The great outdoors beckons, and with it, a new wave of rugged, mid-size SUVs designed to tackle the toughest terrain. Two trailblazers stand out in this movement: the Honda Passport TrailSport and the Subaru Outback Wilderness. While both promise a hearty helping of off-road prowess, they differ in approach and execution. In this battle of the behemoths, we pit the Passport’s brute strength against the Outback’s agility to determine which SUV reigns supreme.
The Passport TrailSport’s cubist bodywork is a departure from its more anonymous predecessor, and the updated underpinnings clearly had the TrailSport in mind. The Outback, on the other hand, underwent a radical transformation for the 2026 model year, leaving behind its familiar wagon-like shape in favor of an upright posture more typical of an SUV.
Exterior Styling
Subaru fans have been waxing doleful about the Outback’s departure from its rugged-wagon roots, and indeed, there isn’t much visual DNA tying the new model to its past. But even with the 2026 Outback’s mid-size-SUV silhouette, it still achieves the same utilitarian, granola-loving vibe that Subaru has been cultivating for decades. At its blunt front end, the Wilderness wears a unique grille that trades the standard model’s honeycomb pattern for a tougher-looking hexagonal one with “Subaru” spelled out front and center.
The geometric design language continues with a strip of black cladding that continues around the body, framing the wheel openings, door sills, and rear bumper. Gold accents dot the exterior, appearing on the roof rails, fog-light surrounds, and small liftgate-mounted reverse lights. This type of visual treatment works well on some other off-road-themed SUVs, but the Wilderness’s discordant shapes and materials give the impression that its final design was the result of a blindfolded game of “pin the plastic on the Outback.”
The TrailSport, on the other hand, lets its brawny bodywork do most of the talking. The Passport’s new, bricklike sheetmetal already does a lot to give the model a rugged mien, and the Honda isn’t as performative as the Subaru in attempting a trail-ready look. Underbody skid plates, amber daytime running lights, and exposed orange tow hooks differentiate the TrailSport models from the standard RTL trims. General Grabber A/T Sport tires (size 275/60R-18) also play an important role in the TrailSport’s visual presentation, and the knobby and deep-treaded rubber marks a contrast with the Subaru’s less-aggressive Bridgestone Dueler all-terrain tires (size 225/65R-17).
Interior Accommodations
The Passport’s interior is par for the course if you’re familiar with recent Hondas. Its controls and switchgear are organized in a straightforward and easy-to-use way, where everything is within reach and located where you’d expect it to be. The Subaru doesn’t have any glaring ergonomic shortcomings either, and we appreciated the Outback’s liberal use of physical buttons on the climate-control panel and steering wheel.
As premium trims of their respective model lineups, both of our SUVs came equipped with a similar suite of amenities, including heated front and rear seats, wireless phone charging, a heated steering wheel, premium audio, and more. Our Wilderness test car also came with the $4090 Option package 23, which added a few features that come standard on the TrailSport Elite, such as ventilated front seats, a power sunroof, and a power-adjustable front passenger’s seat.
Powertrain and Performance
The Honda’s sole engine is a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 that sends 285 horsepower to all four wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission. Meanwhile, the Wilderness comes standard with the more powerful of the Subaru Outback’s two four-cylinder engine options: a 260-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four that mates to a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). In typical Subie fashion, all-wheel drive is a given.
The Outback is clearly superior when it comes to off-the-line vim. There are two major factors at play here: weight and a lack of low-end torque. Weighing in at 4702 pounds, our TrailSport Elite was a whopping 686 pounds portlier than the 4016-pound Outback Wilderness. To make matters worse, the Honda’s full 262 pound-feet of peak torque doesn’t arrive until 5000 rpm, so there’s a fair bit of waiting with your foot down until any meaningful forward momentum takes place.
The result was a sizable 1.1-second gap when the two reached the mile-a-minute mark, with the Passport meandering to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and the Outback reaching 60 mph in a sprightlier 6.0 seconds during our testing.
Despite the Outback steamrolling the Passport in outright pace, we ended up preferring the Honda’s V-6 anyway. The switch to a double-overhead-cam arrangement for the 2026 model year meant that Honda did away with the VTEC-equipped single-cam V-6 that came in the previous-generation Passport—which is undoubtedly a bummer—but the new powerplant still packs heaps of character. It sounds nice and revs smoothly, although the 10-speed automatic can be slow to downshift.
Interior Sound Idle: 41 dBA/3 sone Full Throttle: 78 dBA 70-mph Cruising: 67 dBA/22 sone
**C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed:** 17 mpg
**EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway:** 20/18/23 mpg
Off-Road Capabilities
On paper, the two appear evenly matched. With 9.5 inches of ground clearance, the Subaru bests the Honda by 1.2 inches, though the TrailSport’s short front overhang gives it a better approach angle, 23.0 degrees to the Wilderness’s 20.0. However, the TrailSport has a worse departure angle—23.1 degrees to the Wilderness’s 23.6—due to the former’s standard trailer-hitch receiver.
The Passport does have an advantage in our 20-degree ramp travel index test, climbing 36.6 inches for a score of 322 compared with the Outback’s 24.1 inches and 223 result. The Outback features Subaru’s long-serving symmetrical all-wheel-drive system; the Passport also features all-wheel drive with a torque-vectoring rear axle.
Tires are a clear point of divergence, and the Honda’s General Grabber A/T Sports look much burlier than the Subaru’s Bridgestone Dueler all-terrain tires. So, how’d they do in practice?
The Subaru continued to struggle in our evaluation, which included over 140 miles of highway driving and some hooning at an ORV park. It has been snowing like crazy in southeastern Michigan, so in addition to testing the SUVs’ abilities on steep inclines, pitted terrain, and narrow trails, deep-powder performance was also a factor out there.
The Passport tackled it without breaking a sweat, collision-warning free. The Outback couldn’t make it up the mound, spinning its tires once it got about three-quarters of the way up.
**C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed:** 19 mpg
**EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/City/Highway:** 23/21/27 mpg
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