Compare the2023 Toyota Rav4VS 2023 Honda Passport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Rav4 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Passport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Toyota Rav4 has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Passport doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Rav4 has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies 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 Rav4 (except LE) offers optional Parking Assist with Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Passport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Rav4 Adventure/Limited AWD/TRD Off-Road’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The Passport doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.

The Rav4 Limited/TRD Off-Road offers an optional Bird’s Eye View Camera 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.

The Rav4’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 Rav4 and the Passport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Rav4 is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Rav4	Passport
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.4 inches	.6 inches
Leg Forces (l/r)	340/190 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 Toyota Rav4 is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Rav4	Passport
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	83	109
Chest Movement	.5 inches	.6 inches
Hip Force	246 lbs.	269 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	146	233
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	14 inches	15 inches
HIC	299	406
Spine Acceleration	36 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	835 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 Toyota Rav4 is safer than the Passport:

	Rav4	Passport
Overall Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	120	206
Neck Tension	134 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.47 in	.67 in
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	1093 lbs.	1339 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Torso	GOOD	MARGINAL
Shoulder Force	290 lbs.	335 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.83 in	2.05 in
Torso Deflection Rate	8 MPH	12 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	692 lbs.	759 lbs.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Rav4 is 1% to 1.9% less likely to roll over than the Passport.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Rav4 the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Passport last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

There are over 16 percent more Toyota dealers than there are Honda dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Rav4’s warranty.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Rav4’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 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in initial quality. With 11 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Toyota above average in long-term dependability. With 34 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota first in overall reliability. Honda is ranked fifth.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Rav4 gets better mileage than the Passport:

			MPG
Rav4
	FWD	XLE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
		LE/Limited 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/35 hwy
	AWD	LE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
		XLE 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/33 hwy
		Adventure/Limited 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	25 city/33 hwy
		TRD Off-Road 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	25 city/32 hwy
Passport
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/24 hwy

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Toyota Rav4 higher (6 out of 10) than the Honda Passport (3). This means the Rav4 produces up to 23.4 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Passport every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

The Rav4 stops much shorter than the Passport:

	Rav4	Passport
70 to 0 MPH	161 feet	181 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	120 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	140 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The Rav4 Adventure handles at .84 G’s, while the Passport Elite pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Rav4 Adventure executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Passport Elite (27.5 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Rav4 LE/XLE’s turning circle is 3.2 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (36.1 feet vs. 39.3 feet). The Rav4 XLE Premium/Adventure/Limited/TRD Off-Road’s turning circle is 1.9 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (37.4 feet vs. 39.3 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Rav4 LE/XLE has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Passport (8.4 vs. 8.1 inches), allowing the Rav4 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Rav4 XLE Premium/Limited/Adventure/TRD Off-Road’s minimum ground clearance is .5 inch higher than on the Passport (8.6 vs. 8.1 inches).

Chassis

The Toyota Rav4 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 550 to 850 pounds less than the Honda Passport.

The Rav4 is 8.2 inches shorter than the Passport, making the Rav4 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Rav4 is 5.5 inches narrower on average than the Passport, making the Rav4 easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The front grille of the Rav4 Adventure/Limited/TRD Off-Road uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Passport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver while at idle, the interior of the Rav4 Limited 4WD is quieter than the Passport Elite (38 vs. 39 dB).

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Rav4 easier. The Rav4’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 27.8 inches, while the Passport’s liftover is 32 inches.

Ergonomics

The Rav4’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 Rav4 and the Passport have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Rav4 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 Rav4’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 Rav4’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.

Model Availability

The Rav4 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 Toyota Rav4 and the Honda Passport, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Toyota Rav4 outsold the Honda Passport by almost 10 to one during 2022.