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Honda has revealed its latest SUV, the 2019 Honda Passport, complete with 5-seats and a standard V6 engine. Making its debut at the LA Auto Show 2018, the 2019 Passport fits into Honda’s range between the three-row Pilot and the smaller CR-V.

Its design borrows from both existing SUVs as a result. Standard 20-inch wheels and a matte-black grille give it a suitably purposeful look, as do the flared wheel arches. It rides higher, too, with 0.5-inches of extra ground clearance versus the Pilot on the front-wheel drive Passport, and 1.1-inches more on the all-wheel drive version.

There are also blackout headlamps and black wheels, along with LED headlight accents. Under the sheet metal is Honda’s Global Light Truck platform – which also underpins the Pilot and Ridgeline – with a unibody construction. Four-wheel independent suspension gets MacPherson struts in front and a multilink independent rear.

Under the hood there’s a standard 3.5-liter V6. That’s good for 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. Honda pairs it with a 9-speed automatic transmission. i-VTM4 all-wheel drive is optional, with active torque vectoring to push up to 70-percent of the power to the rear axle, and then 100-percent of that torque to either side.

Both FWD and AWD models get Honda’s Intelligent Traction Management system, with settings for Normal and Snow. Passport AWD models add sand, snow and mud modes, too.

The V6 leaves the SUV good for up to 3,500 pounds of towing on front-wheel drive Passports, and up to 5,000 pounds on all-wheel drive. A multi-view camera is standard, with a bird’s eye perspective. Honda also throws in Honda Sensing active safety as standard, together with LED lights front and rear, Smart Start and Smart Entry, and three-zone climate control.

Four trims will be offered: Sport, EX-L, Touring, and Elite. Elite will have AWD as standard. EX-L and above get an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Options include a power tailgate, tilt/slide moonroof, and heated auto-dimming, power-folding side mirrors. Blind spot warnings, rear cross traffic monitoring, and front/rear parking sensors are optional, as is navigation, LTE with WiFi hotspot, and a wireless phone charger.

The trunk offers 41.2 cu. ft. of space, expandable to 77.9 cu. ft. with the rear seats power-folded flat. There’s a 2.5 cu. ft. underfloor storage bin, too. Honda will also have a wide variety of accessories for the Passport. That’ll include functional items, like roof boxes and a roof basket; bike, kayak and ski or snowboard racks; and weatherproof covers for the interior.

Pricing for the 2019 Honda Passport hasn’t been confirmed yet. The new 5-seater SUV will go on sale in the US early next year.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
That V6 is the same motor they use in the Pilot and its a dog. I've driven a couple Pilots and stamping on the go fast pedal returns nothing but mediocre acceleration, lots of engine noise, and poor fuel economy. Personally, I see no market for this vehicle that the CRV and/or Pilot can't address. Honda obviously sees something I don't. Time will tell who is eventually correct.

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Originally posted by 686Owner:

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
That V6 is the same motor they use in the Pilot and its a dog. I've driven a couple Pilots and stamping on the go fast pedal returns nothing but mediocre acceleration, lots of engine noise, and poor fuel economy. Personally, I see no market for this vehicle that the CRV and/or Pilot can't address. Honda obviously sees something I don't. Time will tell who is eventually correct.

Haven't driven that engine in the Pilot, but reviews of 2017 Pilot says 0-60 in 6.5 (one of the quickest for a 3 row SUV) and reviews of the 2019 estimate 6.0-6.2.

My van with that engine feels like it doesn't want to start rolling, but is also supposed to be decently quick.

I think the power is there, it's just something with the way they have it tuned that it feels slow. Perhaps to get better fuel economy.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
That V6 is the same motor they use in the Pilot and its a dog. I've driven a couple Pilots and stamping on the go fast pedal returns nothing but mediocre acceleration, lots of engine noise, and poor fuel economy. Personally, I see no market for this vehicle that the CRV and/or Pilot can't address. Honda obviously sees something I don't. Time will tell who is eventually correct.

Oh, and the marketing always cracks me up. I'd be utterly shocked if anything approaching 1% of these vehicles ever find themselves in a pseudo-off road environment. They ought to show them shuttling kids around to soccer games and dance recitals (i.e. what 90%+ of them will be used for daily).

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
Personal impression is that the Pilot is a dog at acceleration. Maybe the numbers paint a different picture, but seat of the pants impressions would lead me to be very cautious competing in traffic. But more to the point, I can't see where this vehicle meets any needs the CRV and Pilot can't.

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Originally posted by 1s1k:
For a company that used to pride its name on being a motor company I’m surprised this engine has made about the same power for how many years now. Back of the pack in hp and torque for years now.

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:
The CRV is too small for me, and I don’t need something the size of a Pilot. They’ll sell a bunch of them.

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Originally posted by RNshooter:
Bad move, keeping the Passport name.
Previous Passports were rebadged Isuzu Rodeos. Honda mechanics would refuse to work on them. Absolute shit-boxes. And that's after Honda's QC guys got through cherry- picking the best ones off the Isuzu assembly line.

Nope.

Bruce

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I'd be utterly shocked if anything approaching 1% of these vehicles ever find themselves in a pseudo-off road environment. They ought to show them shuttling kids around to soccer games and dance recitals (i.e. what 90%+ of them will be used for daily).

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Originally posted by bigdeal:

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:
The CRV is too small for me, and I don’t need something the size of a Pilot. They’ll sell a bunch of them.

We'll see. The Toyota Highlander is a terrific vehicle that falls between the RAV4 and Toyota's larger offings, but its sales have been falling over a number of years. Now Toyota is enlarging the RAV4 (interior anyway), which may only drain more sales from the Highlander. I'm not sold on the idea that a vehicle the size of the Passport makes sense.