passports are going to spend their time,

01:32whether it's a Trail Sport or otherwise.

01:34And the good news is none of the upgrades change

01:41what most people associate with Honda driving dynamics.

01:45It's not as sporty as some of Honda's cars, obviously. It's an SUV.

01:50But even despite these huge tires and the softer suspension,

01:55it drives like a Passport should drive.

01:57It's very, very road-friendly.

02:00Going through these corners, there's no odd sloppiness to it or anything.

02:04It is notably softer than you might expect from a Honda.

02:07But if anything, that enhances its everyday drivability, right?

02:11I spent a week in the city with this same car and going over potholes and things,

02:19you know, these tires just kind of float over it.

02:21You pay for it with a little bit of extra noise.

02:24And especially if you corner hard.

02:26I mean, if anyone's cornering hard in a Passport Trail Sport, you'll hear it.

02:31But most of the time, this actually,

02:34the Trail Sport treatment makes for a better everyday SUV.

02:38It's comfortable.

02:39You don't really have to worry about hitting curbs or speed bumps or anything like that.

02:43And then you still end up with the Passport that is just a better everyday vehicle

02:48than some of these hardcore off-road SUVs.

02:51Overall, no compromise on road.

02:55One of the less visible changes to the new generation Passport is under the hood.

03:01That's 3.5 liter V6 is actually all new.

03:04The specs are almost exactly the same as before.

03:07It has five more horsepower for 285 horsepower.

03:11And it still stands out in the class because even among its true off-road competitors,

03:18most SUVs have gone to these turbo fours now.

03:21This is still a naturally aspirated V6.

03:24They added an extra gear to the transmission, so it's a 10-speed now.

03:28And really, the only other major change is that it switched from a single overhead cam to a dual overhead cam.

03:33The net result is that it acts exactly the same as it did before.

03:37It's an unusual amount of effort to go through for not a big perceptible change for the driver.

03:43And after running it through our testing regimen, it's slower.

03:48A big part of that is it's heavier.

03:50Again, we mentioned this is a larger Passport.

03:52Well, it's also 500 pounds heavier, so it's about a little over a second slower to 60 miles an hour.

03:58It is nice whether you're looking at true off-road competitors or just regular midsize SUVs.

04:03It's still pretty rare to have a naturally aspirated gas V6 under the hood.

04:08And so the Passport, if you can't stand the sound of a four-cylinder,

04:13you're going to get the V6 here because it's the only engine choice.

04:16The Passport's newfound size increases pay off in roominess.

04:25It was already a roomy, you know, usable package.

04:28Again, it's essentially a two-row Honda Pilot.

04:32Right off the bat, it's useful in a way that a body-on-frame competitor,

04:36like a 4Runner or a Bronco or a Wrangler, just isn't going to be.

04:40As usual, Honda's carved out all these little storage cubbies,

04:44and there's somewhere to put stuff everywhere,

04:46whether you're sitting in the front seat, back seat, or you're loading stuff in the back.

04:50There's also a full-size spare. It's a donut.

04:53It's just a really well-packaged vehicle.

04:56And again, whether you're actually going on adventures or not with this Trailsport,

05:01that's just practicality that you can use every day.

05:05So the Passport's extra size isn't just a benefit inside.

05:09On the exterior, it's boxier.

05:11And so a lot of that extra dimensional stuff goes into that.

05:16It just, they angled the whole thing up and it looks tougher.

05:21In the front, you know, not only is the car wider, but it looks wider

05:24because the headlight and grille are just this wide strip.

05:28It looks really tough.

05:29But in terms of differences between regular Passports and the Trailsport,

05:33there aren't many.

05:34It's mostly just badges, the tires, and the faux vent that's at the leading edge of the hood.

05:41Other than that, they all have this more rugged vibe that, again, Honda's clearly trying to lean

05:48into here specifically with this new generation Passport.

05:54So there it is.

05:55There's no compromise to the Passport's on-road behavior.

05:58It's comfortable.

05:59It's a great everyday SUV.

06:01So the only thing left to do is to point this thing's toughened new nose

06:07towards some dirt and see how it performs off-road.

06:19So here we are pointed at this fairly steep hill.

06:23It's a good time to outline the huge difference between the first Passport Trailsport,

06:29the last generation model, and this one.

06:31Honda took a way more comprehensive approach this time.

06:35So you have the all-terrain tires.

06:36You have hardware changes as well.

06:38The suspension is a little softer, both for a little extra comfort when we're doing stuff like this,

06:44but also for better axle articulation.

06:47So that's important because this is still a fully independently sprung car-based SUV.

06:54It doesn't have live axles or locking axles.

06:56None of that hardcore stuff you might get into like a Wrangler, for example.

07:00But it does have a fairly capable all-wheel drive system with torque vectoring on the rear axle.

07:04There's a twin clutch unit that can distribute torque across the rear axle,

07:09and you'll feel it right here.

07:11You're going to hear some brake noises.

07:13But that's just the car using all of these electronic widgets

07:18to ensure that we're just moving forward,

07:21that the tire doesn't get hung up or stuck or slipping.

07:24And if it does, it starts to shove power using either the brakes or that twin clutch setup

07:30to the wheel that has traction.

07:32Now we just made that up, no problem.

07:35That was in Trail, and it brings a couple of extra things here.

07:39Different throttle map, some extra traction control settings,

07:43and this nifty camera that we relied on to smoothly get up that hill.

07:47This Passport Trail Sport is really surprising.

07:51It's not surprising in a, oh my god, it's going to chase a Wrangler down the trail kind of way,

07:56but it's surprising in that Honda has truly delivered better capability than it had before,

08:02without question.

08:03But what it's also doing here is enhancing what was already good about the Passport.

08:09So we talked about how most Passports are going to live on pavement,

08:13and this one will too, no doubt about it.

08:17But it's better for it, right?

08:20So the big tires, the squishy suspension, it doesn't hurt the driving experience.

08:25And if you live in a pothole-strewn city or, you know, someplace that gets a lot of snow,

08:30all these things actually enhance the everyday experience.

08:34This is a more comfortable Passport than it was before.

08:37The driving experience isn't impacted at all on road,

08:41and if for some reason you get it in your head that you want to start going up

08:47over hill and dale with your Passport, it can back up the look now.

08:52This is for someone who wants a comfortable, roomy, practical two-row SUV

08:58that looks a little cooler, but also can actually do these things in a pinch.

09:05And it's the result of surprising.

09:07I really think that they have pulled off the somewhat thread the needle task of delivering

09:15both a more capable SUV without hurting what made the Passport appealing in the first place.

09:21For the buyer who's looking for a reasonably adventurous SUV that still has an overwhelming

09:29amount of everyday practicality and comfort and utility, the Passport Trailsport is it.

09:43Head on over to MotorTrend.com for the full first test story.

09:47Head on over to MotorTrend.com

09:54The Essentially

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