This Honda Passport TrailSport looks a bit more promising.
Yesterday’s TrailSport debut offered off a more rugged-looking Passport — but one piece of the statement was a puzzler. Honda said it would, eventually, increase the off-road capability of its TrailSport models, and now there’s some more clarity as to what the company meant. Meet the ‘Rugged Roads’ Project — the Passport TrailSport some of you were probably hoping for.
It still carries forward the same styling changes and minor tweaks that we see in the standard TrailSport. However, this time around the car actually gets more aggressive off-road tires, a suspension lift, and some steel armor to protect the oil pan and fuel tank. Honda even included a host of fashionable overlanding gear, including traction boards, a rooftop tend and proper recovery points.
Getting into the nitty-gritty
Right off the bat, the Honda Passport TrailSport Rugged Roads brings in a Jsport 1.5-inch front lift and a 0.75-inch rear suspension lift. The 31-inch Firestone Destination A/T2 tires also help boost the ground clearance a little bit, and you even get a full-size spare out back, on a Dirt Complex rear hitch tire carrier. The 3-millimeter steel skid plates come from Honda’s own in-house R&D team custom team, as do the front recovery points in TrailSport orange. The 18-inch wheels, lug nuts, fender flares, HPD lower door trim, fender flares, valve stem caps and cargo tray all come from Honda’s accessory catalog.
Capping off the look, the Honda Passport TrailSport Rugged Roads adds in a Roofnest Sparrow XL rooftop tent, making for a more capable-looking rig to take off the beaten track.
Honda will debut the Rugged Roads in person at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff, Arizona this weekend, from September 24 – 26. TFL will be covering this year’s event, and we’ll have a more thorough look at the Rugged Roads coming up on YouTube soon — so stay tuned for that!
We also covered the TrailSport out in California last week, and you can watch that now below:
