Compare the2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross SportVS 2023 Honda Passport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Recommendations

Safety

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The Atlas Cross Sport has standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Passport doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Atlas Cross Sport offers optional Maneuver Braking 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 Atlas Cross Sport 4Motion’s standard Hill Descent Assist allows you to creep down safely. The Passport doesn’t offer Hill Descent Assist.

The Atlas Cross Sport SEL Premium R-Line has a standard Area View 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.

Both the Atlas Cross Sport and the Passport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and lane departure warning systems.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Atlas Cross Sport	Passport
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Leg Forces (l/r)	297/97 lbs.	478/436 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Atlas Cross Sport	Passport
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	48	109
Chest Movement	.5 inches	.6 inches
Abdominal Force	64 lbs.	101 lbs.
Hip Force	215 lbs.	269 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	208	233
Spine Acceleration	35 G’s	42 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	15 inches
HIC	309	406
Spine Acceleration	41 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	594 lbs.	838 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport is much safer than the Passport:

	Atlas Cross Sport	Passport
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	42	206
Neck Tension	156 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Torso Max Deflection	1.1 in	1.22 in
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	5 MPH
Pelvis Force	1205 lbs.	1339 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	163	206
Torso	GOOD	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	.43 in	.94 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.54 in	2.05 in
Torso Deflection Rate	10 MPH	12 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Warranty

The Atlas Cross Sport comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Passport’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Atlas Cross Sport’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Passport’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

The Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the Passport’s engine uses an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Atlas Cross Sport’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Passport’s camshafts. If the Passport’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Volkswagen vehicles are more reliable than Honda With 13 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Volkswagen higher than Honda.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Atlas Cross Sport gets better mileage than the Passport:

			MPG
Atlas Cross Sport
	FWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	21 city/25 hwy
	AWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/24 hwy
Passport
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/24 hwy

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Atlas Cross Sport’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Passport:

	Atlas Cross Sport	Passport
Front Rotors	13.2 inches	12.6 inches

The Atlas Cross Sport’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Passport are solid, not vented.

The Atlas Cross Sport stops much shorter than the Passport:

	Atlas Cross Sport	Passport
60 to 0 MPH	125 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	134 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Atlas Cross Sport SEL Premium R-Line has standard 21-inch wheels. The Passport’s largest wheels are only 20-inches.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Atlas Cross Sport’s wheelbase is 6.4 inches longer than on the Passport (117.3 inches vs. 110.9 inches).

The Atlas Cross Sport’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (57% to 43%) than the Passport’s (58.5% to 41.5%). This gives the Atlas Cross Sport more stable handling and braking.

The Atlas Cross Sport SEL 4Motion handles at .81 G’s, while the Passport Elite pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Atlas Cross Sport SEL 4Motion executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Passport Elite (27.4 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

Passenger Space

The Atlas Cross Sport has .8 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more rear legroom and .7 inches more rear hip room than the Passport.

Servicing Ease

The Atlas Cross Sport 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.

Ergonomics

The Atlas Cross Sport’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Passport’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Atlas Cross Sport and the Passport have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Atlas Cross Sport 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 Atlas Cross Sport’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 Atlas Cross Sport’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Passport’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Atlas Cross Sport SEL to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Passport doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Atlas Cross Sport’s available headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Passport’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Atlas Cross Sport offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Passport doesn’t offer cornering lights. The Atlas Cross Sport SEL Premium R-Line also has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

The Atlas Cross Sport’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 Atlas Cross Sport SEL Premium R-Line’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Passport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

The Atlas Cross Sport is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Passport doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and the Honda Passport, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Volkswagen Atlas outsold the Honda Passport by over two to one during the 2022 model year.

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