OCOTILLO WELLS, Calif. – On the night before our convoy Honda Passport 2022 Trailsports begins the day on the trails in the cobbled canyon, the dinner conversation, as is often the case at today’s industry gatherings, into the future of the automobile. Specifically, when cars are built on nearly identical skateboard architectures and everything is timed from 0-60 in 3 seconds, what differentiates one brand from another? other brand?
However, we do not need to wait for the electric future. The cars have converged into a vague two-wheeled boxy form with optional AWD. You can have any engine you want, as long as it’s a turbo four or a small V6. Color? Only white or gray please.
The Passport is a result (victim?) of this convergence. In such a context, it is increasingly difficult for a brand like Honda’s motobike Highlights. However, the company hopes that customers will find the Passport an interesting option, an option for families who like to be outdoors. And yes, I do get sick of hearing about “adventurous lifestyle” owners as you might say, but market research shows that many people are doing outdoor things these days, and even if most buy only dream of doing so, auto companies will to continue to serve that lifestyle, real or not.
You can see through the changes made on the Passport 2022 how Honda intends to position it. The squarer and more vertical grille focuses the new sheet metal from the A-pillars forward. Like an upgrade Ridgeline, it claims a tougher vision because today’s buyers want to know they’re pointing a fortress wall in whatever direction their intricate meandering screen takes them. Screw-friendly!
Honda also ditch the entry-level sport trim, making the two-row Passport starting price $39,095 (including $1,225 destinations), on the EX-L trim level, $1,040 more expensive than the three-row Pilot‘S.
Instead, Honda has added a new Trailsport version, which starts at $43,695 including destination and is offered in AWD only. The appearance pack features a more aggressive grille, silver lower slats that evoke the skid plates, some dark chrome trim and amber lights inside, and orange mountain range logos scattered throughout. . Not like Subaru’s Outback Wilds, it doesn’t have any real suspension upgrades, just exclusive 18-inch wheels that are better suited to unpaved roads than the standard dub.
The Trailsport’s 8.1-inch height and approach angle and departure angle are the same as the other versions (21.1 degrees of approach, 24.3 departures). It may seem a bit complicated, but as it turns out, the Passport is in fact far more capable off-road than we suspected (or most owners will ever experience).
We drove it onto a secluded off-road trail in Ocotillo Wells called the Tectonic Canyon. The path winds its way through narrow gorges dotted with boulders, the product of geological activity and its position at the edge of a continental plate. Some of the stone walls are so narrow that the mirrors are almost scraped off – good thing the Trailsport comes equipped with power folding as standard. We’re lucky to have spotters to guide us through some of the more challenging parts.
Surprisingly the Passport didn’t tear itself apart. It passed sandpits easily even when it was tricycle. Trailsport stacks stones the size of a watermelon as long as you place them in the middle of the car, where the ground clearance is greatest.
However, Honda’s i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive system, which can distribute 70 percent of 262 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels and 100 percent to the sides, is in idle mode most of the time. Normal degree. In Sand mode, which allows more torque and more slip in the rear, the system steers the rear wheels to really generate some momentum, turning the rear out as it grabs traction. . Apparently in the Anza-Borrego Desert there’s no need for Snow or Mud modes but they’re there if you need them.
In the same price range, the same price 2022 Toyota 4Runner would obviously be more ideally suited for the job, as its true body-on-frame architecture would withstand more abuse. With that, though, you’re sacrificing some highway comfort and a substantial 4 mpg total (Passport returns 19 city, 24 highway, and 21 mpg combined).
It is superior Toyota’s The balancer is based on the truck as well as the off-road driving dynamics, but that’s on the low end. A Honda has to be much taller, and that’s an unambiguous Passport. It may be designed in America for Americans, but Fit, and that’s not bobbing like a barge like the Passport. At least the acceleration is still impressive, with the 280hp V6 supported by a nine-speed automatic transmission.
The same styling isn’t boring, even with the toughened exterior. Get rid of the H badges and it can be anything, while decorative details like the grille frame that splits the headlights are unnecessary. Hondas used to be a minimalist and new design civic shows it is inching back in that direction. Sadly, this Passport refresh does not, nor does it fully address, the complaint that Honda’s two-row equalizer looks too similar to the three-row Pilot it is very clearly based on.
The same can be said of the interior, which remains indistinguishable from the Pilot from the second row onwards. The good news is that that means it’s incredibly roomy and big enough to hold more gear than other two-row midsize sedans. The instant-foldable rear seats are an always appreciated feature, and there’s no shortage of storage space, which makes it great for organizing a family’s belongings on the go. The bad news is that it still has Honda’s tailored previous-generation touchscreen infotainment system to provide a consistently frustrating and glitchy user experience. Again, we’ve known Honda has better capabilities in the Accord and other models, but this refresh doesn’t catch the Passport keeping up with them.
If we take Toyota and new car Jeep Grand Cherokee Undoubtedly, the Passport feels like a solid, family-friendly midsize SUV. We won’t try half of the things we’ve done in one Chevy Blazer, Ford Edge or Nissan Murano. 5,000 pounds of it sled The capacity is also impressive for a unibody, and you can certainly fit more outdoor adventure lifestyle gear into the Passport than any other. intersect.
However, this refresh of the new mid-bike and Trailsport isn’t enough to change the initial opinion that Honda should have done more with the Passport in the first place – and that more needs to be done if and when a new generation arrives. appear. Further distinguishing it from the Pilot will also help with handling and on-road technology. Ultimately, though, the next Passport needs to capture its Honda in a way this Passport doesn’t.
