The news: Honda Canada announced on September 9, 2026 that the 2027 Passport TrailSport gets a reengineered suspension delivering 245mm (9.6 in.) of ground clearance, up 35mm from the 2026 model, plus 2° more approach and departure angle and 3° more breakover angle. Nearly 70% of the major suspension components — springs, dampers, control arms, stabilizer bars, knuckles — were redesigned, along with the front subframe and rear driveshafts, for a total of 28 new or reengineered chassis parts. Every TrailSport trim now gets the TrailWatch camera system standard (previously exclusive to the top Touring trim) and a heated steering wheel. The 2027 Passport TrailSport arrives at Canadian dealers later this Fall. Like every Passport, it's built at Honda's Alabama plant, not Alliston — Passport is one of Honda's imported models for the Canadian market. Honda Canada Newsroom
A 28-part chassis redesign is not a trim package — it's a real engineering investment, and it signals Honda sees TrailSport as a durable bet on the off-road SUV segment, not a one-time styling exercise. Honda's own release put the 245mm clearance number explicitly ahead of the Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium, Subaru Outback Wilderness and Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch — Honda picked that comparison list on purpose.
The TrailWatch camera going standard across all TrailSport trims (not just the top Touring) is the detail worth watching for a used-Passport buyer, too: it usually means the feature becomes the new baseline expectation across the lineup within a model cycle or two, the same way heated seats and wireless CarPlay did on CR-V.
My prediction: Honda Canada will publish a 2027 Pilot TrailSport spec sheet carrying at least 20mm of a comparable ground-clearance increase by March 22, 2027, because Honda has rolled shared TrailSport hardware across the Passport/Pilot/Ridgeline family within a single model cycle before, and Pilot is the closest platform-mate to get the update next. I will be wrong if the 2027 Pilot TrailSport spec sheet ships with unchanged 2026 suspension geometry.
If you're buying right now: if you're cross-shopping Passport TrailSport against a 4Runner or Bronco Sport and you actually go off-road, the 2027's real suspension work is worth the wait. If you don't, a leftover 2026 TrailSport will have more room to negotiate once the 2027s land — see the full breakdown in Passport TrailSport vs 4Runner vs Bronco Sport.
Quick answers
How much ground clearance does the 2027 Honda Passport TrailSport have?
245mm (9.6 inches), up 35mm from the 2026 model, per Honda Canada's September 9, 2026 announcement. Honda says that's more than the Toyota 4Runner TRD Off-Road Premium, Subaru Outback Wilderness and Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch.
Is the Honda Passport built in Canada?
No. The Passport, including TrailSport, is built exclusively at Honda's Alabama Auto Plant in Lincoln, Alabama — it's an imported model, unlike the Alliston-built Civic and CR-V.
When does the 2027 Passport TrailSport arrive at Canadian dealers?
Later this Fall 2026, according to Honda Canada. Exact on-sale date and Canadian pricing had not been published as of September 22, 2026.
Cross-shopping Passport TrailSport this Fall?
Tell me what you actually do off-road and I'll tell you whether the 2027 suspension work is worth waiting for, or whether a 2026 leftover is the smarter buy.
Henry Chen
Sales and Leasing Executive, Maple Honda
89 Auto Vaughan Dr, Maple, ON L6A 4A1
647-523-6878 · henry@maplehonda.com
Honda Canada Newsroom, September 9, 2026. Predictions are my personal read, not Honda Canada policy.
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