2019 Honda Passport Review
2019 Honda Passport Elite AWD
MSRP: $44,625
Engine/Power/Torque: 3.5 Liter V6/280/262
MPG: 21 as observed
Text: Yousef Alvi // Photography: Alexander Grant
This is the new Honda Pilot. Revised for 2019 with a slightly new front facia and new tail lamps. Wait…hold on. Something is amiss here. Give me a second
Internal monologue:
“It looks shorter. Huh…that’s odd. But the front is from the Pilot. Maybe it’s a Pilot Sport! That would be a genius name. Let me walk to the back.
Wait. This is called a Passport??
*images flood in from the early 90s of the original Passport*”
Ah well I’m a dumbass. This is in fact is the new Honda Passport! Forgive me for it’s easy to make the above mistake because it looks exactly the same as the Pilot. If anything the Ridgeline, Pilot and Passport look so similar I’m going to pitch the following naming convention:
Ridgeline -> Honda Pilot Ute or Ridgelot
Passport -> Honda Pilot Sport
See? Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I will await my check from Honda.
Now on to the actual review. The Passport is a genius move by Honda. Sorely missing from their lineup was a midsize 2 row SUV and with sales of the Grand Cherokee, Sorento, Sportage and Equinox rivaling burgers sold by McDonald’s…it was the logical choice.
The Passport has a personality that is a bit different from it’s Pilot brethren. Whereas the Pilot is designed and engineered to carry the maximum amount of people in comfort and serenity, the Passport is designed to the same but with an added ounce of well…feeling. The Passport has a bit freer attitude on the road. It’s a bit more buttoned down, the steering is a bit more direct, the throttle is a bit sharper and the gearbox is tuned to hold on to gears that bit more longer. Does those added ‘bits’ make it have a personality of its own? Eh…not really but if you are going to copy a crossover and make it shorter…might as well be the Pilot. Because overall it drives exceptionally smooth, the ride quality is outstanding and the interior space is phenomenal.
Speaking of the interior…It’s the same as the Pilot and the Ridgeline for the most parts. But heck what’s not broke…don’t fix it. Which is to say…it’s simple, easy to use, easy to read and overall a pleasant place to be. The seats are comfortable, there is abundant second row seating and the cargo area is vast.
On the mechanical front it is also the same as it’s bigger brother. Powered by the last vestiges of the glorious 3.5 liter V6 making 280 horsepower and 262 ft/lbs of torque, mated to a 9 speed auto and AWD. The last part is what makes the Passport different from its rivals.
Most AWD systems on the road found are tuned for efficiency over traction. The activation of the system will only take place *after* slippage is detected. In other words: You’ll have the front wheels lose a bit of traction for a second or two before the system routes power to the rear. To me, that defeats the purpose of a AWD system. If I’m paying for AWD traction…I want AWD traction all the time.
The i-VTM4 system of Passport is different…for one it actively works ALL the time and two it has a horrendous name. Routing power seamlessly to any and all wheels the system is constantly distributing torque to whatever wheel and/or axel needs it the most. Giving the Passport excellent driving dynamics no matter what is thrown at it.
Will you want it on your next track day? Well no, but it’s enormously better than its competitors in handling and driveline dynamics. To say it another way…fancy words like torque vectoring and electronic differentials are no longer the forte of elite sports cars. Honda found a way to trickle that technology down to lowly consumers like us.
So overall…what do I think of the 2019 Honda Passport? There are roughly eleventy billion competitors on the market, it looks exactly the same as two other vehicles in Honda’s lineup and the horsepower numbers don’t scream out at you. But somehow with the Passport that doesn’t matter…because everything just works and works extremely well. That is the beauty of a Honda folks and that what makes it special.
