02-04-2025
2026 Honda Passport TrailSport Review: How Well Does it Behave As An 0ff-Roader?
A roughly three-foot-high berm on an off-road course curated by Honda in Puerto Rico shows both the advancements and limitations of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport. Drive over the berm with even a slight angle, and Honda's new off-road crossover will handle it easily. However, the journalist in front of me puts the front wheels on top of the little hill, then steers left instead of going straight and high-centers it with all four wheels off the ground. He's stuck with no chance of driving out of his predicament.
When he got to the top of the hill, he could no longer see the spotter telling him to go right instead of left. Had he checked the new TrailWatch camera system, he could have seen the spotter's directions. Had he been in a Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter or TRD Pro, a disconnecting front stabilizer bar could have allowed a front tire to stay on the ground and provide the traction needed to drive out of it. Had he been in a Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland or Summit model, the air suspension would likely have given him the ground clearance to clear the berm.
But the Passport TrailSport has some tricks up its sleeve to get out of this predicament safely, too. This particular vehicle is equipped with $915 worth (plus installation) of Honda's accessory rock rails, which team with the standard engine and gas tank skid plates to protect the bottom of the vehicle from dirt and rocks. It also has front tow hooks and a standard tow hitch with recovery points. The front tow hooks end up doing the job here, as Honda uses another TrailSport to pull out the beached crossover.
The 2026 version isn't the first Passport TrailSport, but it's by far the most capable. In addition to the TrailWatch system, skid plates, tow hooks, and recovery points, the new TrailSport adds hill descent control, a revised off-road suspension tune, and Trail and Sand driving modes.
Trail mode is the choice for most of this curated course. It reduces the traction control intervention, dulls the throttle response, and makes the all-wheel-drive and braking systems react more quickly to changing traction conditions. It also turns on the TrailWatch camera system, which offers forward or front-side views to help see what might be in the way when your eyes can't.
Honda's off-road course includes steep descents and ascents, off-camber ridges, a few puddles up to a foot or so deep, and rutted terrain that puts up to two wheels in the air. The obstacles test the effectiveness of the hill-descent control and i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive systems, the grip of the all-terrain tires, the protection afforded by the skid plates, and the off-roading angles.
The AWD system moves power around quickly, sending up to 70% to the rear axle and 100% of that to the tire with traction when the other is in the air. It uses two clutches in the rear axle to send power side-to-side. This rear differential is more robust this year, with the ability to handle 40% more torque and react 30% quicker. Honda's i-VTM4 is an advanced system for a unibody vehicle, but it doesn't have the billy-goat capability of the advanced systems from Jeep and Toyota with their 2-speed transfer cases and rear lockers.
Hill descent control also works quite well, accompanied by the familiar grinding sound of activating anti-lock brakes. It lets the Passport TrailSport descend hills at 2-12 mph, and I can control the speed with the pedals, adding throttle to increase the speed when I see the surface is smoother or reducing it with the brake when it gets too bumpy for higher speeds.
The wide 275/60R18 General Grabber A/T tires are the TrailSport's best off-road weapon. Developed in conjunction with Honda for the Passport, they dig into dirt and mud quite well and even send the SUV easily downhill and through puddles that are perhaps a foot deep. TrailWatch is also quite helpful, allowing me to see those spotters, avoid rocks, and close tree branches. The system comes on automatically with Trail mode and stays on until I reach 15 mph. It then re-engages when I slow to 12 mph.
The hills, bumps, and ruts of this course don't challenge the TrailSport's approach or departure angles. At 23.0 degrees, the approach angle improves by 1.0 degree versus the outgoing model, though the 23.1-degree departure angle decreases by 1.2 degrees due to the standard trailer hitch. Oddly, the 16.7-degree breakover angle is also down a bit—0.6 degree—from the outgoing model, and that's likely due to a wheelbase that's grown by 2.8 inches even though ground clearance is up 0.2 inches. These are all modest measurements. The Grand Cherokee, for example, bests all of these figures with approach, breakover, and departure angles of 30.1, 24.0, and 26.6 degrees, respectively, thanks to the higher off-road ride height afforded by the air suspension.
I can't say how extreme any of these hills are as the roll and pitch gauges in the standard 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster only show a graphic of the vehicle versus flat planes without readouts for exact angles.
Later, the route includes driving on sand, which means switching to Sand mode. Sand acts much like a Sport mode, increasing throttle sensitivity and holding gears longer while also reducing traction control intervention. It's not really necessary on this course, however, as the sand isn't deep or overly soft to let the vehicle sink. It's not as important to keep up the speed as it normally would be, and the Grabber A/Ts have no trouble providing the traction to keep up the momentum.
The 2026 Passport TrailSport excels on the road as well, thanks to improvements in the powertrain and ride quality of the whole Passport lineup. The Passport exchanges a single-overhead-cam 3.5-liter V-6 for a dual-overhead-cam engine of the same size. It makes only slightly more horsepower, 285 versus 280, and the same 262 pound-feet of torque, but its new design, as well as an improved direct-injection system, reduces emissions.
However, the Passport's larger size adds roughly 500 pounds of weight to as much as 4,705 pounds, so fuel economy improves slightly to 19/25/21 mpg for the base RTL model from 19/24/21 mpg, though the TrailSport's all-terrain tires take it down slightly to 18/23/20 mpg. A 10-speed automatic transmission also replaces the previous 9-speed with a wider spread of gear ratios, a lower launch gear, and smoother shifts that include four-gear downshifts. The 9-speed could get confused at times and deliver some clunky shifts, and a later road drive reveals that this transmission is much smoother and more responsive.
The same can be said for the Passport's ride and handling. The new platform boasts a 72% increase in front lateral rigidity, a 50% increase in rear torsional rigidity, rigid-mounted front and rear subframes, and a wider track (+1.3 inches up front and +1.5 inches in the rear). This is enhanced by improved roll, lateral, and longitudinal stiffness for the MacPherson strut front suspension and multi-link independent rear suspension. A quicker steering ratio (16.1:1 from 17.1:1) and a stiffer steering column take advantage of the Passport suspension's improved responses, and bigger brakes (13.8-inch front rotors up from 12.6 inches) provide better stopping power and a shorter pedal stroke.
Honda dials some of that back with softer settings for the TrailSport. The front stabilizer bar is 12% softer, and the rear bar is 70% softer for better wheel articulation. The dampers also have a softer tune, and the taller Grabber A/T tires have a lot of forgiving sidewall. The road drive shows that the Passport TrailSport is a rather pleasant cruiser. The steering has a light but direct feel that adds some welcome weight in Sport mode. The suspension soaks up bumps to provide an unusually smooth ride, though there is some of the body lean and head toss over bumps associated with taller SUVs.
Much of the drive is spent on tight, slow-moving roads, but the cabin is pleasantly quiet, thanks in part to standard active noise cancellation. The knobby tires also don't drone, though that could change at the freeway speeds I didn't get to experience. The larger footprint for 2026 also means more interior space. The cargo area has up to 83.8 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats down, about six cubic feet more than the outgoing model, and 44.0 cubic feet with the rear seats up, including roughly six cubic feet found under the rear floor. The second row gains 1.3 inches of legroom.
The 2026 Honda Pilot TrailSport starts at $49,900, but customers have to pony up $53,900 for a TrailSport Elite to get the TrailWatch camera system. Standard features of the base TrailSport include a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, cloth and synthetic leather upholstery with orange highlights, heated front seats, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Google built-in, a wireless phone charger, a panoramic sunroof, and 18-inch alloy wheels. In addition to the cameras, the Elite adds leather upholstery, a Bose 12-speaker audio system, cooled front seats, heated rear seats, and a heated steering wheel.
Choose either of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport model,s and you'll get a family hauler with a sense of adventure. They won't live up to a Grand Cherokee or 4Runner for pure off-road capability, but they'll get you to the trailhead or campsite in comfort.
