I am still enamored with the 2026 Honda Passport design—it hits a balance of “rugged” and “friendly” so perfectly. This new TrailSport HRC Concept pushes it a smidge more to the meaner side, but you’ve got to love a winch integration this clean.
This SEMA concept SUV also has extended aluminum skid plates (now protecting the center bearing, prop shaft, and rear drive unit) plus new dampers, swing-out rear tire carrier, a unique exhaust, and a non-trivial lift of 60mm (about 2.4 inches).
There’s some overlanding upfits too—lots of lights, a side canopy, an integrated air compressor, and did I mention lights?
Just to make it a little more extra, there are blue Alcantara interior inserts and HRC emblems.
I would be quite surprised if Honda puts this into production as a showroom-ready trim level. However, I could see some of this stuff making its way to catalogs as HRC parts you can buy and install, maybe after the warranty runs out. It all comes down to whether or not Honda thinks it can sell enough to justify building them.
The bumper, dampers, lift, and rear tire carrier would be super cool for second owners looking to spice these vehicles up a little bit. More skid plates, in my humble opinion, are always welcome. And, realistically, much more useful than winches (which are fun, but only needed in fairly extreme wheeling scenarios). Fuel economy and driving dynamics would suffer a little, but that is always the price to pay for fun-looking off-road accessories.
The Passport TrailSport HRC Concept will be at SEMA this year, and probably some other southwestern auto shows afterward. Meanwhile, if you’re interested in this vehicle, you should check out the long-term Honda Passport test my colleague Jerry Perez is running right now!
The Passport will also be racing in the Baja 1000, but of course, that version of the vehicle is another beast entirely. Get a load of the suspension on that thing:
Has anybody done any hardcore wheeling in a Passport yet? I’d love to hear about it at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.