2024 Honda Passport

2025 Honda Pilot

With two crossover SUVs in the midsize and large segment, Honda has tried to capture drivers who might be steered toward the likes of a Ford Explorer or Toyota Highlander. But there’s a dividing line between the brand’s own offerings, and the choice is up to you: will it be the three-row, eight-seat 2025 Honda Pilot, or the five-seat 2024 Honda Passport with a recent refresh?

Each of these crossovers has its high points, and each has some room for improvement. In the end, one scores a resounding win, for the reasons you might expect: technology, safety, and space. Here’s how we rank them, and what to consider if you’re shopping Pilot vs. Passport.

 

Honda Pilot vs. Passport price and trims

• Base Passport costs just over $43,000

• Base Pilot costs well below $41,000

• Best picks: Honda Passport EX-L, Honda Pilot EX-L

Which Honda Passport should I buy?

It’s tough to see the Passport as a bargain when it’s compared with the Pilot. The base Passport EX-L costs $43,295—it’s high because it doesn’t have a less-equipped base model like the Pilot or a front-wheel drive option. 

The EX-L does come with a lot of equipment, including AWD, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, wireless smartphone charging, heated front seats, leather upholstery, a sunroof, a power tailgate, and 20-inch alloy wheels. The $45,895 Passport TrailSport gets all-terrain tires and a suspension geometry adjusted for more wheel articulation. 

Honda’s warranty covers both models for 3 years/36,000 miles.

Which Honda Pilot should I buy?

The Pilot Sport costs $41,295 and comes with heated front seats with power adjustment, a 7.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and 20-inch alloy wheels. Most drivers will opt for the $44,595 Pilot EX-L for its leather upholstery, wireless smartphone charging, 9.0-inch touchscreen, power tailgate, and 18-inch wheels. An off-road-oriented TrailSport edition for $50,495 gets all-terrain tires, an off-road suspension, synthetic leather upholstery, off-road driving modes, and off-road camera views. At the top of the lineup, the $55,675 Pilot Black Edition has cooled front seats, heated second-row seats, navigation, 20-inch wheels, second-row captain’s chairs, and 12-speaker Bose audio as well as a 10.2-inch digital instrument display, a surround-view camera system, a hands-free tailgate, black trim, and a head-up display. 

Advantage: The Pilot can costs less, though it’s larger. 

Passport vs. Pilot interior and exterior design

• The Pilot’s a bit of a throwback

• The Passport looks like a smaller Pilot
  

• Both have modest interiors

Is the Honda Passport a good-looking SUV?

It just looks, well, generic. It may be familiar but it’s tidy and manages to shrink the vehicle to the eyes though it’s still about 190 inches long. It hasa rectangular grille flanked by headlights that emerge from the grille like wings on a bird. The biggest difference between the Passport and larger Pilot is at the rear, where it has a continuous window line and a bobtailed look. TrailSport editions get their own bumpers, grille, and wheels.

Inside, the Passport has a functionally fine layout that’s dressed in dark plastics and leather on some versions. It has a wide center console with great small-items storage, a saddle-style set of transmission toggle switches, and a central touchscreen flanked by big air vents. The 8.0-inch screen is larger than the Pilot’s base screen, but smaller than the step-up screen.

Is the Honda Pilot a good-looking SUV?

It’s an improvement on the Passport. Longer and wider than the Passport, the Pilot has a honeycomb grille and wedgy, thin LED headlights supported by C-shaped air intakes. The grille blends into beefy fenders that lead to an upturned pair of pillars at the rear mimicking the look once worn by the first Honda Passport, which was a clone of the Isuzu Rodeo. The taillights carve into a tailgate embossed with big letters for the car’s name, in Honda’s latest style.

The Pilot interior takes a clean approach to design. Base models have a 7.0-inch touchscreen that stands atop the dash’s slim band of vents, but upper models adopt a 9.0-inch touchscreen. Honda sprinkles buttons and knobs where they’re needed, reversing its trend to bury controls inside touchscreen commands or in rocker switches and swipe controls. Pockets for smartphones, a wireless charging pad, and twin-needle stitching dress up various versions. At first glance it doesn’t seem so different from the previous version—but it’s all been streamlined into a clearer human-machine interface.

Advantage: The Pilot, thanks to its blend of past and present.

Pilot vs. Passport size, seating comfort, and cargo capacity

• The Pilot has three rows of seats

• The two-row Passport has lots of cargo space

• The Pilot’s removable seat might make sense for your family

How big is the Honda Passport? 

The Passport can comfortably seat five adults in its spacious two rows of buckets and benches. It’s a key strength for this crossover SUV, though for long trips the front passengers might want for a little more lumbar support. In the back bench seat, Honda carves out 39.6 inches of legroom and fits a three-person seat with good tilt to the bottom cushion and a good degree of recline to the seatbacks.

The Passport has 41.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat, and when it’s folded down, opens up to 77.7 cubic feet. There’s also underfloor storage hidden beneath a panel that can sequester messy camping gear or hide valuable electronics out of sight.

How big is the Honda Pilot?

It’s big. The Pilot can hold up to eight passengers, with a couple of pieces of luggage in tow. Front passengers get supportive seats with power adjustments that, on all but the base version, also come with lumbar support and heating. Leather upholstery is available, and so is a wireless smartphone charger that sits ahead of the shift lever. Honda also molds in a storage niche in front of the passenger for their smartphone and sunglasses.

In row two the Pilot offers a bench seat split into three sections with a removable middle seat that weighs about 25 pounds. It’s an interesting offering that enables walk-through access to the third row of seats, where two 6-foot passengers can fit in reasonable comfort. The TrailSport has captain’s chairs.

Cargo space consists of 22.4 cubic feet behind the third row. Fold down the second row and there’s 60.1 cubic feet; with all but the front seats folded the Pilot offers more than 112 cubic feet of space.

Advantage: The Pilot seats more people and swallows more cargo.

 

Honda Passport vs. Pilot towing, off-road, and performance

• TrailSport editions give both moderate off-road ability

• V-6 engines provide strong grunt

• 10 speeds are better than 9

Is the Honda Passport 4WD?

It’s standard on all Passports, and because it has shorter overhangs than the bigger Pilot, the Passport can be more rugged than its bigger sibling. Its moderate off-pavement ability comes with the aid of drive modes like Snow, Mud, and Sand.

Honda specs the Passport out with 8.1 inches of ground clearance, and it’s capable of towing up to 5,000 pounds.

How fast is the Honda Passport?

The Passport may have rugged looks and hardware, but one of its best attributes is a softly tuned ride and a well-insulated cabin. It’s a swell long-distance cruiser. It’s quick enough thanks to a 280-hp 3.5-liter V-6 engine with lots of midrange grunt and smooth revs. The 9-speed automatic transmission that comes with the Passport sometimes lags when shifts are needed, though. 

Is the Honda Pilot 4WD?

Front-wheel drive is standard on base models, but all-wheel drive can be had on every model. The system splits torque between the front and rear wheels, and then also splits it between rear wheels for more efficient and effective power delivery. The Pilot TrailSport uses its standard hill descent control to help control the vehicle on downhill treks. Honda says its TrailSport is more than enough to handle easy and moderate trails. It can also tow up to 5,000 pounds.

How fast is the Honda Pilot?

It’s quick enough thanks to a revamped 285-hp 3.5-liter V-6 coupled with a 10-speed automatic. The power’s similar to that of the Passport, but here the extra gear allows a wider spread of ratios, and it has more precise downshifts. With up to seven drive modes—ranging from Sport to Snow to Tow—the Pilot can handle almost any driving situation with good traction and with above-average acceleration.

Ride and handling are another Pilot plus. Its light steering feels responsive even on base 18-inch all-season tires, while the comforting ride doesn’t get brittle when it’s shod with the available 20-inchers. 

Advantage: The Pilot’s better on road, though the Passport has size working in its favor.

 

Honda Pilot vs. Passport fuel economy

• Passport tops out at 21 mpg combined

• FWD Pilot gets 22 mpg

• Neither offers hybrid models

Is the Honda Passport good on gas?

Not very. The EPA has it set at 19 mpg city, 24 highway, 21 combined. 

Is the Honda Pilot good on gas?

The Pilot is slightly better than the Passport, since it comes in a front-drive model. That version earns an EPA rating of 19 mpg city, 27 highway, 22 combined, while other models dip as low as 20 mpg combined for the TrailSport.

Advantage: The Pilot’s better.

Passport vs. Pilot safety

• The NHTSA gives both five stars

• Automatic emergency braking comes standard on both

• The Pilot earns an IIHS Top Safety Pick
  

How

safe is the Honda Passport?

The NHTSA scores the Passport at five stars overall, with a four-star rating for frontal impact and rollover protection. The IIHS doesn’t give it a Top Safety Pick award, however, due to a “Marginal” score in the group’s updated side-impact test. All models get automatic emergency braking, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, and adaptive cruise control, but there’s no option for a surround-view camera system.

How safe is the Honda Pilot?

The IIHS gives it a Top Safety Pick+ award, and the NHTSA gives it the same ratings as the Pilot. All versions have automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, and automatic high beams. The base version lacks front and rear parking sensors, but all others get them.

Advantage: The Pilot for better crash-test scores and a surround-view camera system.

 

Which is better: Honda Pilot or Honda Passport?

With a TCC Rating of 5.8 out of 10, the Honda Passport makes an above-average showing, thanks to generous safety features and a roomy interior. But the Pilot scores a resounding win: it’s bigger, has better infotainment and a more muscular design, and even gets better fuel economy. It earns a TCC Rating of 6.8 out of 10. (Read more about how we rate cars.)

Winner: The Honda Pilot, by a large margin.