A passport – the physical, government-issued kind used for travel purposes – is one of those necessities you store away, out of mind, until the time arises when you need it. Honda’s mid-sized sport utility of the same name shared a similar quality, at least in my mind. I knew it existed but I didn’t know enough about it to form an educated opinion. Until this point, I had only studied the Honda Passport at auto shows. I had never climbed behind the wheel for some real-world, first-hand experience so it was difficult to know where to place the Passport in my mental carousel of SUVs.
The Passport is smaller than Honda’s Pilot but larger than the CR-V – that much I knew – but what I didn’t know was what differentiated it from those two vehicles. Was there an actual necessity for an SUV of this size and who was the target audience for the Passport? After spending a week with the 2019 Honda Passport AWD Elite, I surprisingly discovered who the target audience is. Me.
What I Dig About the 2019 Honda Passport
A Hint of Ruggedness in the Style – There was a time when Honda’s design language lagged behind the competition, but the stylistic choices in the design of this Passport are exactly what the brand needed and deserved. While not quite as edgy as the CR-V, the Passport is instead sophisticated and simultaneously fun with enough ruggedness thrown in for good measure. The somewhat blunted front end is certainly pointed toward adventure with a blacked-out plastic bumper that fans upward to form a sweet, oval patterned grill flanked by dart-shaped headlights. This front fascia looks ready to cut through wind, rain or dust. Body stylings compliment this feeling of toughness with bold body lines that travel across the sides and between the wheel wells. In those wheel wells sit massive 20 inch alloy wheels, ready for most terrains. In profile view, and completed with a roof rack, this baby looks sharp and ready to rocket off into the unknown. My only nit-picky compliant when it comes to styling are the too-small-for-my-taste tail lights. In the space between them there are interesting indentations in the body, but these small taillights make the rear of the Passport appear too broad.
Fits Just Right – Like Goldilocks searching for her bed, the Passport is the perfect size if interior space and comfortable seating is what is required. There is no third row of seating here like you’ll find in the Pilot but what it loses in passenger space, it gains in cargo area. Plus, it keeps the Passport from being too long. At almost 6 inches shorter length wise from the Pilot, the Passport sits at 190.5 inches from bumper to bumper and being that those bumpers are conservative themselves, there is lots of room in between for passengers and stuff. In the cargo area, the Passport offers 41 cubic feet of storage space with the rear seats up. Push those seats down with the press of a button and an impressive 78 cubic feet of cargo space opens up. Both front and back passengers are treated to ample head and leg room, something that’s missing in the third row of the Pilot.
Half of the Performance – It’s an familiar oddity that auto journalists understand but there is a bit of a learning curve to each vehicle I review; it often takes a few hours or even days to get totally accustomed to each vehicle’s quirks. Strangely, it took me almost a full week before I totally felt comfortable with the driving and handling of the 2019 Passport. Granted, much of that comfort level rested in my hands, but the Passport still had characteristics that both pleased me and left me unsure. One thing is without a doubt, however – the Passport has enough power and handling to satisfy most drivers. Under the hood sits a 3.5-Liter VTEC V6 engine that produces 280 horsepower and 262 pound-ft of torque. Couple that with the All Wheel Drive that came equipped in my review vehicle, and that’s enough power and prowess to haul up to 5,000 lbs of mass. With this kind of power usually comes plenty of engine noise but there is surprising little of it in the cabin. Instead, I found an incredibly smooth riding experience that felt luxurious. There is enough agile control to the steering wheel that I often felt that paved roads were not doing this beast much justice. Sitting high in the driver’s seat, I had the urge to turn the wheel in the direction of unbeaten paths but something always kept me away from traversing unpaved roads. More on that later.
What Did Not Impress Me About the 2019 Honda Passport
Beauty is Unfortunately “Skin Deep” – The Passport I reviewed came with leather trimmed seats, an awesome 10 speaker audio system and a responsive 10-inch infotainment screen; the remainder of the interior stylings, however, left much to be desired. Functionally everything worked as expected, but I’m not a fan of the layout design applied to the controls and infotainment presentations of the front dash; it’s uninspired and stands in contrast to the confidence of the exterior motif. Materials used throughout the cabin felt sturdy enough but not quite up to the standard I would expect considering the price tag. I did enjoy finding all the useful storage compartments strategically placed throughout the cabin, though.
Disappointing Mileage – For a vehicle that begs to be taken on adventures, the bang for your buck when it comes to gas mileage will be significantly less than expected. Honda says the 2019 Passport gets 19 miles to the gallon in the city, 24 on the highway and a combined rating of 21 mpg. During my testing I got an average of 20 miles per gallon but I’ll give Honda that 1 gallon since I put the vehicle through various driving situations. Similar SUVs in this class have shown to get a combined mileage rating of 23 mpg and higher. The Passport feels perfect for adventuring, but having to stop for gas might have to be a frequent part of extended outings.
The Other side of Performance – I mentioned that there is an undeniable power that propels the Passport forward every time your foot lands on the pedal but that power came with a learning curve that ultimately has a few cons. Perhaps it took me longer than usual to get acclimated to driving the Passport because of the vehicle’s size. It’s larger and thus heftier then meets the eye so I initially expected a little more pep when accelerating – not much but a tad more than what I got. Once it climbs the gears however, the Passport hums like a kitten. During my review time, I took the Passport on mild off-road terrain and it handled medium sized rocks with ease. However, I’m not sure I would totally trust it to go where say a Jeep or 4Runner might go.
2019 Honda Passport: The Perfect Balance?
Passport IDs allow you to see the world, and in many ways Honda’s Passport allows drivers to do the same. The world through the windshield of the 2019 Passport can be totally satisfying and undeniably exciting. If interior styling and advanced off-roading are low on your priority list, the Passport offers plenty of value and reliability. While some of those cons would nag me as a Passport owner I would certainly be distracted by all the aspects that Honda gets right here – most notably the excellent use of space. Three row SUV rarely strike a satisfactory balance between passenger comfort and useful cargo space so I’m glad the Passport hits a sweet spot. I rarely have need for a third row but I very often utilize cargo area and that might be enough to place the passport near the top of my midsize SUV favorites list.
