Honda Passport – five-seater Pilot makes LA debut

In most markets, Honda’s largest SUV is the CR-V, but Americans have long had another option in the form of the massive seven-seater Pilot. If you live in the US but don’t want something quite so big, the Japanese carmaker has just the vehicle for you – the new Passport.

Resurrecting a name last used on a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo, the Passport is essentially a five-seat Pilot, measuring 152 mm shorter at 4,839 mm long. In light of the shorter rear overhang, Honda has positioned the car as a more off-road-capable SUV, with a 28 mm increase in ride height (15 mm on front-wheel drive models) said to improve approach, departure and breakover angles.

Other differences from the Pilot include a scratch-resistant matte black grille, black headlight graphics, standard 20-inch wheels (available in a black finish) and a cut in the D-pillar for an in-vogue “floating roof” look. Inside, Honda claims class-leading space, including 3,289 litres in passenger volume and a total interior volume of 4,449 litres.

The boot, meanwhile, measures 1,167 litres and is expandable to 2,206 litres with the rear seats folded. Under the boot floor, which is reversible with carpeted and washable hard plastic surfaces, sits 71 litres of extra storage, with separate, removable and washable bins available in the accessories section.

Power comes from the Pilot’s 3.5 litre naturally-aspirated i-VTEC V6 producing 280 hp at 6,000 rpm and 355 Nm of torque at 4,700 rpm, paired to a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Customers get a choice of either front-wheel drive or an Intelligent Variable Torque Management four-wheel drive (i-VTM4) system with active torque vectoring. Suspension is handled by MacPherson struts at the front and a multilink setup at the rear, and Honda quotes a 1,588 kg towing capacity for front-wheel drive models and 2,268 kg for models with all-wheel drive.

Available amenities a seven-inch instrument display, an available eight-inch Display Audio touchscreen system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10-speaker, 590-watt premium sound system and 4G LTE in-car WiFi hotspot. A multi-angle reverse camera and a seven-inch instrument display are standard-fit.

Safety-wise, all Passport models come with the Honda Sensing suite of driver assists, including Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) with Forward Collison Warning (FCW), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) with Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Lane Keeping Assistance System (LKAS) and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). A Blind Spot Information System with Rear Cross-Traffic Detection is optional.

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Learn more: 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show