Overlanding is a hot trend, and Americans increasingly want trucks, SUVs, and even cars prepped to go just about anywhere at just about any time. At the extremes, you’ll find the GMC Hummer EV EarthCruiser and the Porsche 911 Dakar. In between live the more practical and affordable vehicles hoping to capture the attention of overlanding enthusiasts, like the 2024 Honda Passport TrailSport.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Granted, nobody who takes off-roading seriously will take the Passport seriously. But, people who want the rugged look of an SUV designed for exploring the great outdoors combined with a sophisticated all-wheel drive system, decent ground clearance, knobby all-terrain tires, and a huge interior with plenty of room for people, pets, and cargo, will find plenty to like in the 2024 Passport TrailSport.
This year, Honda made a few changes to the Passport:
The Black Edition tops a three-trim lineup that includes the base EX-L and the TrailSport. Prices range from $43,295 for the Passport EX-L to $49,365 for the Passport Black Edition, including the destination charge.
Previously, JD Power reviewed the 2022 Honda Passport TrailSport. This review focuses on the Passport’s updates for 2024 and how they potentially impact its overall consumer appeal.
The Honda Passport competes in the Midsize SUV market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2023 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, Passport owners rated their SUVs in 10 primary categories.
Listed below in descending order, you’ll find their preferences, from what they like most about the Passport to what they like least:
In the 2023 APEAL Study, the Passport ranks 5th out of seven midsize two-row SUV models.
In the following sections, our independent expert analyzes a 2024 Honda Passport TrailSport equipped with extra-cost Sonic Gray Pearl paint. The test vehicle’s price was $46,350, including the $1,395 destination charge to ship the SUV from the Lincoln, Alabama, assembly plant to your local dealership.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
To give the Passport TrailSport a slight edge in off-roading capability compared to several of its rivals, Honda has revised its suspension tuning and installed all-terrain tires with better grip on various surfaces and terrain types.
Starting with the suspension, the 2024 TrailSport boasts revised spring rates, reworked shocks, and modified stabilizer bars. The goals were to improve wheel articulation and the ride quality off-road without reducing the Passport’s on-pavement ride and handling traits. Ground clearance is unchanged at 8.1 inches, remaining well short of the best-in-class Subaru Outback Wilderness at 9.5 inches.
In addition, Honda equips the Passport TrailSport with new General Grabber A/T Sport tires sized 245/60R18. They mount to 18-inch pewter-painted wheels that increase the SUV’s track width by 10mm front and rear.
To test the 2024 Passport TrailSport’s hardware updates, I took it down a lumpy trail, blazed along on a winding gravel road with a washboard surface, and performed multiple acceleration runs through the mud. Unfortunately, it was unsafe to tackle more challenging terrain due to wet conditions in the Southern California mountains.
In each of these scenarios, the Passport felt right at home, and the new all-terrain tires make a noticeable difference in grip on slippery surfaces. It helps that outward visibility is outstanding, even if the Passport lacks fancy terrain-view cameras. In addition, I discovered the Passport TrailSport can take speed bumps and speed humps without slowing, though sharper impacts can produce structural shuddering.
While the TrailSport’s new all-terrain tires improve traction and handling off-road, they introduce some noise and squish on pavement. On the freeway, the Passport is generally quiet except for the faint whir from the Generals. And when threading the SUV down a mountain road, they give up grip earlier than I remember.
However, the revised suspension does a better job of isolating occupants from broken pavement and rutted trails, soaking up all but the sharpest and most jarring of impacts. Overall, the ride quality is excellent.
At low city-driving speeds, modulating the brake pedal for smooth stops is easy. As the nine-speed automatic transmission downshifts from higher speeds, it adds engine braking, which requires the driver to modify pressure on the brake pedal. In turn, this leads to uneven braking. In addition, the brakes heated up and shuddered during mountain driving, a typical Honda problem. They did not fade, but the behavior dented my confidence in them.
As was true before, the refined 280-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 revs smoothly and delivers good acceleration. A torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive (AWD) system is standard, and Honda says it can put up to 70 percent of the engine’s power to one or the other of the rear wheels, aiding off-road traction.
However, this V6 isn’t very fuel efficient. I averaged 17.4 mpg in city driving and 19.1 mpg on the evaluation loop. That’s less than the official EPA rating of 19/24/21 in city/highway/combined driving.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Get inside the 2024 Passport, and you’ll find a remarkably spacious cabin with plenty of room for five people. It’s the same as last year, except for one significant change. There’s a new center console between the front seats.
Previously, the Passport had a low console with a sliding cover. I liked how it worked as a storage tray, and the bin underneath was roomy. However, because the console was low, Honda provided two narrow, adjustable armrests on the inner sides of the driver and front passenger seats. They weren’t comfortable and got in the way when buckling the seatbelts.
The 2024 Passport’s new console still has a roomy storage bin, now residing under a wide, soft center armrest pad. The design isn’t as unique, but it is more comfortable and makes it easier to buckle up before a drive. In addition, there is a new two-phone storage area located forward of the transmission controls and cupholders.
As for comfort and cargo, the Passport delivers exceptional bang for the buck. The front seats are supportive, the back seat is wide and roomy, and fitting reverse-facing child safety seats isn’t a problem. Plus, the back doors open to nearly a 90-degree angle, and sill steps make it easier to tie cargo to the pedestal-style roof rack.
Open the wide rear liftgate, and the Passport’s 50.5 cubic-foot cargo space provides plenty of room for luggage or adventuring gear. Fold the back seat down, and you have 100.8 cu-ft of volume. I had no trouble loading two bicycles back there for a day trip to Santa Barbara.
Consider the new Passport Black Edition if the TrailSport doesn’t appeal to you. It is available with white, gray, red, and black paint and has 20-inch black wheels and blacked-out exterior trim. Inside, you’ll find red interior accent lighting, black leather with red-accented perforations, red contrast stitching, ventilated front seats, and heated rear seats. You get all of this for less than $50,000.
Other changes to the 2024 Honda Passport include a Diffused Sky Blue paint color for the TrailSport and new dealer-installed accessories such as skid plates. If you’re planning to go off-road, you’ll want those.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2024 Honda Passport represents good value in its segment. It is roomy, comfortable, and offers plenty of cargo space in a high-quality cabin. In addition, it has a sophisticated powertrain, decent off-roading capabilities (TrailSport), and is a terrific all-arounder for daily driving. In summary, it makes life easy.
However, the 2024 Passport is also a simple vehicle. It lacks modern technological conveniences like wireless versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, conversational voice recognition, and driving assistance features like full-stop for the adaptive cruise control system and a rear automatic braking (RAB) system.
(For the record, I don’t miss RAB. I can back the Passport out of my angled driveway without worrying it will slam on the brakes, thinking I will collide with the street.)
Unfortunately, the Passport TrailSport isn’t fuel-efficient. It averaged just 19.1 mpg on my testing loop. And when you look at the 2023 APEAL Study data related to this SUV, fuel economy is, by a wide margin, the thing Passport owners like the least, and with good reason.
If you decide the Passport isn’t right for you, there are alternatives, though only the Subaru Outback offers similar off-roading capability. They include the top-ranked model in the 2023 APEAL Study, the Chevrolet Blazer, or the runner-up, the Nissan Murano. If fuel economy is most important, the Toyota Venza comes only with a hybrid powertrain, but it is much smaller inside than the Passport.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience in test-driving vehicles. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new and used-car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals.
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