Yahoo Autos 2020 Honda Passport Review & Buying Guide | Great success, minimal effort
Sometimes great success comes with minimal effort. Most cars and SUVs share their mechanical underpinnings with various other vehicles from within their brand, but they look so different that you'd have to be a car geek like us to know. The 2020 Honda Passport, on the other hand, is quite obviously a Honda Pilot with a pair of seats and a bunch of length removed, plus a new grille, big black wheels and extra ground clearance. Interior design? It's the same. Engine, transmission, general driving experience? Ditto.
On one hand, you could accuse Honda of laziness. On the other, you could look at the end result and see what is arguably the most competitive vehicle in Honda's midsize crossover family (the Ridgeline pickup is similarly chipped off the ol' Pilot block). The Passport's huge, spacious-efficient cabin is tops among midsize two-row crossovers. Its ride and handling are well-balanced for comfort and control. Feature content is generous and pricing is reasonable. For those looking for an SUV to take on family adventures, it's a terrific, well-rounded choice. That Honda sort of whipped it together doesn't really matter.
What's new for 2020?
After being introduced last year, the Passport receives no changes for 2020.
What's the interior and in-car technology like?
If you've seen the inside of a Honda Pilot, you'll be right at home in the Passport, as the first two rows are virtually identical. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Both share a common look that's clean and functional, but hardly as visually interesting as what you'd find in a Chevy Blazer or Hyundai Santa Fe. Material quality is very strong for this segment and everything is put together exceedingly well.
One difference with the Pilot is that every Passport comes with Honda's controversial push-button transmission selector (rather than just top trim levels). It's confusing at first to use, and then never as intuitive to use as a traditional shifter. It's different just to be different. On the plus side, there's no shortage of places to store your stuff. There are multiple door bins, two cupholders in each rear door, two areas to store a smartphone up front, and the giant center bin is big enough to hide a purse under its flat rolling cover. There are even more underneath the cargo floor.
Interior tech is less impressive. There is a lot of it standard, true, but the means in which it is controlled can frustrate. There are insufficient menu buttons, no tuning knob and/or direct tune function, and the process for going between Honda and Apple/Android interfaces is excessively annoying. Many of these issues were corrected for the vastly improved system in the Accord and Odyssey (even the Civic now has physical menu buttons), but the Pilot/Passport/Ridgeline family soldier on with ye olde interface. If there's a reason to ponder something other than the Passport, this would certainly be it.
How big is it?
For a midsize two-row crossover, the Passport provides an enormous, space-efficient interior. Nothing really comes close to its passenger and cargo space. The second row offers abundant head- and legroom, while also sliding considerably to bring kids closer to parents up front or free up cargo space. Need to fit a rear-facing child seat? No problem.
The cargo area is not only the biggest in the segment, but arguably the most versatile as well. Besides expanding thanks to the sliding back seat, it also houses a large bin under the floor that can hide valuables or secure dirty items from the clean interior (it can also be removed to be cleaned). The cargo area itself is deep, wide, tall and offers 41.2 cubic feet of space — far more than anything else in the segment. The same can be said when the seats are lowered, with 77.9 cubic feet of maximum space. You'd have to step up to a longer three-row model like the Pilot to get more.
If you're wondering how the Passport's interior space compares to its competition, we have a robust comparison of specs and dimensions featuring the Passport, Chevy Blazer, Ford Edge, Nissan Murano, Hyundai Santa Fe and Jeep Grand Cherokee if you want to learn more.
What's the performance and fuel economy?
The Passport has only one engine and transmission offering: a 280-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 paired to a nine-speed automatic. This engine is strong, smooth and according to the 0-60 times posted by various publications, acceleration can be the strongest in the segment. Fuel economy ratings are typical: 20 mpg city, 25 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined for the 2WD, and 19/24/21 for the AWD. Confirming the highway number, we achieved 24.8 mpg in 340 miles of mostly rural highway driving.
The Passport can tow up to 3,500 pounds, which is about average in the segment, although the Chevy Blazer with AWD can tow as much as 4,500 pounds.
