2022 Honda Passport

This year brings a mid-cycle refresh of the Honda Passport. As with the mechanically similar Ridgeline pickup’s recent refresh, the bulk of the changes are cosmetic, intended to make the vehicle appear more rugged. The changes include new sheet metal from the A-pillar forward, an updated grille and a redesigned rear bumper. 

At 189.1 inches in length, the Passport is considered a two-row midsize SUV, and it competes in a crowded segment that includes the Jeep Cherokee, Chevrolet Blazer and Toyota 4Runner. All vehicles in this class seat five and can be equipped with all-wheel drive. The 4Runner would seem to be the outlier in that group, being the only truck-based body-on-frame SUV in what is otherwise a contest between car-based unibody crossovers. Still, Honda itself directly compares the Passport Trailsport trim to the 4Runner. Additionally, all four vehicles are within a few inches in length and wheelbase, with similar power, either standard or available.

There are three trim levels of the Honda Passport. The discontinuation of the base Sport model makes the EX-L the new entry-level trim at $39,295, including a $1,295 destination fee. (Base price for the departed 2021 Sport was $33,710.) The EX-L does pack a lot of feature content at that price, including a sunroof, a power tailgate, 20-inch wheels and heated front seats. Passport trim levels come all-inclusive at a single price, with the only extra-cost options being specific paint colors.

The new off-road-oriented TrailSport is the next rung on the ladder, starting at $44,195, with all-wheel drive standard. It’s a big leap to the top-tier Elite Trim ($46,665), but the price premium brings a cornucopia of popular features. Among them are heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, rain-sensing wipers, Wi-Fi hotspot capability, HondaLink subscription services, and acoustic glass in all the doors (it’s standard in the windshield in all trims). In addition, a 540-watt, 10-speaker including subwoofer audio system stands in for the standard 215-watt, seven-speaker system.

There is only one powertrain choice, a 3.5-liter V6 with 280 horsepower and a nine-speed automatic transmission. Fuel economy is an EPA combined city/highway average of 22 miles per gallon in front-wheel drive Passports and 21 mpg with all-wheel drive. That’s similar to equivalent Blazers and Cherokees and considerably better than the 4Runner, but it’s off the pace with more frugal small midsize crossovers like the Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe.

We drove a 2022 Honda Passport TrailSport and found the performance, room and comfort more than adequate, if not exactly exciting. Convenience items abound, and Honda makes a suite of active safety features standard on all trims. That said, there’s not a lot of fun involved for a vehicle this quick and this capable. Sadly, there’s not much difference in terms of engaging dynamics between driving this and the Odyssey minivan.

Performance: 11/15

With 280 horsepower, the Passport’s only engine produces more speed than the 270 horses under the Toyota 4Runner’s hood. The 4Runner also carries an additional 350 to 500 pounds (depending on trim and equipment) and has four fewer gears. Unsurprisingly, the Passport’s 6.5-second zero-to-60 run shaves nearly 1.4 seconds from the 4Runner’s best time. That puts the Passport in the same ballpark as the Chevrolet Blazer equipped with the optional 308-horsepower V6 (the standard engine is a 228-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder) and the Jeep Cherokee with the standard 271-horsepower 3.2-liter V6. The Jeep also offers an optional 2.0-liter turbo-four with 270 horsepower but greater torque.

Ride quality in the Passport is quite good, even in the more off-road oriented TrailSport trim. What holds the TrailSport back off-road is its inadequate ground clearance of 7.5 inches. That’s 1/10^th of an inch more clearance than the Blazer RS, but one inch less than the Cherokee Trailhawk and more than two inches less than the 4Runner TRD Pro. Even a base two-wheel drive 4Runner beats the Passport TrailSport’s ground clearance by an inch and a half. Maximum towing capacities are 3,500 pounds for front-wheel-drive models and 5,000 pounds for all-wheel drive, which tops the Blazer and Cherokee and, in AWD models, ties the 4Runner.

Fuel Economy: 12/15

The 2022 Honda Passport’s fuel economy is very competitive with its more off-roadey peers. The front-wheel drive model is EPA rated at 20 mpg city, 25 highway and 22 combined. Adding four-wheel subtracts one mpg in each metric. The Passport’s 21.5 mpg average combined EPA fuel economy rating for front-wheel and all-wheel drive trails the Cherokee by only half a mile per gallon and ties the Blazer. The 4Runner is far behind the pack at 17 mpg combined. Compared with more frugal entries like the Kia Sorento, the Passport is mid-pack.

Safety & Driver Assistance Tech: 12/15

The 2022 Honda Passport gets a five-star crash test rating from the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) awarded it “good” ratings in all categories except the passenger-side small overlap front crash test, where it’s rated “acceptable.” 

A full complement of airbags is on board. In addition, the standard Honda Sensing safety suite includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning with road departure mitigation, automatic high-beam headlights and blind spot information with cross-traffic monitor are standard.

Comfort & Room: 13/15

The Passport has a roomy cabin with comfortable, supportive seats. Though its exterior styling and short overhangs sometimes look smaller, the Passport actually offers 157.1 cubic-feet of total interior volume, 15.4 more cubes than the Grand Cherokee and 12.6 more than the 4Runner. Front legroom measures 40.9 inches, fractionally less than the Grand Cherokee’s 41.1 and the 4Runner’s 41.7 inches. Passport’s second-row legroom of 39.6 inches trails the Cherokee by 7/10ths of an inch, ties the Blazer and leaves the 4Runner, which has 6.7 fewer inches of rear-seat legroom, in dead last place.

Infotainment: 11/15

The Passport’s eight-inch touchscreen is bright, legible, and easy to reach in the dashboard’s center stack. The standard 215-watt audio system has seven speakers, two USB ports in each row, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatibility and a physical knob on the screen for power and volume functions and redundant controls on the steering wheel. Honda wisely kept climate controls separate from the touchscreen, centrally located on the dash with toggles for temperature control and physical buttons for other HVAC functions.

The driver’s digital information display is configurable. The standard layout features an 8,000 RPM ribbon tachometer at the top of the screen with a digital speed indicator below. An additional window underneath can show vehicle data, infotainment information, or navigation updates. (Navigation is standard on TrailSport and Elite.) Overall, the layout is intuitive, if not cutting edge. 

Cargo Space & Storage: 14/15

The old-school Toyota 4Runner had to score a win somewhere, and it’s in cargo space. With 46.3 cubic feet behind the rear seats, 4Runner comes out ahead of the Passport’s 41.2 cubic feet. Fold the second-row flat and the 4Runner’s 89.7 cubic feet are still superior, but it depends on how you count the space. With its seats folded the Passport offers 77.7 cubic-feet, but counting all the space in the footwells and with the front seats all the way forward, it expands to a spectacular 100.8. Both are far more accommodating than the Blazer (30.5/64.2 cubes) or the Cherokee (25.8/54.7 cubes).

Beyond the cargo area, the Passport also provides a lot of small, medium and large storage areas in the cabin, from its wider than typical door pockets front and rear to indentations for incidentals behind the window switches in all four doors. The driver and front passenger also get a middle tier of door storage between the armrest and the lower door pocket. There’s a cell-phone-sized cubby below the climate controls, a space beneath that for the wireless charging pad, a sunglasses holder, eight cupholders and a large center console box.

Style & Design: 5/10

Styling is, of course, purely subjective, but overall, the Passport is a cleanly styled but stubbily proportioned box, although it is distinctive. The bulldog-nose grille and profile style-line that kicks up over the rear wheel lend a little personality to an otherwise anodyne design. Some of the modifications this year (the bisected headlamps on all trims and faux skid plates on the TrailSport) come off as forced and unnecessary, but the dual exhaust, sharp-edged taillamps and spoiler over the rear window convey a stout vibe.

Is the 2022 Honda Passport Worth It? Which Passport Is the Best Value?

The Honda Passport is expensive compared to most of the competition. The difference between it and its least expensive rival is several thousand dollars in each trim level. 

In our view, the 2022 Honda Passport overcomes its price disadvantage with its passenger and cargo space and, for the most part, the level of feature content that comes standard. However, base EX-L ($39,595) buyers have to go without fog lights, roof rails, integrated sunshades, navigation and a 115-volt power outlet, which seem like significant omissions in a nearly $40,000 vehicle. For that reason, we’d choose the TrailSport ($43,695), which includes those items as standard equipment. But keep its limited ground clearance in mind. If you’re hoping for an off-road adventurer, you will do better with the Jeep or Toyota.

How Much Does it Cost to Insure the 2022 Honda Passport?

The Passport isn’t an expensive car to insure. According to our data, a typical 30-year-old female driver with a clean record can expect an average annual premium of $1,901, though this averages all 50 states. That compares to $1,858 for the Jeep Grand Cherokee, $1,782 for the Chevrolet Blazer, $1,815 for the Toyota 4Runner and $2,012 for the Nissan Pathfinder. Visit our car insurance calculator to get a more accurate picture of your potential insurance expenses.