Compare the2022 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2021 Honda Passport

Both the Santa Fe and Passport have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Passport’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Santa Fe are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Passport doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Passport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Santa Fe AWD’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Passport doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Passport only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Santa Fe has a standard cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Passport EX-L/Touring/Elite has a cross-path warning system.

The Santa Fe’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Passport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Santa Fe and the Passport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available all wheel drive.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Passport’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Honda covers the Passport. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Passport ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Passport’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Honda doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Passport.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Santa Fe has a standard 150-amp alternator. The Passport’s 130-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Santa Fe’s reliability 36 points higher than the Passport.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2020 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 10th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 24 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 19th, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai 7th in reliability, above the industry average. With 44 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 27th.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 1 more horsepower (281 vs. 280) and 49 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 262) than the Passport’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Hyundai Santa Fe higher (5 to 7 out of 10) than the Honda Passport (3). This means the Santa Fe produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Passport every 15,000 miles.

The Santa Fe offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Passport doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Passport:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the Passport:

The Santa Fe has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Passport’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is 1.9 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (37.4 feet vs. 39.3 feet). The Santa Fe’s turning circle is 2.1 feet tighter than the Passport’s (37.4 feet vs. 39.5 feet).

The Hyundai Santa Fe may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 150 to 300 pounds less than the Honda Passport.

The Santa Fe has 1.1 inches more front headroom, 3.2 inches more front legroom and 2.1 inches more rear legroom than the Passport.

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Santa Fe easier. The Santa Fe’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 29 inches, while the Passport’s liftover is 32 inches.

The Santa Fe’s cargo area is larger than the Passport’s in almost every dimension:

The Santa Fe uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Passport uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Passport doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Santa Fe’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Passport’s parking brake has to released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Santa Fe and the Passport have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Santa Fe is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Passport prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Passport’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The Santa Fe’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Passport’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Passport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.