After some spy shots and much speculation, here’s our best look yet at the 2026 Honda Passport!
For quite a few months know, we’ve known Honda is working on a brand-new Passport that aims to shift the two-row midsize SUV a bit further away from the Pilot, bestowing it with a more distinctive and adventurous character. We’re fairly close to seeing the automaker’s full reveal of that vision in the coming weeks and months, as it officially revealed several camouflaged images of its “prototype” testing in the wild around Moab. Honda didn’t disclose much technical information, but their approach to showing their prototype models (and the reason for the quotes) signals we’ll know much more soon, and this car is pretty close to production-ready, if not virtually dead-on.
The one technical detail Honda did divulge about the 2026 Passport SUV is that it will have a 3.5-liter, dual overhead cam V6 engine. That’s not terribly surprising, given that’s what the current Passport has, not to mention its larger Pilot sibling and other models across its lineup. What is interesting, though, is that it will get the company’s second-generation 10-speed automatic transmission, as well as a “more powerful” engine with “best-in-class torque”.
For some perspective, the existing 3.5-liter V6 powertrain manages 280 horsepower with 262 lb-ft of torque on tap. That’s a decent amount of grunt, though certainly not class-leading as rivals like Toyota have moved to torquier, turbocharged engines in recent years. Tuesday’s release didn’t reveal exactly how it’s going to make that extra power, or exactly how much more we’re talking about.
It doesn’t seem on its face like Honda’s long-running J-Series engine (which has technically been in production since the late ’90s, and has been around since 2016 in its current configuration inside the Passport) will change much this time around. For example, the new three-row Pilot saw a revised version called the J35Y8 that makes a whopping five more horsepower than before, so “more powerful” could just mean adopting the Pilot’s powertrain. Or, in a wilder, wackier and more daring world, we could actually see forced induction or hybridization make its way into Honda’s larger-displacement models.
I wouldn’t hold out too much hope on that last point, but you never know. Besides the engine discussion, the 2026 Honda Passport obviously takes on far more aggressive styling than its forebear, going for the all-too-fashionable boxy design. The TrailSport model, particularly, brings in beefier off-road tires, and what look like 18-inch black wheels. We’ll almost certainly see different suspension tuning for the off-road-focused version, and it’s possible the TrailSport could get slightly different front and rear bumpers to improve approach and departure. At any rate, Honda is calling this its most “adventure-ready and capable SUV” to-date.
Stay tuned for more updates, as we’ll certainly hear and be able to share more in the coming weeks!
