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The 2027 Honda Passport TrailSport is getting a slew of significant upgrades, including more ride height, more aggressive fender flares, and some cute amber running lights above the grille. Honda‘s really looking to eat the Toyota 4Runner‘s lunch with this thing—and now it’s basically as high off the ground as a base Wrangler.
The new Passport TrailSport is claiming 9.65 inches of clearance while a base-model Wrangler has 9.7, but it rounds out. Also, sometimes OEMs pick different places to measure their clearance specs—so we’ll need to wait until the first drive to break out the tape measures and find out the true practical dimensions. But the point is: TrailSport is becoming more truckish.
It’s funny, Toyota owned the “default middle-class aspirational adventure SUV” space for so long with its ladder-frame V6 4Runner. Then it went turbo and hybrid, got a lot more expensive while also becoming cheaper-looking. Honda swooped in with this new-for-2025 Passport and basically did its own version of the 4Runner, but, from where I’m sitting, better.
Honda Chris Tedesco
The new 4Runner looks cool from a few angles, but the Passport is more comfortable and has better driving dynamics. And while the sixth-gen 4Runner certainly has a bigger aftermarket and more extreme-end off-road capability, a Passport TrailSport can do pretty much all the same stuff, just slower.
Honda
The 2027 Passport’s body style hasn’t changed, but this facelift includes a new lower front fascia along with the fenders I just mentioned. The Blackout Package is still on the options list, getting you black wheels and bumpers. The new running lights are two rectangular ones in the hood scoop area. I’m glad Honda’s designers went that way instead of the three-dot clearance-light row you see on Ford Raptors. At this point, the Passport feels as mean-looking as it can be without getting silly. It might be a tiny bit silly already.
Honda shared that “28 suspension and related chassis parts have been redesigned, reengineered, or are otherwise new for the 2027 Passport TrailSport.” We know that includes springs, dampers, control arms, stabilizer bars, and knuckles. “The front driveshafts and front subframe were also redesigned to help facilitate the increased ride height and wheel travel,” the company stated. Looks like the OEM tires are the same General Grabber AT Sports in 275/60R18 (about 31-inch diameter) that the previous TrailSport shipped with.
Highlighted in red are the components Honda changed on the new TrailSport suspension. It’s significant that the control arms, axles, and subframe have been changed—that should let the vehicle preserve its balance in conjunction with the lift. Honda
The company claims those changes translate to a 1.38-inch increase in ground clearance (that’s a lot), bringing the clearance figure to 9.65 inches. As I mentioned, a base Jeep Wrangler has 9.7 (a Wrangler Rubicon has 10.8). Honda specifically called out the Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road, Subaru Outback Wilderness, and Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch (Bronco Sport, not big Bronco) in its press release as rivals that now have less clearance than the Passport TrailSport.
Honda posted this table to quantify how the new ride height has improved specs from the outgoing model.
Capability2027 Passport TrailSport2026 Passport TrailSportPerformance
IncreaseGround Clearance9.65 inches8.27 inches+1.38 inchesApproach Angle25 degrees23 degrees+2 degreesDeparture Angle25 degrees23 degrees+2 degreesBreakover Angle23 degrees20 degrees+3 degrees
If you already have a Passport TrailSport, it sounds like it would be possible, but highly impractical, to swap all those parts over yourself. In other words, it’s (a lot of) bolted-on bits, not a fundamental reengineering of the chassis.
Chris Tedesco
Here you can see the little amber running lights. Honda
Honda has also spread some features from TrailSport Elite, namely the heated steering wheel and TrailWatch 360-degree camera system, to the regular TrailSport model. No announcements have been made on the non-TrailSport 2027 Passport, but I’m sure it will still be in the lineup.
Pricing on the 2027 Passport is TBA. There are actually four variants of the Passport TrailSport right now (regular, Blackout, Elite, and Elite Blackout … sounds like the difficulty settings in a video game about joining a fraternity). The standard 2026 TrailSport starts at about $50,000 with destination fees, with the high-feature one topping out around $60,000.
Chris Tedesco
Honda
Honda upgrading the TrailSport model but leaving the base Passport alone would actually be a great move at this stage. It could leverage the halo effect of the high-tier model while bagging a bigger clutch of customers by keeping the cost of entry low.
I would expect a non-trivial price increase for this revised 2027 model; surely at least a few grand—but look for them at dealers soon. The current-gen Passport is made in Alabama, alongside the Ridgeline pickup and Odyssey minivan.
Chris Tedesco
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Automotive journalist since 2013, Andrew primarily coordinates features, sponsored content, and multi-departmental initiatives at The Drive.
