2020 Honda Passport With 2WD Doesn’t Make Sense
We think the new second-year 2020 Honda Passport is an ideal adventure SUV for those with active lifestyles. What we can’t figure out is why Honda brings the new two-row SUV with a two-wheel-drive option. Torque News has written a lot about the new model since it arrived last year, and praise it for its more rugged attitude.
Honda needed a new SUV that slots between the smaller CR-V and three-row Pilot. The new Passport and the Pilot ride on the same platform, but the Passport has two rows of seating and is six inches shorter. Honda designed the new Passport to be the adventure vehicle for outdoor enthusiasts. It has an inch greater ground clearance, but with identical room inside as its larger stablemate Pilot.
2020 Honda Passport
Honda hit the mark with Passport's cargo room. Behind the second-row seats is 41.2 cubic feet of space. Fold the second row down and this expands to around 78 cubic feet in total. And the SUV also has a wide rear hatch opening when you are loading up the camping gear.
Passport has some mild off-pavement abilities and comes with several off-road drive modes depending on terrain. The all-wheel-drive system can be shifted from the normal drive mode into Snow, Mud, and Sand. These adjust the throttle response and transmission shift points to match the surface you’re driving on.
2020 Honda Passport cargo room
We already mentioned the Honda Passport rides higher off the ground than the Pilot, with the AWD variant riding 0.8 inches higher than its larger SUV sibling. This provides extra clearance for modest off-road adventures.
The 2020 Passport Sport with 2-wheel-drive starts at $31,990 (not including $1,095 destination and handling) and gets an EPA estimated 20/25 city/highway mpg. The Passport Sport with four-wheel-drive starts at $33,990 and gets an EPA estimated 19/24 city/highway mpg. Even if you don’t go off-road, for a $2,000 premium you get the Passport with all-weather capability, peace of mind and about the same fuel efficiency.
You can also get the 2020 Passport with 2WD in the EX-L and Touring models but we aren’t sure why you would. The Elite trim only comes with four-wheel-drive. It’s worth $2,000 to get the extra safety and all-weather capability of all-wheel-drive.
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Denis Flierl has invested nearly 30 years in the automotive industry in a variety of roles. All of his reports are archived on our TN Honda page and be sure to follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Check back tomorrow for more Honda news and updates.
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Photo credit: Honda USA
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