Honda Passport Trail Sport Vs Subaru Outback Wilderness: Full Comparison Test

These trail-focused mid-size SUVs have the off-road see and branding, but do they have the chops? Automotive patterns come and go, but the fever for beefed-up mid-size SUVs appears no signs of letting up.

After all, automakers are in the commerce of giving individuals what they'll purchase. And whereas most customers recognize that they do not require an all-out off-roader like a body-on-frame Toyota 4Runner or Jeep Wrangler, bounty of people still need everybody to know they have a National Parks pass, so they're choosing SUVs with an additional degree of tough bravado.

The Honda Passport Trail Sport and the Subaru Outback Wild are built up nameplates in this development, promising a generous making a difference of rough-road inclination. The two models have been around for a whereas presently, but the 2026 show year marks a generational jump for both.

While the International id was already to some degree mysterious, the 2026 show stands out with its cubist bodywork and moved forward underpinnings—an upgrade that clearly had the Path Don in intellect.

The Outback also underwent a radical change for the 2026 show year, taking off behind its commonplace wagon-like shape in favor of an upright pose more ordinary of an SUV. So we put them to the test to see which is superior at adjusting on-road consolation and tough-terrain prowess.

Exterior Styling

Subaru fans have been waxing doleful around the Outback's flight from its rugged-wagon roots, and without a doubt, there isn't much visual DNA tying the modern show to its past. But indeed with the 2026 Outback's mid-size-SUV outline.

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It still accomplishes the same utilitarian, granola-loving vibe that Subaru has been developing for decades. At its limit front conclusion, the Wild wears a interesting grille that exchanges the standard model's honeycomb design for a tougher-looking hexagonal one with "Subaru" spelled out front and center.

The geometric plan dialect proceeds with a strip of dark cladding that proceeds around the body, surrounding the wheel openings, entryway sills, and raise bumper. Gold accents speck the outside, showing up on the roof rails, fog-light encompasses, and little liftgate-mounted switch lights.

This sort of visual treatment works well on a few other off-road-themed SUVs, but the Wilderness's conflicting shapes and materials grant the impression that its last plan was the result of a blindfolded diversion of "stick the plastic on the Outback.

The Path Don, on the other hand, lets its brawny bodywork do most of the talking. The Passport's modern, bricklike Sheetmetal as of now does a part to deliver the demonstrate a tough manner, and the Honda isn't as performative as the Subaru in endeavoring a trail-ready see.

Underbody slip plates, golden daytime running lights, and uncovered orange tow snares separate the Path Wear models from the standard RTL trims. Common Grabber A/T Wear tires (measure 275/60R-18) moreover play an imperative part in the Path Sport's visual introduction, and the knobby and deep-treaded elastic marks a differentiate with the Subaru's less-aggressive Bridgestone Dueler all-terrain tires (measure 225/65R-17).

Interior Accommodations

The Passport's insides is standard for the course if you're commonplace with later Hondas. Its controls and switchgear are organized in a direct and easy-to-use way, where everything is inside reach and found where you'd anticipate it to be.

The Subaru doesn't have any dazzling ergonomic inadequacies either, and we acknowledged the Outback's generous utilize of physical buttons on the climate-control board and directing wheel.

As premium trims of their individual show lineups, both of our SUVs came prepared with a comparable suite of comforts, counting warmed front and raise seats, remote phone charging, a warmed directing wheel, premium sound, and more.

Our Wild test car too came with the $4090 Choice bundle 23, which included a few highlights that come standard on the Path Don First class, such as ventilated front seats, a control sunroof, and a power-adjustable front passenger's situate.

The bundle too incorporates dark nappa-leather upholstery with differentiate copper sewing, which is the model's as it were accessible insides color combo. Whereas the gold points of interest all through the cabin give a few visual alleviation from the unending region of dark plastic and calfskin, there's a clear need of fashion.

We wouldn't consider the Path Sport's dark- and brown-leather insides to be extravagance level, but the two-tone see is alluring and certainly stands out as the more stylishly satisfying of the two. The Visa takes the cake for fabric quality as well, with softer-feeling upholstered surfaces and less scratchy plastic.

Some of the Subaru's incoherent outside styling is reverberated interior, as its 12.1-inch infotainment screen and encased computerized gage show merge into a unusual trapezoid-meets-rectangle geometric combination.

Passenger Space & Cargo Capacity

The Passport's 12.3-inch central show is clumsily attached onto the sprint, but at slightest it jibes with the rest of the insides format. The infotainment frameworks in both cars are responsive and simple to associated with.

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That's outstanding for the Subaru particularly, as the screen in the previous-gen Outback was scarcely more receptive than an early 2000s PalmPilot.

The Honda is over five inches more extensive than the Subaru, and that deciphers to a important insides space advantage in the front and raise seats. Where the Outback feels sedan-like on the interior, the International id has an nearly full-size-SUV feel in terms of sheer roominess.

There's bounty of head- and legroom in both models, but the Visa has a level raise floor that permits for way better foot situation for back-seat riders.

Behind the moment push, the International id edges out its competitor in stuff-hauling capability, with space for 16 carry-on bags versus 12 in the Outback. We moreover acknowledged that the Honda's cargo hold was littered with cubbies and capacity nooks—including a lovely sizable one covered up beneath the floor following to the space-saver spare—for littler things.

Dropping the leaning back raise seats in the Outback is less demanding with quick-release handles in the cargo hold, permitting us to pack 29 carry-ons with the moment push collapsed; the International id had room for 38 with the moment push out of the way.

Powertrain and Performance

The Honda's sole motor is a actually suctioned 3.5-liter V-6 that sends 285 drive to all four wheels through a 10-speed programmed transmission.

In the interim, the Wild comes standard with the more effective of the Subaru Outback's two four-cylinder motor alternatives: a 260-hp turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four that mates to a persistently variable programmed transmission (CVT). In normal Sobie mold, all-wheel drive is a given.

The Outback is clearly prevalent when it comes to off-the-line vim. There are two major components at play here: weight and a need of low-end torque. Weighing in at 4702 pounds, our Path Wear Tip top was a whopping 686 pounds portlier than the 4016-pound Outback Wild.

To make things more awful, the Honda's full 262 pound-feet of crest torque doesn't arrive until 5000 rpm, so there's a reasonable bit of holding up with your foot down until any significant forward energy takes put. That isn't an issue in the Subaru, as its turbo motor spools up rapidly and conveys 277 pound-feet of top turn from 2000 to 4800 rpm.

The result was a sizable 1.1-second hole when the two come to the mile-a-minute stamp, with the Visa wandering to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and the Outback coming to 60 mph in a sprightlier 6.0 seconds amid our testing.

Despite the Outback steamrolling the Visa in through and through pace, we finished up leaning toward the Honda's V-6 besides. The switch to a double-overhead-cam course of action for the 2026 demonstrate year implied that Honda did absent with the VTEC-equipped single-cam V-6 that came in the previous-generation Passport—which is without a doubt a bummer—but the unused powerplant still packs loads of character.

It sounds decent and revs easily, in spite of the fact that the 10-speed programmed can be moderate to downshift. In differentiate, the Outback's four-cylinder vanishes into the foundation, which at the same time talks to its refinement and its horridness.

The Outback's wide-open-throttle insides sound perusing backs up that claim, enlisting 73 decibels compared with 78 in the International id. We too had less misgivings with the CVT than we do in a few other Subaru models, such as our long-term Forester, which likely has a parcel to do with the extra control from the turbocharged motor.

More control implies less time hanging the motor up at tall rpm. Unsurprisingly, the Outback's smaller-displacement, turbocharged four along with much lighter check weight gave it a fuel-economy advantage.

Amid our assessment, which included over 140 miles of thruway driving and a few sharpening at an ORV stop, the Outback overseen 19 mpg—four ticks less than its 23-mpg combined rating from the EPA. With its normally suctioned V-6, the International id scored 17 mpg, three less than its 20-mpg EPA combined figure.

Driving Experience

Before we made the journey to test our rigs' fortitude on the intense stuff, we wandered out to our 10Best drive circle to see how they fared powerfully. We've never given much laud to the Outback from a driving-enjoyment viewpoint, and the most current Wild wins another impassive score.

With its smaller body, lower seating position, and feign hood, it feels more carlike behind the wheel than the International id, but its sloppy controlling lets it down in the corners. In differentiate, the Honda pigs more of the path with its broader position, but its controlling is more coordinate, indeed with the beefier tires, and it feels more planted.

The Subaru merits a few regard for its suspension, in spite of the fact that, as the Wild model's modern versatile dampers viably suppress body roll, stamping a tremendous enhancement over Outback of yore. The Honda's ride is much gentler with its detached dampers, drenching up minor street flaws but creating genuine head-toss over bigger divots.

While the Passport's monstrous mass was a obstacle from an increasing speed angle, it didn't appear to have much of an affect on braking execution. From 70 mph, the Passport's covers pulled it to a halt in 177 feet.

The Outback accomplished as it were a hardly way better result of 174 feet. This would regularly be the portion where we examine the contrasts in horizontal hold between the two models, but with our slip cushion secured totally in snow amid our time with the Outback, we weren't able to log any information.

We do have a figure for the Path Wear, in spite of the fact that, which circled the cushion at a respectable 0.84 g, a 0.10-g advancement over the previous-generation 2024 International id Path Don that we tested.

Off-Road Capabilities

The off-pavement appraisal started when we got to the Hills ORV Stop, where we seem put our rigs' rough intuition to the test. It has been snowing like insane in southeastern Michigan, so in expansion to testing the SUVs' capacities on soak slants, set landscape, and contract trails, deep-powder execution was moreover a figure out there.

On paper, the two show up equally coordinated. With 9.5 inches of ground clearance, the Subaru bests the Honda by 1.2 inches, in spite of the fact that the Path Sport's brief front overhang gives it a way better approach point, 23.0 degrees to the Wilderness's 20.0.

Be that as it may, the Path Don has a more regrettable takeoff angle—23.1 degrees to the Wilderness's 23.6—due to the former's standard trailer-hitch recipient. The Visa does have an advantage in our 20-degree incline travel file test, climbing 36.6 inches for a score of 322 compared with the Outback's 24.1 inches and 223 result.

The Outback highlights Subaru's long-serving symmetrical all-wheel-drive framework; the Visa moreover highlights all-wheel drive with a torque-vectoring raise pivot. Tires are a clear point of disparity, and the Honda's Common Grabber A/T Sports see much burlier than the Subaru's Bridgestone Duelers. So, how'd they do in hone?

To ease into things, we put the Subaru into X-mode and the Honda into Path mode and drawn nearer a five-foot-ish-tall incline in a bowl made by a few eager quad riders. The Subaru was up to begin with, and fair as its front lip was around to tilt skyward, a bumping "deterrent recognized" caution flashed over the sprint, cutting control totally and stopping the endeavor.

It turns out that putting the Wild into X-mode doesn't naturally deactivate the forward-collision caretakers, so we had to turn them off physically some time recently we seem attempt once more.

We'd say that's a beautiful enormous oopsie for a vehicle with any kind of off-road goals. To include offended to harm, the Outback couldn't make it up the hill, turning its tires once it got approximately three-quarters of the way up. The Visa handled it without breaking a sweat, collision-warning free.

Honda Passport Trail Sport

As we continued to mess around on a few soak banks and direct slopes, the Outback proceeded to battle. Whereas the Visa unquestionably fueled over deterrents and through profound snow with small trouble, the Subaru's stability-control and braking frameworks were continually mediating to attempt to rescue footing and falling flat most of the time.

Intensely rutted territory was the as it were range where the Wild had a leg up on the Path Don, as its extra ground clearance permitted it to clear deterrents that the International id dragged over. We can't offer assistance but ponder how things would have played out if the Subaru were shod in diverse elastic.

The 2026 Wilderness's Duelers basically weren't up to the errand, and we'd be willing to wagered that if it were wearing the knobbier Yokohama Geolandar A/T tires found on the previous-generation Outback Wild, it would have been much more capable.