2026 Honda Passport TrailSport First Drive Review: Adventure Awaits

To illustrate just how much Honda has rethought the Passport for 2026: half of the first drive event is now off-road.

This is one of AutoGuide's most anticipated vehicles of the year. Honda is leaning into the adventure side of the SUV market with the fourth-gen Passport, promising a rough-and-tumble two-row capable of challenging market stalwarts like the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota 4Runner. That's how we find ourselves on a long series of trails in Puerto Rico, tackling huge elevation changes, major articulation challenges, and various surfaces. Can the 2026 Passport stack up?

Can you picture the last generation Passport? Because I can’t. I know it shared a schnoz with the Ridgeline at the end of its life cycle, but uh… yep, that’s it.

Not a problem here. The Passport cuts a much more confident profile now, all rugged boxiness. Honda calls it backpack-inspired: in profile the blacked-out sections surrounding the rear windows, when viewed with those large roof rails, do have a whiff of backpack. The nose, with its wide air intake and squished headlights, emphasizes the vehicle’s width and—whisper it—has just a bit of old Element to it. The orange and mossy green exterior colors are excellent, though even white looks good with all the contrasting trim bits. Honda has learned what Kia already knew: amber DRLs are the coolest DRLs. (RTL models get plain white ones.)

All these straight lines keep the new model looking fairly compact, despite gains in nearly every dimension. Crucially, while length is up 2.4 inches (61 millimeters), wheelbase grows even more (2.7 inches / 69 mm). Combined with a 3.1-inch (79 mm) reduction in rear overhang, and an exhaust now tucked into the rear bumper, the Passport has improved approach (23 degree) and departure (27.1 degree) angles.

A refreshing note: every ’26 Passport rides on 18-inch alloys. Nothing bigger. Thank you, Honda.

Other brands might be excising V6 power from their off-roaders, but not Honda. The latest version of the company’s tried-and-true 3.5-liter V6 resides under that flat hood. A whole five ponies more bring the corral to 285 horsepower, while torque is unchanged at a peak of 262 pound-feet. There’s no more front-drive model—good—so all models send their power to the i-VTM4 all-wheel drive system via a 10-speed automatic transmission.

What this setup might lack in the instant-access torque of modern turbocharged or electrified competitors, it makes up for in foolproof predictability. Honda has tweaked the gear ratios here, shortening first for better pep off the line or on the trail. There’s no second-guessing throttle work, and it feels appropriately spritely on Puerto Rico’s highways. The available Trail drive mode softens throttle responses out in the jungle, making it easier to measure out exactly how many ponies are putting in work.

The i-VTM4 system has seen serious upgrades too. A more powerful rear pack now allows up to 70-percent of available torque to head to the rear wheels, while torque vectoring can send 100-percent of that to either individual wheel. One interesting aspect: Honda keeps 25 percent of available power in reserve for any wheel that leaves the ground. According to the company, this improves responses when the wheel does regain purchase. In the handful of times we lift a rear tire during the trail drive, the Passport continues on the exact desired path.

Fuel economy is not great. You’re looking at 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, for a combined rating of 21 mpg for the RTL. Switch over to the TrailSports and their knobbly A/T tires and it’s just 18, 23, and 20 mpg, respectively.

On the trail, the Passport is agile and confident even as one of the larger options in its class. There’s a light and consistent weighting to the steering, making it easy to place between some of the narrower passes. There are clear messages when a wheel lifts, as well. The available drive modes offer noticeable differences: a short run on a bit of beach connecting two trails highlights the looser traction control restrictions of the Sand drive mode, for instance.

Hill descent control is standard. Honda employs a different approach to this than most others: while it can be adjusted in single-mph increments from 2 to 12 mph, that is done via the accelerator and brake. While I appreciate the simplicity, the catch is that even careful brushes of the gas will push past the next increment, bringing the brakes into play. Whenever the brakes activate with HDC, they make a racket.

The on-road portion highlights the logic of sticking to a unibody platform: the Passport is a model of quiet and comfort, even on those A/T tires. Braking is strong and confident, and there’s enough power to pass slow-moving vans. You hear more of the suspension doing its thing than you might in say, a Pilot, but Wrangler and even 4Runner drivers would find this a comparable luxury cruise.

On the trail, the Passport makes the most of its suspension articulation, keeping the driver from bouncing around too much over uneven terrain. The seats might look a little flat, but I never found myself struggling to stay put. They’re suitably comfy on the road too; that portion of the drive is in the cloth-and-faux-leather thrones of the plain TrailSport, which I prefer the look of to the full-leather items in the Elite. That being said, the latter’s ventilation (only up front) is very welcome.

Of course, the Passport is still cavernous out back. Honda has carved out even more rear legroom now: 40.9 inches, to be exact. And the cargo hold is 44.0 cubic feet, which expands to a full 83.8 when the second row is folded. Canadian figures are 1246 and 2373 liters, respectively.

The latest Honda interior design direction is a good one, and that was one of the areas the previous Passport needed the most work. So it’s refreshing to see a clean, high-quality cabin. The dashboard emphasizes the width of the cabin with its wide vents and straight lines. As nice as the brown leather is in the Elite, I prefer the material in the regular TrailSport, which has a good texture to it. Honda has also eked out more storage space in the dashboard and center console.

Honda manages to carve out every available scrap of interior space—look no further than the latest Civic—and the Passport is no exception. I feel like the far-side door handle is in another area code.

Every ’26 Passport now comes with a larger 12.3-inch central touchscreen along with a fully digital instrument cluster. Both are welcome upgrades: the former is Android-based with full Google Built-In integration, bringing in a raft of voice-assistant commands and integration for those in the big-G ecosystem—so, just about everyone. It’s easy to connect a phone wirelessly too, and a wireless charger is standard.

The digital instrument cluster is another big plus. Not just for the crisp graphics and nice-touch details like the synced turn signals for the adaptive cruise control display, but for the new off-road displays. Pitch and roll are helpful, while the elevation graph paints a rollercoaster on our trail drive.

TrailWatch is a new feature on the TrailSport. Never mind the unsubtle name, or that other brands have implemented these sorts of digital spotter systems before. Yes, including the helpful digital lines painted on the camera feed, making it clear where the tires and exterior mirrors are. It’s the useful implantation that matters here. Honda has set the system up to activate should the driver choose the Trail drive mode, and the cameras click off at 15 mph. Should the vehicle get back under 12 mph though, the feed is back automatically, no fussing about. Should you want to access the cameras at any other time, the button is right there for on the right-hand stalk end. It’s the sort of thoughtful mix of digital assists with physical controls that should be applauded.

In America the 2026 Passport will kick off at $46,200 including $1,450 in destination charges. That’s for the basic RTL trim; a pretty significant $3,800 price hike over last year’s model, but with much more standard content and capability. Towing and Blackout packages bump that up by $700 and $1,200, respectively. The TrailSport ($49,900) and TrailSport Elite ($53,900) both include tow hitches as standard, but do offer the Blackout package.

By comparison, the new 2025 Toyota 4Runner kicks off at $42,220 including destination, for a basic rear-drive SR5.

Canadian pricing and availability were unavailable at time of writing.

This first meeting with the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport left me impressed. Hardcore off-roaders will still bemoan its unibody construction and front-drive-based nature, but Honda has baked in so much more capability now. For most folks’ needs, it will be plenty.

More than that, the Passport retains the easy-driving nature that is a hallmark of modern Hondas, and mixes in serious helpings of cool with its newfound style. Even with its focused trim walk, I expect this model to be a big hit for the big H.

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