2027 Honda Passport TrailSport First Drive: An Even More Legit Off-Road Adventuremobile

Some of you reading this may think Honda’s TrailSport vehicles aren’t the real deal. That they’re just normal, workaday crossovers cosplaying as off-roaders. Your view isn’t unfounded. Honda’s early TrailSport models—and at least one it presently sells—launched with little more than visual upgrades. Rugged-looking tires and earthy paint tones don’t do much when the going gets tough.

The Passport TrailSport isn’t one of those vehicles. The version Honda introduced for 2026 had some proper off-road hardware underneath, and surprise revisions for 2027 have added more. To demonstrate the latest updates, Honda invited us to explore a trail network in the woods of rural North Carolina behind the wheel of the latest amped-up Passport. If you were there, too, you would’ve left with your preconceptions dispelled—this thing knows what it’s doing.

Better So Soon

Usually, when an automaker substantially changes a vehicle only a year after its debut, it’s for an emergency fix. Not here.

The current-generation Passport hasn’t been around long, but its chunky styling, excellent packaging, and all-terrain focus immediately impressed us. Those attributes are best exemplified by the TrailSport trim. It shared its chassis, engine, and AWD system with the base Passport RTL but gained a retuned suspension, all-terrain tires, and underbody skidplates. Awkwardly, though, ground clearance and approach and departure angles were identical between the versions, making us question how much extra capability the TrailSport actually provided.

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Honda took notice and applied upgrades to elevate the TrailSport over the RTL—literally. Revised springs, dampers, control arms, anti-roll bars, and steering knuckles raise the 2027 Passport TrailSport 1.38 inches to 9.65 inches of ground clearance.

Approach and departure angles improve from 23 to 25 degrees, and the breakover angle from 20 to 23 degrees. To keep the tires on the ground a little better, rebound stroke gains 8 mm at the front axle, and 9 mm at the rear. The front subframe and driveshafts are also updated to account for the suspension stretch. Even the standard factory jack is altered so it can still reach between the ground and the bottom of the vehicle.

Although the size, tread, and appearance of the General Grabber A/T Sport 275/60 R18 tire carries over, for 2027 it gets different internal construction to further optimize traction and reduce noise. Honda says the increased ground clearance makes room for an owner to fit slightly larger tires. Wider fender flares framing those tires and dual amber LEDs in the hood-scoop element also make the 2027 look tougher.

Honda didn’t make these changes because it had to—it made them because it could. But given that some 80 percent of 2026 Passport sales were TrailSport models, more than a few buyers will likely be miffed that the cool off-road SUV they just bought just got cooler. We pressed Honda on what it might tell these customers, and it didn’t really have an answer. Representatives told us, “We’re always improving” and are “just really excited” about building the TrailSport brand. Retrofitting a 2026 model to 2027 spec is technically possible but not cost-effective; owners would probably be better served exploring aftermarket solutions.

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Setting the Scene

Off-roading is a nebulous term. To some, it’s a dirt path; to others, it’s scaling boulders or blasting through deserts at maximum speed. So when we say the 2027 Passport TrailSport is strong off-road, consider that your context might differ. But this author enjoys off-roading and has spent a fair amount of time doing it, and where Honda held this drive presented new levels of demand and engagement.

Overland Experts is a business dedicated to off-road training. One of its facilities spans 200 acres in North Carolina’s Uwharrie Mountains, a name derived from a Native American word meaning “rocky soil.” It’s overseen by Tony Cerruto, who retired as a Special Forces master sergeant after a 26-year Army career—he’s a certified badass who’s driven civilian and tactical off-road vehicles around the globe. Today, Cerruto’s clients include military and industrial teams operating in challenging terrain. Honda is another frequent visitor; every Honda engineer involved in TrailSport development goes through a course there.

Two days of driving sent us over rocks, through mud, around tight bends, down steep pitches, and up deep ruts, rarely repeating a route and often with one tire in the air. Some areas took guidance from spotters. Tires were inflated to stock settings, but these vehicles were equipped with Honda accessory rock sliders, which proved useful. At the end, we asked Cerruto to rate the trails we drove relative to everything within this property. “Upper intermediate,” he said; anything harder would require a frame-based vehicle with a low-range gearbox and four-wheel drive.

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In other words, the Passport TrailSport might be about as off-road capable as a unibody SUV with an automatic transmission and all-wheel drive gets.

Although our considerations here weren’t like a typical roadgoing review, we can still say the revised 2027 suspension provides a good sense of stability, keeping the body level as the terrain undulates and falls away beneath it. Steering is direct and light enough to avoid fatigue during long days in the saddle and doesn’t bind with the front tires pressed against obstacles. The soft, progressive brake pedal makes it easy to avoid locking up on slick declines; adept hill descent control is a trustworthy backup. Honda’s revvy 3.5-liter V-6 still makes enough low-end torque to keep churning along.

As Cerruto and Honda’s guides took us into increasingly challenging terrain, the Passport TrailSport got through everything. At times the belly scraped, and the torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system took a moment to figure things out, but every vehicle in our convoy made it back to base camp intact. One driver suffered a cut sidewall on a sharp piece of quartz, but the team replaced it in minutes using the included full-size spare. The mud-caked flat went in a fitted plastic bag that’s also included to keep the cargo area clean.

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Details like these, along with the vehicle’s pervasive composure on dirt, reinforced how seriously Honda has approached the TrailSport’s mission. Meeting the team of engineers and planners behind it furthered that impression. They talked through advanced techniques and relayed stories of their off-road escapades—these people wouldn’t be satisfied making the Passport TrailSport just a tire and trim package, so they didn’t.

When the 2026 Passport TrailSport arrived, Honda called it its most off-road-capable vehicle ever. Now, the 2027 model raises that bar, as we found driving it back to back with the 2026 model Honda brought along. Just 1.38 inches more ground clearance doesn’t sound like much, but it makes a difference.

Still Super Solid

Driving back to town on curvy back roads, the Passport TrailSport felt like a sports car—an effect of spending most of the day picking along at single-digit speeds. Ultimately, it’s still the same seriously good midsize SUV we know and appreciate. Cornering roll might be slightly more pronounced now that it stands taller, but that’s an easy trade-off for drivers eager to explore beyond the pavement. The 2027 Passport TrailSport is a more serious adventure machine than before—proof that Honda isn’t content to keep TrailSport a cosmetic exercise.