The Honda Passport lengthy had a picture as a cushty, family-friendly 2-row midsize SUV at residence within the daycare pickup line and the every day commute. With an entire transform for the 2026 mannequin 12 months, Honda would really like you to rethink that picture.
The 2026 Passport received’t be any much less snug or simple to dwell with than the 2025 mannequin. Nevertheless it has new outside hobbies and the gear to match.
Honda will promote the Passport in three trim ranges: RTL, TrailSport, and TrailSport Elite. The corporate hasn’t launched pricing however says the Passport will begin “within the mid-$40,000s.”
Rugged Look
Honda describes the 2026 Passport as “brawny and broad-shouldered.” To emphasise that, it has launched photographs of the off-road-oriented TrailSport mannequin however not the bottom RTL. A sq. grille and blocky headlights recall to mind Nineteen Nineties Ford SUVs greater than something Honda has constructed. A skinny slit hood scoop above the grille suggests engine energy, whereas a entrance skid plate curves up a lot increased than vital on the entrance bumper to point out off that it’s there.
Amber daytime working lights are discovered solely on the 2 TrailSport trims.
In again, blacked-out rear pillars give the impression of wraparound glass. Honda notes “elevated floor clearance” from the present Passport, however doesn’t put a quantity on it. The present 2025 mannequin has 8.1 inches of floor clearance.
Within the entrance, the corporate advertises “a considerably shorter entrance overhang that gives an elevated method angle. On the rear, hidden exhaust ideas are protected on the path.”
It’s the type of language we’re accustomed to from the builders of Grand Cherokees and Broncos, not the corporate behind the Odyssey minivan.
V6 In a Turbo-4 Period
Most automakers have switched to turbocharged 4-cylinder engines for his or her midsize SUVs lately. Not Honda. Each 2026 Passport will get the identical naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6, making 285 horsepower. It comes mated to a 10-speed computerized transmission.
Honda’s torque-vectoring i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive (AWD) system is customary. An all-new suspension “is fortified with stronger solid metal suspension arms and durable cast-iron knuckles,” Honda says. Once more, that sounds geared toward a tricky, off-road picture.
However the firm sneaks in a couple of references to the household responsibility most Passports are prone to do: “Re-tuned MacPherson struts in entrance and an all-new rear multilink suspension assist give Passport a extra assured dealing with really feel, whereas concurrently enhancing journey high quality.”
Variable-ratio steering “quickens response for sharper dealing with and agility round city, and extra pleasant on twisty backroads,” the corporate says.
TrailSport and TrailSport Elite fashions get an off-road-tuned suspension with completely different spring charges, stabilizer bars optimized for off-roading, and metal skid plates. A path digital camera system “makes use of 4 exterior cameras to supply 4 digital camera views (entrance, rear, facet and 360 diploma) together with intelligent tire placement graphics to assist drivers navigate obstacles outdoors their pure line of sight by slope or proximity similar to blind crests, deep ruts, and the path’s edge.”
Each 2026 Passport has a 5,000-pound tow ranking.
Extra Display Area, Cargo Area, Leg Area
Inside, the motive force faces a regular 10.2-inch digital instrument show. Honda sticks with its high-center-mounted touchscreen, this time with a 12.3-inch unit. The design has divided the KBB editorial room on different Hondas. A few of us love that it lets the motive force examine the display with out trying down from the highway. Others discover it distracting, at all times within the driver’s peripheral imaginative and prescient.
Google built-in, wi-fi Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and 5G Wi-Fi are customary on each trim stage.
Honda guarantees “improved rear seat legroom” and elevated cargo area. 83.5 cubic toes of area with the rear seats folded is genuinely spectacular. The cargo area, Honda says, can accommodate “full-size golf baggage laid sideways throughout the cargo ground or a big stroller. With its rear seats folded flat, Passport can accommodate two full-size grownup mountain bikes with their entrance wheels eliminated.”
The Passport strikes barely upscale in that each purchaser will get both leather-based upholstery (within the RTL trim), artificial leather-based (within the TrailSport), or perforated leather-based (within the TrailSport Elite). The 2 TrailSport trims get embroidered logos on the seat, however very completely different types. TrailSport fashions get them in orange, with orange contrast-color stitching and fabric accents. TrailSport Elite fashions get them in a extra muted, upscale colour scheme.
Automated driver assists embody Honda’s well-liked Site visitors Jam Help, which might deal with accelerating and braking in low-speed site visitors. The Honda Sensing suite of security options now contains cameras and radars with wider angles than in prior years and a blind-spot monitoring system with 72 toes of vary.
New Perspective, Outdated Consolation
Nobody within the media has completely pushed the 2026 Passport but. Our Lyn Woodward took it off-road, however was sworn to secrecy about some elements of it till at the moment’s reveal. We’ll want some on-road, in-traffic seat time to make sure. On paper, it retains the family-friendly nature of the outdated Passport however provides it a brand new rugged perspective and a few real off-road functionality. It ought to serve households in addition to it ever has and have new enchantment to those that take their SUVs on the path.
Honda will construct the mannequin in Lincoln, Alabama. It reaches showrooms early subsequent 12 months.
