Honda Passport 2019, nice try Honda. Rating 6/10.
Honda just released their latest updated Honda Passport 2019. It has been many years since Honda sold and updated Passport. I believe the previous model was from the early 2000+.
I suspect Honda felt they needed to release/update any of their cars, to have a car in the segment between their CRV and Pilot cause the Passport is slighter bigger than the CRV, but smaller than the Pilot. This could be a direct answer to some of its competitors like Subaru Legacy/Forester, Mazda CX7 or Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace.
Now, I must admit, that this updated Honda Passport 2019 doesn't look too bad, but it still lacks some last minute designer finish. Honda has always, in my view, lacked the final touch needed to attract the beauty of the eye, which this site is all about.
Honda could need a Chief designer from either BMW, Mercedes or even Toyota, since Toyotas latest Camry, as of 2018/2019, has a good look again, compared to Camrys from 2009/2010.
Even if Honda CRV is a very popular car, its not really pretty for the eye.
So now, back to the Honda Passport, it still looks like a mix of Honda CRV and Honda Pilot, but with some more elegance.
In a sense, the new Honda Passport fulfills its promise but fails at the finish line. I will probably still attract alot of buyer, considering Honda is a trusted Japanese brand like Toyota, but could have done better.
At least they decided to bring back the knob for power and volume, cause I have driven the Honda Pilot, and their volume control is touchscreen based or via steering wheel. While driving, its always better with a physical knob for volume and frequency scanning not having to take your eyes off the road when trying to find the right portion of the screen to touch.
One plus for the new Honda Passport, as a common car is the lack of gear shift which is replaced by buttons. Many cars produced after 2005 don't really need a gear shift stick as its all electronic. Now this might seem odd for old schools that like to hold a "stick", but it save space and avoid you tilting over sodas/drinks etc where the gear stick is in-line with drink holders(see previous article about VW Tiguan).
Another plus for the Honda Passport, thanks to its being wider than the Honda CRV, is the fact that the cup holders is parallel to the gear stick area, which in this case
But in overall, this car will probably attract those that want a bigger car than the Honda CRV, but not in need of a 7 seater like the Honda pilot, and my rating for this is 6/10.