Honda Passport

The best way to think of the 2021 Honda Passport is a Honda Pilot without the third row of seats. It's a bit easier to maneuver than the Pilot and offers more interior space than the smaller Honda CR-V. With both the Pilot and CR-V holding very favorable spots in their respective classes, it's no surprise the Passport is also a great pick.

The Honda Passport's combination of spaciousness, comfort and convenience allows it to slightly outrank other midsize SUVs that include the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, Toyota Venza and Hyundai Santa Fe. However, the scoring is pretty close. Check out our in-depth Expert Rating to help you decide if the Passport is for you.

What's it like to live with?

MatoCar tested a Passport for a year and more than 20,000 miles. We liked it for its long-distance comfort and convenience features, but were unimpressed with the infotainment system and advanced safety feature tuning. For more about our experience with the Passport, check out our long-term test logbook. Note that we tested a 2019 model, but the 2021 Passport is largely unchanged, so our observations still apply.

Which Passport does MatoCar recommend?

For our money, we pick the Passport in EX-L trim. It adds a fair amount of convenience features for a reasonable amount of money. The higher trims add only a handful of items and are rather expensive by comparison.

The 2021 Honda Passport is offered in four trim levels: Sport, EX-L, Touring and Elite. Powering all of these is a 3.5-liter V6 engine (280 horsepower, 262 lb-ft of torque) paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is available as an option and included with the Elite trim.

The base Sport model starts the features list with:

LED headlights
Keyless entry and ignition
Tri-zone automatic climate control
60/40-split rear bench
8-inch touchscreen
Seven-speaker audio system
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
Advanced safety features that include:

Lane keeping assist (steers the Passport back into its lane if it begins to drift over the lane marker)
Adaptive cruise control (adjusts speed to maintain a constant distance between the vehicle and the car in front)
Forward collision mitigation (applies the brakes automatically to stop the vehicle to avoid or minimize a collision)

Stepping up to the EX-L adds several convenience items that include:

Power liftgate
Sunroof
Power-adjustable driver's seat with memory settings
Heated, power-adjustable front seats
Leather upholstery
Rear USB ports
Blind-spot monitor (alerts you if a vehicle in the next lane over is in your blind spot)

The Touring trim adds a few niceties that include:

Hands-free liftgate
Parking sensors (alert you to obstacles that may not be visible behind or in front of the vehicle when parking)
Heated rear seats
10-speaker sound system
Navigation system

The Elite trim tops off the list with: