Video: 2019 Honda Passport: First Impressions

ssport. Now, while the Passport is an all new vehicle, there will be some things about it that are familiar. It shares Honda's light truck platform with the Pilot and the Ridgeline and while there are a few key differences, a lot of what's here will look familiar. Now the Passport slots in between the CRV and the Pilot in Honda's lineup and this is supposed to be the most rugged of Honda's SUV offerings and we can kind of tell that from the styling, which is a bit more rugged, a bit more off-road, kind of sporty. It even comes with this matte finish on the lower part of it that Honda says, is scratch resistant for when you do go off road, and the Passport does offer a bit more ground clearance, and you'll find in both the Pilot and the Ridgeline. It also comes with Honda's all-wheel-drive system, which we found to actually be pretty capable off-road and it's not a traditional four-wheel-drive system, but what it can do is send 70% of available torque to the rear wheels and split that torque 100% to the left or to the right and this is a system that we've tested before in the Ridgeline and the Pilot and we found that in loose situations where the surface isn't a pavement, so gravel, sand, it actually does quite well. We took a Ridgeline up a hill climb, and the only thing that really held it back was this lack of ground clearance. The all-wheel-drive system is very smart, it does a very good job shifting torque around and so we have no doubt that the same will be true here in the Passport. Now the Passport, will kind of look and feel pretty similar to those who have any kind of familiarity with Honda's current lineup of SUVs. There's a lot of Pilot in the Passport and that starts under the hood where the two actually have the same powertrain. So it's a 3.5 liter V6 that makes 280 horsepower, made it to a nine-speed automatic transmission and Honda tells us it is the exact, same setup that you'll find in the Pilot. Front-wheel-drive is standard with all-wheel-drive optional. All-wheel drive will only be standard on the top, elite trim level and that's what we're in right now. As we look around the interior of the Passport, a lot of these parts also seem familiar. It has the same basic multimedia setup as the Pilot with the seven inch display here in the instrument panel, that can be customized. It also keeps the same center-mounted gear selector that you find in the Pilot and we're not really big fans of it. It's a little bit complicated to use and since you have it here, it doesn't actually save any space, it just adds more complication. Now there are some definite pluses to the Passport interior. You basically have a Pilot without a third row, and arguably the weakest part of the Pilot's interior was that cramped third row. So what we're left with, is a very spacious first and second row with comfortable seating for all five passengers. Another plus for this interior, lots of charging options so there are four total USB ports here in the elite trim, as well as a household outlet in the second row for passengers, so if you wanted to plug in, something like a laptop or a game console, you'll be able to do that. The cargo area for the Passport, also a big plus, it's very flexible and it has a few features that will make it more usable. Beyond being actually pretty large, it also has this, sort of, under floor storage area that's revealed when you flip up the floor and it's big enough to fit a small backpack or a purse so that gives you a bit more secure storage. Now there's also these two handy buttons on either side that allow you to drop the second row from the back here without having to move around and pull any handles or anything, you just tap on this button and the seats fold down. One other thing, Honda says that when the second row is folded down, you can actually take the cargo floor and flip it all the way over and it makes it, turns it from carpet into this kind of plastic surface that's much easier to clean, so if you have anything dirty or muddy and you don't want to get the carpet messed up, it's much easier to just clean this plastic surface off so that would be helpful for those who plan to take the Passport off the beaten path. No details yet on pricing or fuel economy for the Passport, but we do know that it will go on sale sometime early next year. (upbeat music)