Yahoo Autos 2024 Honda Passport, Ridgeline TrailSport Get Real About Off-Roading
The 2024 Honda Passport SUV and Ridgeline truck are scheduled to receive a more rugged set of revisions later this year.
A TrailSport trim will headline the facelift, a treatment that will likely include all-terrain tires and steel skid plates so the Passport and Ridgeline can tackle tougher terrain instead of just pretending to.
We expect the new DOHC 3.5-liter V-6 and 10-speed automatic that debuted in the fourth-gen Pilot to also reach the Passport and Ridgeline.
Pavement-bound SUVs dressed in off-road garb are all the rage these days, with Honda's previous TrailSport offerings acting as a prime perpetrator. The new 2023 Pilot TrailSport, though, transcends the off-road-in-name-only fad and adds more ground clearance, all-terrain tires, skid plates, and suspension revisions. For the 2024 model year, both the mid-size Passport SUV and the Ridgeline pickup truck are scheduled to receive a similarly rugged set of revisions, Honda confirmed in a media briefing.
However, those holding out hope for a hybrid powertrain will be disappointed, as the automaker said neither the Passport nor the Ridgeline will add a gas-electric option for 2024. This solidifies our suspicion that both will receive the updated powertrain from the Pilot.
Honda's new 3.5-liter V-6. which notably switches from a single-overhead-cam to a double-overhead-cam setup, also features an improved fuel-delivery system, new internals, and better packaging. While horsepower rises from 280 to 285, torque remains the same 262 pound-feet as before. A new 10-speed automatic transmission also replaces the old nine-speed unit. We haven't tested the new powertrain yet, but it doesn't feel discernibly quicker based on our initial drive.
Off-roading is not a foreign concept for the Ridgeline pickup. In fact, Honda has been supporting a desert-racing Ridgeline pickup dating back to 2015. Adding some off-roading chops to the consumer version is a welcome thought, even if the naysayers will complain that most TrailSports will never venture beyond the trailhead.
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