How do you show off the capabilities of your new SUV? When Honda decided to tease the capabilities of the 2026 Passport TrailSport it borrowed a page from the Hollywood stunt manual, hanging three of the light truck models end to end off a crane, 100 feet in the air. Headlight.News has more.
Three of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSports are lined up and readied.
Most of today’s utility vehicles might politely be called “soft-roaders.” They start out with car-based unibody platforms and might be suited for some lightly rutted trails, but not much more.
When the new Honda Passport comes out this year, the automaker wants potential buyers to know it’s designed to handle a lot more rugged situations – all the more so with the Passport TrailSport and TrailSport Elite packages.
To get the message across it hired a giant crane and lined up three of the SUVs, binding them up by connecting their hitches and front recovery hooks. It then hoisted them up, the front bumper of the first Passport TrailSport reaching 100 feet into the air.
Hang time
Getting ready for hang time.
Though the three SUVs were drained of fluids, and there were no passengers onboard, the trio made up a hefty load, ultimately counting on the durability of the front recovery points. And that was, indeed the point of the demonstration.
The 2026 Passport TrailSport models are the first street-legal Hondas every equipped with what the automaker describes as “exposed and easily assessable heavy-duty front recovery points.” There’s also a trailer hitch with a 7-pin connector integrating two “stout” recovery points, it added.
All told, the front recovery hooks on the first TrailSport was able to manage the combined 14,000-pound mass of the three SUVs.
Bigger, brawnier
Hang Time!
Honda revived the Passport name in 2019, initially as a 2-row package slipped in-between the CR-V and Pilot lines. It’s back for 2026 in a completely redesigned form, positioned as the brand’s most rugged SUV.
While still using a unibody platform – much like the Ridgeline pickup – it gets a more rugged look, with updated fender flares, a new fascia and headlights, and plenty of new hardware.
The suspension has been beefed up, there are new skidplates, and the 2026 Passport is bigger where it matters, adding 2.8 inches in wheelbase and 1.4 inches in track. Ground clearance climbs slightly to 8.3 inches. The wheels have been moved closer to the corners and TrailSport models feature revised bumpers to increase both approach and departure angles.
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What else is new
A more conventional view of the 2026 Honda Passport.
The 2026 Honda Passport gets a new torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 pumping out 285 horsepower – five more than before – into a 10-speed automatic transmission.
There’s a largely all-new interior, as well. It boasts a larger infotainment display, heated seats and power-fold mirrors.
Look for a starting price tentatively set at $46,200 for the base 2026 Honda Passport RTL. The TrailSport jumps to $49,900, the TrailSport Elite coming in at $53,900.
Those prices are likely to be bumped up, however, as a result of the new Trump auto tariffs going into effect on April 2.
Neat trick, but nothing more. Sounds like something GM would pull. How much did it add to the bottom line?
Ask the question, “Does it get me from a to b better?”