I Took Our Honda Passport TrailSport Off-Roading. It's Better Than I Expected

• What's new: I took our Honda Passport off-roading to see what it can do in the dirt.
• Why it matters: The TrailSport has all-terrain tires, underbody protection and other modifications that give it extra off-road cred.
• Edmunds says: As long as you keep your expectations in check, the Passport impresses.

The upshot is that even though the Passport isn't a "real" off-roader like our 4Runner, it promises additional capability in the rough stuff. To find out how much, I headed to Santiago Peak, a 5,700-foot mountain on the eastern edge of Orange County. For those of you not from Southern California, it stars in national news every few years when it catches fire. 

The Santiago ascent

Driving to the trailhead gave me a chance to appreciate the Passport's on-road capabilities. This is essentially a two-row Honda Pilot, and that's no bad thing. It rides nicely, is mostly quiet, and has a good audio system. The only noise was a slight drone from the off-road tread on the tires and a disappointing rattle coming from the dash somewhere on the passenger side. 

I started up the mountain at Maple Springs Truck Trail, an unpaved but maintained fire road used to access the various weather and radio transmitters atop the mountain. It's challenging enough for something like the Passport, but not so rugged you need low range, 37-inch tires, and 20 inches of suspension travel to make it. 

At the trailhead, I put the Passport in Sand mode, since that matched the surface. It was a cakewalk. The Passport rarely struggled for traction, and there's enough room on the trail to allow occasional opposing traffic to pass. It was bumpy, of course, and if the Passport had a built-in air pump I probably would've lowered the pressures in the tires to smooth things out. (Note to Honda, you should add one to your available accessories.) The General all-terrain tires have tread blocks on the sidewalls, which proved handy when the Passport dipped one side into one of the many small trenches formed by countless off-road enthusiasts. To make things a little easier on myself, I put the transmission in Sport and clicked the left paddle to keep it in second gear, providing a bit more controllability and engine braking. 

So far, so good.

Main Divide difficulties

About two-thirds of the way to the peak, there's an intersection of sorts where three truck trails converge. That's where I turned onto Main Divide Road, which leads to the peak. Since it's more challenging, I switched to Trail mode, which activates a couple of extra features. First, it turns on TrailWatch, a 360-degree camera system that lets you see the immediate surroundings using the four cameras mounted on the Passport. TrailWatch also superimposes the path the front tires will take, which is exceptionally useful for placing the front tires to avoid steeper falloffs or sharp rocks. The front camera also helps you see over rises when your eyeballs are pointed at the sky. When you lift one wheel off the ground — inevitable given the independent suspension and so-so ride height — Trail mode also sends 100% of engine torque to the wheel on the ground, ensuring that you can actually move instead of just spin a wheel in the air. 

After about a quarter mile, Trail mode proved its value with the first of several sets of uneven bumps. These were deep, alternating side by side. If I were in our Toyota 4Runner, it would be no issue thanks to that truck's extra ground clearance and gobs of suspension travel. The Passport was a different story, and since I didn't feel like lifting a tire as the bumps alternated back and forth, I used the TrailWatch camera to simply guide myself across the crest in between the bumps, handily avoiding the issue altogether. 

A short time later, I didn't notice another set of side-by-side bumps below a small ridge; TrailWatch only works if you're looking at it after all. The Passport's left front tire dropped into the first dip, immediately putting the skid plate over the transmission to work with a loud, wince-inducing clang! Straddling the bumps by riding the crest wasn't an option because I had already committed, and there was no room on either side anyhow. I feathered the brakes and gently rolled down the slope, the Passport rocking from side to side. It felt dramatic from the driver's seat, but the SUV simply took it in stride, and I was soon on my way again. 

The rest of the drive to the peak was uneventful. Right at the peak was another set of back-and-forth downhill bumps. This set was clearly beyond the Passport's spec, but luckily I was able to straddle them. Finally, I arrived at Coto de Caza Rock, a popular (and heavily graffitied) landmark at the mountain's peak, sharing the view with a group of off-roaders in lifted and modded Jeeps, which suddenly seemed a little overkill. 

He'll be bouncin' down the mountain ...

My need for vistas fulfilled, I headed home. Luckily, there was a less aggressive return road that avoided the deep back-and-forths that took me down to the view spot. The Passport managed this route easily, and from there, it was back onto Main Divide Road.

It wasn't long before I encountered the side-by-side bumps that had me whanging the skid plate earlier, and going up them would be the toughest task the Passport would face. This time, I was prepared. I rolled up to the short upward slope, dipped into the gas, and the SUV moved forward, the left side dipping down and the right rear tire lifting into the air. For a moment, nothing happened. The engine was whirring, the tire in the air, the all-wheel-drive system making groaning noises. I gave it a bit more gas, the revs built, the tires slipped in the loose rock and dirt. And then, finally, it found its footing, moving forward, then tilting the opposite way. More gas, more slipping tires and more forward motion until finally I was at the top, the Passport no worse for wear. 

After that it was relatively smooth sailing. I'll admit I got going a little quicker than I should have in a couple of downhill sections, with a stray bump causing the Passport to bounce violently. Maybe the Passport could use better damping, but I'm just going to chalk that one up to driver error; I should've been going slower. The good news is that the Honda was no worse for wear despite my amateur antics. After that, I engaged the hill descent control, which maintained a more sane speed. 

An hour later, I was back on pavement, the Passport caked in dust but otherwise no worse for wear. 

Better than it needs to be

I like this thing. A lot. It might be my favorite Honda product right now. On the road it's perfectly civilized, but I was genuinely impressed by how well it responded off-road. I rarely venture off-road, and when I do, I'm unlikely to tackle anything more aggressive than this mountain trail. The Passport hits the sweet spot of good-enough off-road chops without hurting its around-town drivability. If you bought a Passport TrailSport for the looks but haven't taken it into the dirt yet, do yourself a favor and play around a bit. It's better than you think. 

On the other hand, if you're thinking about a Passport but haven't pulled the trigger yet, you might want to wait. Honda is reportedly expanding the Passport's capability envelope further in the next year or so, with additional ride height and some suspension tweaks. We'll know more later, but it sounds intriguing. 

Oh, one more thing. Remember that rattle from the passenger-side dash? When I got back on pavement, it was gone, marking the first time in history rough-road driving knocked something into place.