Compare the2024 Subaru ForesterVS 2023 Honda Passport

Safety
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Forester 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 Subaru Forester 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 Forester has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Passport doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Forester (except Base/Premium) offers optional Reverse 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 Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Passport doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Forester Touring’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 Forester 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, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors 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 Subaru Forester is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Forester	Passport
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	23%	28%
Neck Compression	22 lbs.	36 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	31%	35%
Leg Forces (l/r)	105/93 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 Subaru Forester is safer than the Honda Passport:

	Forester	Passport
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	66	109
Chest Movement	.6 inches	.6 inches
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	121	406
Spine Acceleration	40 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	673 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 Subaru Forester is safer than the Passport:

	Forester	Passport
Overall Evaluation	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Structure	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	107	206
Neck Tension	223 lbs.	335 lbs.
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	1071 lbs.	1339 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Tension	45 lbs.	178 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	MARGINAL
Torso Max Deflection	1.26 in	2.05 in
Torso Deflection Rate	8 MPH	12 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Pelvis Force	625 lbs.	759 lbs.

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 Forester the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 54 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Passport last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Forester’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 rated the Forester third among compact suvs in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The Passport isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 5 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated lower.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are more reliable than Honda With 4 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Subaru higher than Honda.

Engine

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Forester lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability without compromising ground clearance. The Passport doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

Fuel Economy and Range

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

		MPG
Forester
	2.5 DOHC flat-4	26 city/33 hwy
	Wilderness 2.5 DOHC flat-4	25 city/28 hwy
Passport
	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/24 hwy

Environmental Friendliness

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

Transmission

The Forester has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Passport doesn’t offer a CVT.

Brakes and Stopping

The Forester stops much shorter than the Passport:

	Forester	Passport
70 to 0 MPH	167 feet	181 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	117 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	138 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Forester Wilderness has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Passport; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

The Forester Touring handles at .83 G’s, while the Passport Elite pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Forester Limited executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Passport Elite (27.3 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Forester’s turning circle is 3.9 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (35.4 feet vs. 39.3 feet).

Chassis

The Subaru Forester may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 650 to 800 pounds less than the Honda Passport.

The Forester is 6.4 inches shorter than the Passport, making the Forester easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Forester is 6.9 inches narrower on average than the Passport, making the Forester easier to handle and maneuver in traffic.

The front grille of the Forester 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.

Passenger Space

The Forester has 1.7 inches more front headroom and 2.4 inches more front legroom than the Passport.

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Forester easier. The Forester’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28.5 inches, while the Passport’s liftover is 32 inches.

Servicing Ease

The engine in the Forester is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Passport. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because there are no rear spark plugs and the accessory belts are in front.

Ergonomics

The Forester’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.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Forester Premium/Sport/Wilderness/Limited/Touring’s exterior PIN entry system. The Passport doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its HondaLink Assist can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Forester has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Passport doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Forester’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.

Recommendations

Both are recommended, but Consumer Reports® chose the Subaru Forester as its “Top Pick,” the highest scoring vehicle in its category, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Subaru Forester outsold the Honda Passport by almost three to one during 2022.