New Honda tow vehicle coming soon

A

Aurelia

New member
If you are a fan of boats but dont like to own and drive a huge vehicle, there is a new option coming to market this month. The Honda Passport is back and is a more compact variant of the Pilot with the same wheelbase and powertrain for up to 5000lbs of towing capacity. Nice to have another 22 cruiser and below, towing option out there.

https://www.consumerreports.org/suvs/ne ... t-preview/

Greg
 
Greg, that looks like a nice fit especially for towing a 19 or 16. At a 5K max for the 4WD version my 22 Cruiser would put me right at the max edge of the tow range. Sure looks nice though. Wonder if it will be available in a Hybrid version?

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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Its a great rig, we have the Honda ridgeline (same drivetrain) and its been very durable. As a tow rig it's going to need some helper springs or airbags fitted. I drop the tongue of our 22 onto the hitch and it buries the rear suspension. For that reason we've only used it to move the boat around the yard.
 
I just swapped my 2014 Santa Fe Sport for a 2018 Santa Fe Sport. I only had 65K miles (although more than half of that was towing the CD 16). The year end prices went down so far that I couldn't help myself. I bought the top-of-the-line model for what I paid for the 2014 mid-level.

It is the perfect towing vehicle for the 16. Rated #3,500, that's #1,000 over what I tow. The Santa Fe 2 liter 4 cyl. turbo gets okay mileage for its class, although I get considerably better than the EPA 24 highway. I get closer to 30 and got 20.7 mpg when towing the CD 16 back from Lake Powell. I was concentrating on mileage for the first 1,000 miles, but once I get close to home it's like a horse getting close to the barn.

Best is the torque curve on the little turbo. Over 250 lb/ft at 1,500 rpm with a 6 speed auto that allows gear selection. It actually makes towing fun. I have to remind myself that I'm 22 feet longer.

Mark
 
Just bought one of these in the Touring model. Size wise it seems like a Honda CRV that is on steroids. The towing package (700+ dollars) is dealer installed option that includes adding a transmission cooler with a the 2" receiver hitch and a round seven pin trailer harness female receptacle. I wanted a vehicle that could tow our 18' Grady White center console boat (3300 lbs.) and occasionally a 12' x 6' Utility trailer. We sold our ten year old extended cab 8' bed diesel pickup that wife would not drive. It was just too big for her. Part of our getting older, down sizing program. Normally the Passport is now my wife's ride. It is a very nice driving vehicle so far. The nine speed transmission shifts almost unnoticeably. I drive a 2018 Honda Civic Touring model as my town car. Now down to just two cars that my wife is happy to drive either one if I need to go fishing. :D Life is good.

D.D.
 
Hi Harvey,
Busy couple of years downsizing. Sold our home of 34 years, and moved about 60 miles north and had a new 3 bedroom ranch home built. Sold the Ranger Tug now a 18' center console Grady White Fisherman. Got settled in the new home in late July. Much more time for boating this year; God willing and if the creek doesn't rise. :D How are you doing?

Dave
 
PaulNBriannaLynn":17w9009u said:
Its a great rig, we have the Honda ridgeline (same drivetrain) and its been very durable. As a tow rig it's going to need some helper springs or airbags fitted. I drop the tongue of our 22 onto the hitch and it buries the rear suspension. For that reason we've only used it to move the boat around the yard.
Click to expand...

Well that really says that the trailer probably has too much tongue weight and not really the fault of the tow vehicle. Cam you adjust the under carriage of your trailer a bit forward? Or do you have enough rear distance on your setup on the trailer that you can adjust the boat back a bit?
 
Red Knot":1ex695di said:
PaulNBriannaLynn":1ex695di said:
Its a great rig, we have the Honda ridgeline (same drivetrain) and its been very durable. As a tow rig it's going to need some helper springs or airbags fitted. I drop the tongue of our 22 onto the hitch and it buries the rear suspension. For that reason we've only used it to move the boat around the yard.
Click to expand...

Well that really says that the trailer probably has too much tongue weight and not really the fault of the tow vehicle. Cam you adjust the under carriage of your trailer a bit forward? Or do you have enough rear distance on your setup on the trailer that you can adjust the boat back a bit?
Click to expand...


That's very possible, but it would also mean every trailer I've hooked to this Ridgeline had the same issue, including uhaul rentals. I hook them all to my fullsize dodge pickup and the suspension doesn't even notice. Its not my main tow rig but if it was I'd add some helper springs to assist with it.
 
The Passport's owner manual shows a maximum tongue weight of 500 pounds with two people in the vehicle. Each additional occupant reduces max tongue weight by 25 pounds. Obviously any other additional cargo in the vehicle affects the tongue weight accordingly. To have the Max towing rating of 5000 pounds on a Passport it has to have all wheel drive and the towing package which includes a trans cooler. Our boat only weighs around 3300 pounds. I used to tow it behind a class C motor home that would only allow for 350 lbs. pounds of tongue weight while having a 5000 pound tow rating. I bought a Shearline hydraulic tongue weight scale as I wanted to be sure. I used blocks or a floor jack to sit the scale on and lowered the trailers ball receiver onto the jack while making sure the trailer tongue was level once the full weight was on the scale. It took a couple tries moving the single axle forward. I ended up sliding the axle forward about 6 inches to get the tongue weight down to less than the required 350 lb. maximum allowed. I took the boat and trailer down to a local boat ramp. I jacked up the trailer empty with a floor jack; loosened up the U bolts holding the axle and spring assembly to the trailer frame. Made marks with a sharpie on the trailer frame to keep both sides even. Then banged on the U bolts to walk the assembly along with a 3 pound hammer and a block of wood until it slid to where I wanted it. Then retightened. Put the boat back on the trailer and reweighed. The tongue weight scale goes from 0 to 1000 pounds. www.sherline.com/product-category/scales/ Our Ranger Tug weighed about 12k plus and I used this scale to get the tongue weight down to about 7% and it towed great. We pulled the R.T. round trip coast to coast it pulled great. You can also try moving the bow stop on the trailer forward or back to adjust the tongue weight. 7% of 5000 pounds = 350.
D.D.
 
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