1994 Honda Passport Review (continued)
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Walkaround

At first blush, the Passport evokes memories from 10 or 15 years ago when we saw this kind of brawny vehicle bouncing through the African bush in the pages of National Geographic. The Passport definitely conveys rugged, sport utility, all-terrain stance and attitude. At the same time, however, its engineers clearly paid attention to styling: The rounded edges, sloping hood and flared fenders effect as much of an aerodynamic-flow feeling as you'd want in a vehicle niche where the major selling points are no-nonsense functionality and hard-nosed durability.

Other form-meets-function, body design elements on our test Passport included flared wheel trim-moldings, chrome front and rear bumpers, alloy wheels, a front bumper guard and recessed door handles. A fuel tank skidplate is standard on all models, and the LX and EX are also equipped with a front skidplate under the radiator area.

In the rear, the two-piece tailgate comprised an upper sashless window, which was suspended by gas-filled struts, and a lower gate that employed torsion-bar springs to aid in lowering and closing. An air-deflector at the upper rear edge of the roof helped keep the rear window free from rain, snow and road sludge. A high-mounted center stoplight projected a rearward beam whether the tailgate was up or down.

The spare tire was mounted on a sturdy hinged bracket that opened to the left for more convenient curbside cargo loading. A cam-and-lock mechanism kept the door open during loading and unloading. We liked the heft of the lower gate-when it's down, it's down. We weren't as thrilled, however, with the awkward placement of the rear windshield wiper arm: When closing the gate, there's a very real likelihood of accidentally grabbing-and even bending---the wiper.

Interior Features

Our Passport's padded instrument panel boasted an easily readable complement of gauges. The full-sweep tachometer and speedometer were surrounded by oil pressure, coolant and fuel gauges, all of which illuminated during start-up. The gear shift, parking brake lever and console were easily reachable to the right, as were the mirror-adjusting and mirror-heating switches. Lighting controls were to the left, and the cruise-control switch sprouted from the right side of the steering column.

Reclining front bucket seats were quite comfortable and went back far enough to allow our tall driver to extend his arms and drive comfortably. But the Passport didn't cheat our rear passengers in order to provide that front-seat spaciousness: Three adults could easily ride in the backseat without worrying about an elbow in the ribs. The 38-inch clearance afforded ample headroom in both the front and rear, and the rear bench seat could be folded flat or split 60/40 for varying storage requirements.

One caveat, however: The front-door armrests, which housed the power-window controls, protruded into our legroom area. Several times, our test driver banged his left knee against this housing.