TLDR: Overall Winner - Outback Wilderness
The Passport had a nicer interior materials-wise, more interior space, and a softer ride. Biggest complaint was the amount of exterior noise made it into the interior.
The Outback was more agile, had a quieter interior, and a better stock stereo. Biggest complaints were the cheap/drab interior, the ugly exterior, and the naggy safety features.
They were impressed by how capable both vehicles were off-road, but found the Subaru had a slight advantage at getting grip with its X-Mode.
This is why I'm kinda always annoyed with MT comparisons. Whatever car is sportier usually wins.
For 99% of the people who are shopping in this class a softer ride, more space, and nicer interior are more important.
Yet, because the Outback has less body roll in corners, it is somehow the superior choice
Interior noise is a part of the whole "comfortable and easy to live with" aspect of a vehicle though, and that's something the Passport is objectively bad at. Honda's whole lineup across the board right now allow way more road, wind and tire noise into the vehicle than the vast majority of their competition.
It would be nice to see Honda actually address in a way other than just offering the equivalent Acura. A vehicle as expensive and premium feeling as the Passport is shouldn't have that issue.
Imma be honest; yes the Passport is louder, but in no way is it the deal breaker the MT staff make it out to be. Its only a problem under acceleration which again highlights MT's emphasis on sporty driving.
CarandDriver found the Passport had 68 decibels cruising at 70 MPH compared to 67 for the Outback. Under acceleration, the Passport was much louder at 78 compared to 73 in the Outback. Again, if you're often flooring it, then it's a problem.
Not to mention the Honda's V6 and automatic will probably be more reliable long term, and the Honda will probably hold its value better.
>Its only a problem under acceleration which again highlights MT's emphasis on sporty driving.
Every car accelerates, I wouldn't say it's a sporty factor. It's weird to me how the Subaru is quieter and sportier despite having a CVT + turbo-4. Honda is SO cheap with their sound deadening.
>Not to mention the Honda's V6 and automatic will probably be more reliable long term, and the Honda will probably hold its value better.
Certainly a consideration, but I never found the appeal of how well are you when trying to get *rid* of the vehicle and why that's such a big factor
Did they mess up when they said?
>Unlike Honda, which positions the Trailsport at the upper end of the Passport lineup, [the 2026 Outback Wilderness](https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2026-subaru-outback-wilderness-first-drive-review) is a midlevel trim.
i didn't verify myself
They’re technically correct since the “base” Wilderness is a mid level trim, but the option package with which the test car is equipped adds most of the features that distinguish it from the Touring XT with the exception of hands-free driving.
That jump from 73 decibels from the Outback up to 78 decibels from the Passport works out to the Passport being roughly 1.5× as loud in that situation though. That's not insignificant. Further playing against the Passport with the engine noise is that it doesn't get full access to it's 265lb-ft of torque until it hits 4,700 rpm. The Outback meanwhile can access to all of its 277lb-ft of torque at just 2,000 rpm.
Not only is it louder when you have to put your foot down a bit to get it going, but you have to keep that foot down for longer for it to reach that point.
The brand new belt-driven V6 will be more reliable than a decade-old detuned chain-driven WRX engine that people push to 400hp at the crank with a stock block with zero history of systematic failures? Not so sure about that, but no argument on the automatic vs the CVT.
I'd argue the difference in acceleration impacts more than just sporty driving.
Not only is the Outback 600lbs lighter, but it's making 277 ft•lbs at 2000rpm while the Passport's making it's peak torque of 265ft•lbs at 5000rpm. You're going to feel the torque difference constantly in day-to-day driving and you'll have to rev the Passport out a lot more even during regular driving.
Prefer a quieter cabin isn't a "sporty" preference. That's a comfort/luxury preference.
And I am very tired of assuming reliability based on theoretical stuff. Specifically the Honda V6 has had some notable recent issues reported.
>And I am very tired of assuming reliability based on theoretical stuff
Fair point
However, according to Consumer Reports and the data they collect. Statistically speaking, most Passports will be more reliable than most Outbacks.
I think the Outback won because "the Subaru Outback Wilderness gives you more ability for less money", I don't think it was specifically because of sportiness. The only factor I kind of see is the Outback is firmer, but it's firmed without losing comfort which is nice to have
C&D actually did the [same comparo](https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a70409147/2026-honda-passport-trailsport-vs-subaru-outback-wilderness-comparison-test/) a few months ago and measured both the Passport and the OB to have the same interior noise rating of 67db at 70mph.
How did MT determine that the Passport was louder? Vibes?
We have a 2025 Pilot Elite that also measures at 67db at 70mph, and we have no issue with the NVH at highway speeds. We even test drove it against the MDX and the TX and didn't think the Pilot was any louder.
In fact, C&D measured the TX350 at 66db and the TX500 at 67db.
And it's not like we aren't used to quiet cars with good NVH - my Audi is incredibly quiet at speed.
Motortrend is full of shit here.
The Passport Trailsport Elite is the whole trim name. It's a Trailsport with a nicer interior and some extra tech features, and different wheels. It has the same AT tires as the regular Trailsport trim.
Tires play a HUGE role in regards to how much tire noise is generated. An off-road (or in the case of the Subaru and Honda being compared here, "off-road-*ish*") tire will generate a significant amount more tire noise than a traditional enocmony tire will. The larger the tread blocks and deeper the grooves, the more the tires will vibrate, and those vibrations will translate to a very audible hum.
I'd you were to swap out your own Passport's tires and rims for the Trailsport's, you would immediately notice them humming in the background as they drive.
And?
Noise measurement under load (acceleration) speaks to engine noise, not road noise.
MT specifically complains about *road noise* not engine noise, which is why the measurement at 70mph is the applicable yardstick here.
Personally, I dont really care where the noise is coming from if it's too much.
If I'm sitting in a noisy cabin, I don't think "thank god this noise is coming from the engine...otherwise, it might bother me."
We're discussing the MT review, not your own personal preferences.
MT specifically referred to road noise.
Let's maybe work on our reading comprehension.
There's a lot more to driving than just cruising at 70mph though. Every time you are getting back up to speed after traffic lights, stop signs, stop and stop and go traffic, your vehicle is accelerating. That's not an insignificant amount of time for a vehicle to have a noticeably louder interior than a competitor.
To be fair, most Acuras aren’t any quieter. The RDX has an indefensible amount of road noise, and the Integra and ADX seemingly has no extra noise insulation compared to the Civic and HRV. The TLX was very quiet, but that was definitely the exception to the rule.
I mean the Outback also wins in all the other categories.
The *only* victories I can give the Passport are 1. More Space. 2. A cool orange color. 3. Ability to tow a trailer with more weight
It's worse on price - The article says $4,000, but my real world shopping experience at dealerships actually puts the difference closer to $8,000. It's worse on gas mileage, and the engine doesn't really "make up for it" because the turbo in the Subaru picks up *better*. The interiors are *comparable* in features, but the Outback is noticeably louder from road noise. Also the PRNDL on the Passport is *fucking stupid*, and I don't really care if you "get used to it."
Outside of *aesthetics* (which to be fair is a valid reason for many people) and *space*, I'm truly not sure why anyone would go with a Passport over an Outback.
The new Outback is hideous, particularly compared to the previous iterations. Meanwhile the new Passport is a big boxy orange babe. I think it looks significantly better. People also like different brands. Some people just want the H on the front, or the Subaru's seven stars.
Ultimately for many consumers, cars tend to be an irrational purchase, rather than a logical one. People don't buy the car that makes the most sense necessarily, they buy the one they like the best.
I don't think the Outback is hideous, but I also never had an affinity for wagons or previous Outbacks like Reddit seems to. I think the Passport looks good from the front. I think the back of it looks *awful*. The orange is also the only color I'd ever consider. The other colors are bland, tired garbage. It's unfortunate there isn't a striking red or blue or anything.
If I were forced to buy one now, I'd get the Subaru and wouldn't think twice about it. If the Passport were $10,000 cheaper, I'd *maybe* consider it.
What’s interesting to me is that the Wildnerness trim with the option package as MT’s test car was equipped with is actually slightly MORE expensive than a loaded XT Touring.
Those off-road bits are genuinely pretty substantial. More capable (and expensive) tires, a slightly beefed up suspension, larger radiator, a transmission cooler, and more aggressive gearing ratios.
If you're someone that's actually going to be doing some towing or off-roading, the Wilderness models are a genuinely good deal for all of those add-ons. For the cast majority of buyers though, you'd be much better served getting the Limited XT trim that forgoes the off-roady bits for a nicer interior.
I can agree with that. I've always kinda had a soft spot Subaru's sort of endearingly ugly designs over the years, but I can't see the Outback Wilderness's grill growing on me down the road.
The front is fine, it's the rear that really kills it for me. They were much more subtle on th Forester and Crosstrek wilderness trims and those look so much better in comparison.
Same here. As much as I hate to admit it, the new Outback’s styling is admittedly growing on me. The Wilderness trim pushes the needle too far in the wrong direction for me though.
The new Outback has that nice light bar across the back that they slapped plastic cladding over on the Wilderness. It looks awful. The non-Wilderness trims, IMHO, look great. Even though I'm not a fan of black exteriors, it really helps the cladding blend in. I'm seriously leaning towards the Touring XT later this year.
I just wish it didn't have 19" wheels, but that's an easy fix.
Nissan does the same thing with the Frontier (or used to when I was shopping).
The SL is technically the "luxury" trim, but doesn't have many option packages. Meanwhile, the Pro-4X slots in at a lower starting price packed to the gills with offroad goodies, but then you can option in all of the SL tech and "luxury" features like leather heated seats, adaptive cruise, etc and it'll actually top out over the SL.
Conscious of the price advantage, after listing they could have tested the lower trim Honda for about the same price? Also curious how much the road noise is due to the OEM tires? While noisier, do they provide better off road grip, mud/sand/snow performance? Modern Hondas are usually some of the quietest cabins in their class. I’m very Honda biased, and would probably only pick the Subaru if I needed way more off road and back country trail driving instead of 99% paved roads. I’d bet a decent set of Kumhos or Michelins would mitigate the road noise quite a bit.
Testing vehicles on different tires is bad testing methodology. It's a variable that's easy to equalize.
I also don't think they are quite similar enough for this test, and Subaru made a huge mistake making the Outback not only so fugly, but making it into an SUV. Those that loved the wagon don't have that option from Subaru anymore, and now Subaru has to compete with everyone else making a compact to mid-sized SUV. This may be a tragic mistake for a low volume seller like Subaru.
> It's a variable that's easy to equalize.
It's also a variable that's pretty expensive to equalize. A new set of tires, especially off-road-*ish* ones like the ones in this comparison use can cost north of $1000. Reviews absolutely should use the stock tires because they are what the companies intended for them to use. If a vehicle comes fitted with shitty stock tires, that's something that should be held against it. It's no different than if a vehicle comes with crappy brake pads or rotors, or crappy speakers. If they're annoying enough that a new owner would have to shell out cash to switch them out, that should be a point against the vehicle in a comparison.
>Modern Hondas are usually some of the quietest cabins in their class
No, they're absolutely not.
>I’d bet a decent set of Kumhos or Michelins would mitigate the road noise quite a bit.
So add another $1,200 to an already $4k+ price delta is not great, and it's ultimately why the Subaru won. If the price were the same, Honda has a very fair argument for winning, but very few people would say it's $4k better than the Subaru
Then the Honda would have scored lower for interior quality. And both vehicles were tested with all-terrain tires (General Grabbers vs Bridgestone), so tire noise should be similar. And the article mentions
>Our biggest complaint, though, is one common to Hondas: road noise, and lots of it.
So while your experience may say Honda cabins are quiet, Motor Trend believes they don't have enough road noise insulation.
It would appear so. My Ridgeline is quiet AF on my Kumho Crugen all seasons. Articles like this will always find folks to agree or nitpick. Going for a test drive to see what matters most to the buyer is crucial. I’ve always liked how Honda makes their vehicles, probably there’s been at least on in my family for 35+ years.
I test drove the Ridgeline RTL last weekend and I didn’t find the cabin to very quiet. I was actually kinda shocked at how much road noise made it inside.
I remember when I bought mine the sales guys were touting it was quieter than a Mercedes S Class sedan. My wife just upgraded to a 2025 Black Edition and it seems pretty quiet to me.
Lying sales weasels or not, I just put out that question to CoPilot and it was true as of 2018 (Benz model W222). After 2020, the S class (W223) significantly improved their cabin noise ratings, but when I bought mine in 11/2017 it was quiet as claimed. But here we are in 2026 and times have changed.
This brand likes to leave blank comments on car-related posts, presumably in an attempt to associate their name (through their username) with those cars in search engines.
What an obnoxious form of advertising.
I don't find these vehicles particularly comparable. I guess they're technically both midsize crossover SUVs but Passport is significantly bigger in every dimension except length.
The Rav4 and CR-V seem like more direct competitors than the Passport to me.
The Passport (in orange) looks better than the Subaru from the front.
And that's exactly where all of the victories stop for the Passport in this comparison.
For better off-road performance, the Subaru Wilderness needs better approach and departure angles (20deg?), maybe less of a huge plastic air dam on the front and the Honda needs more ground clearance (8.3"?). Both good vehicles, but not real off-roaders.
It's not just flooring it, but just accelerating in general where the Trailsport is louder. Car and Driver also compared both vehicles and commented on the Trailsport being louder in general as well.
The Subaru is geared to have all of its power available much lower, with all 277lb-ft of torque being available at 2,000rpm. For the Honda, it's 265lb-ft of torque isn't available until the engine is reving up to 4,700 rpm. The Honda has to spend a more time revving as a result, and the lack of sound deadening in it's engine bay makes it louder while doing so.
It's not a big deal if you're just cruising at 70mph long distances. But if you are doing a lot of your driving in town where you are spending time stopping at lights, signs, and accelerating up on-ramps, you'll definitely notice it if you drive both vehicles back to back.
Andrea Bocelli and I are both humans and capable of making loud noises with our mouths, but people only want to hear one of us sing.
Not all V6 engines were designed to sound pleasing to the ear. Motor Trend is more performance focused than most auto publications. They're about as pro-engine noise as you can get. If they are listing the Passport's noisy interior as their biggest complaint, it's not because the engine noise leaking in during acceleration sounds good.
The passport basically has the dimensions of a short midsize truck. It's actually wider than the Ridgeline, Tacoma, and Ranger.
It's only half an inch less wide than an F-150.
76 Comments
Saskatchewon@reddit
Redeemed_Expert9694@reddit (OP)
Saskatchewon@reddit
Redeemed_Expert9694@reddit (OP)
teggyteggy@reddit
tsar73@reddit
teggyteggy@reddit
tsar73@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
Redeemed_Expert9694@reddit (OP)
tsar73@reddit
narcistic_asshole@reddit
peakdecline@reddit
Redeemed_Expert9694@reddit (OP)
teggyteggy@reddit
SophistXIII@reddit
elinyera@reddit
TheDistantEnd@reddit
elinyera@reddit
SophistXIII@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
SophistXIII@reddit
elinyera@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
Shmokesshweed@reddit
elinyera@reddit
MortimerDongle@reddit
SophistXIII@reddit
trail-g62Bim@reddit
SophistXIII@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
African-Rain-Blesser@reddit
Crapitron@reddit
TheDistantEnd@reddit
Crapitron@reddit
biggsteve81@reddit
I_like_cake_7@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
I_like_cake_7@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
bush-leaguer@reddit
I_like_cake_7@reddit
bush-leaguer@reddit
velociraptorfarmer@reddit
ace72ace@reddit
Luxin@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
TheDistantEnd@reddit
teggyteggy@reddit
biggsteve81@reddit
African-Rain-Blesser@reddit
ace72ace@reddit
SwiftCEO@reddit
ace72ace@reddit
Uniball38@reddit
ace72ace@reddit
pureflowair@reddit
quantum-quetzal@reddit
lepetitmousse@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
lepetitmousse@reddit
Redeemed_Expert9694@reddit (OP)
markeydarkey2@reddit
Crapitron@reddit
KreeH@reddit
bush-leaguer@reddit
MasterpieceStill9991@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
TheDistantEnd@reddit
Saskatchewon@reddit
Uniball38@reddit
lepetitmousse@reddit
Uniball38@reddit
Drzhivago138@reddit
ASV731@reddit