The Honda Passport long had an image as a comfortable, family-friendly 2-row midsize SUV at home in the daycare pickup line and the daily commute. With a complete remodel for the 2026 model year, Honda would like you to rethink that image.
The 2026 Passport won’t be any less comfortable or easy to live with than the 2025 model. But it has new outdoor hobbies and the equipment to match.
Honda will sell the Passport in three trim levels: RTL, TrailSport, and TrailSport Elite. The company hasn’t released pricing but says the Passport will start “in the mid-$40,000s.”
Rugged Look
Honda describes the 2026 Passport as “brawny and broad-shouldered.” To emphasize that, it has released photos of the off-road-oriented TrailSport model but not the base RTL. A square grille and blocky headlights call to mind 1990s Ford SUVs more than anything Honda has built. A thin slit hood scoop above the grille suggests engine power, while a front skid plate curves up much higher than necessary on the front bumper to show off that it’s there.
Amber daytime running lights are found only on the two TrailSport trims.
In back, blacked-out rear pillars give the impression of wraparound glass. Honda notes “increased ground clearance” from the current Passport, but doesn’t put a number on it. The current 2025 model has 8.1 inches of ground clearance.
In the front, the company advertises “a substantially shorter front overhang that provides an increased approach angle. At the rear, hidden exhaust tips are protected on the trail.”
It’s the kind of language we’re accustomed to from the builders of Grand Cherokees and Broncos, not the company behind the Odyssey minivan.
V6 In a Turbo-4 Era
Most automakers have switched to turbocharged 4-cylinder engines for their midsize SUVs in recent years. Not Honda. Every 2026 Passport will get the same naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6, making 285 horsepower. It comes mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Honda’s torque-vectoring i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive (AWD) system is standard. An all-new suspension “is fortified with stronger forged steel suspension arms and sturdy cast-iron knuckles,” Honda says. Again, that sounds aimed at a tough, off-road image.
But the company sneaks in a few references to the family duty most Passports are likely to do: “Re-tuned MacPherson struts in front and an all-new rear multilink suspension help give Passport a more confident handling feel, while simultaneously improving ride quality.”
Variable-ratio steering “quickens response for sharper handling and agility around town, and more enjoyable on twisty backroads,” the company says.
TrailSport and TrailSport Elite models get an off-road-tuned suspension with different spring rates, stabilizer bars optimized for off-roading, and steel skid plates. A trail camera system “uses four exterior cameras to offer four camera views (front, rear, side and 360 degree) along with clever tire placement graphics to help drivers navigate obstacles outside their natural line of sight by slope or proximity such as blind crests, deep ruts, and the trail’s edge.”
Every 2026 Passport has a 5,000-pound tow rating.
More Screen Space, Cargo Space, Leg Space
Inside, the driver faces a standard 10.2-inch digital instrument display. 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 other Hondas. Some of us love that it lets the driver check the screen without looking down from the road. Others find it distracting, always in the driver’s peripheral vision.
Google built-in, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and 5G Wi-Fi are standard on every trim level.
Honda promises “improved rear seat legroom” and increased cargo space. 83.5 cubic feet of space with the rear seats folded is genuinely impressive. The cargo space, Honda says, can accommodate “full-size golf bags laid sideways across the cargo floor or a large stroller. With its rear seats folded flat, Passport can accommodate two full-size adult mountain bikes with their front wheels removed.”
The Passport moves slightly upscale in that every buyer gets either leather upholstery (in the RTL trim), synthetic leather (in the TrailSport), or perforated leather (in the TrailSport Elite). The two TrailSport trims get embroidered logos on the seat, but very different styles. TrailSport models get them in orange, with orange contrast-color stitching and upholstery accents. TrailSport Elite models get them in a more muted, upscale color scheme.
Automated driver assists include Honda’s well-liked Traffic Jam Assist, which can handle accelerating and braking in low-speed traffic. The Honda Sensing suite of safety features now includes cameras and radars with wider angles than in prior years and a blind-spot monitoring system with 72 feet of range.
New Attitude, Old Comfort
No one in the media has thoroughly driven the 2026 Passport yet. Our Lyn Woodward took it off-road, but was sworn to secrecy about some aspects of it until today’s reveal. We’ll need some on-road, in-traffic seat time to be sure. On paper, it keeps the family-friendly nature of the old Passport but gives it a new rugged attitude and some genuine off-road capability. It should serve families as well as it ever has and have new appeal to those who take their SUVs on the trail.
Honda will build the model in Lincoln, Alabama. It reaches showrooms early next year.
