2020 Honda Passport vs 2021 Ford Edge

The 2020 Honda Passport was a quintessential Honda, featuring familiar parts and aesthetics that appealed to loyal Honda buyers. Its exterior design suggested a blend between the larger Honda Pilot and the smaller CR-V, giving it a rugged and athletic look. The Passport came in four trims: Sport, EX-L, Touring, and Elite, with the Elite trim offering a host of premium features like a scratch-resistant matte black grille, 20-inch black alloy wheels, and a leather-trimmed heated steering wheel. The interior was sophisticated, with a mix of durable and soft-touch materials, and it provided ample space and comfort, especially in the Elite trim.

In contrast, the 2021 Ford Edge retained much of its styling from the 2019 refresh, which successfully integrated Ford's current design language with the existing Edge body. The Edge Titanium featured extra chrome accents, while the Edge ST had a blacked-out grille and sporty body kit. Inside, the Edge's design showed its age, despite updates to accommodate new features like a larger touchscreen. The Titanium trim offered leather upholstery, and the ST trim had sporty front seats with added bolstering. Overall, the Edge's interior was functional but less fresh compared to its exterior.

The 2020 Honda Passport was powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine producing 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque, paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission. This setup provided sufficient power for various driving situations, although fuel economy was a weak point, with FWD models achieving 20 mpg city and 25 mpg highway, and AWD models slightly lower. The Passport excelled in off-road conditions, thanks to its higher ground clearance and torque-vectoring AWD system, which could send 70% of engine torque to the rear axle. It also offered Snow, Sand, and Mud drive modes and could tow up to 5,000 pounds with the available towing package.

The 2021 Ford Edge offered two engine options: a 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder with 250 horsepower and 275 pound-feet of torque, and a performance-oriented 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6 in the Edge ST, producing 335 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque. The Edge ST came with standard AWD and an eight-speed automatic transmission, along with model-specific suspension tuning. The Edge's towing capacity varied, with the base FWD model capable of towing 3,958 pounds, the AWD four-cylinder model 4,122 pounds, and the V6-powered Edge ST 4,525 pounds. While the Edge ST aimed to compete with performance SUVs, it fell short of the Porsche Macan but still offered a refined driving experience.

The 2020 Honda Passport was all about practicality. Its size, slightly larger than the CR-V, provided good visibility and spacious seating for four adults. The Passport featured height-adjustable seatbelts, three full LATCH connections in the second row, and ample knee- and legroom. The SUV offered 41.2 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and the most under-floor storage in its class. The interior included thoughtful storage solutions, like a large center console and secondary shelf space in the front doors. Heating and cooling functionalities were effective, and the available tri-zone automatic climate control and second-row sunshades added to passenger comfort.

The 2021 Ford Edge remained competitive in interior space, offering the most rear-seat headroom among two-row midsize crossovers and ample legroom. It provided 39.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seats in place and 73.4 cubic feet with them folded. Higher trim levels featured a foot-activated power liftgate. The Edge's rotary shift knob freed up some center console space, but the narrow console width limited its usefulness. The raised console allowed for a storage nook below, though it was difficult to reach and easy to forget about.

The 2020 Honda Passport's base Sport model came with a 5.0-inch display, while higher trims featured an 8.0-inch Display Audio infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration. The larger screen was responsive and easy to navigate, though the dashboard design felt a bit outdated. Standard features included Bluetooth, a USB port, and a seven-speaker audio system, with higher trims offering a 10-speaker audio system, satellite radio, additional USB ports, a wireless phone charger, and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

The 2021 Ford Edge was equipped with Ford's latest Sync 4 infotainment system, featuring a 12-inch touchscreen and standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Other standard tech included Bluetooth, SiriusXM with 360L satellite radio, and a built-in 4G LTE WiFi hotspot. The Edge ST models boasted a 12-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system. The Edge also had four USB ports, including two rear USB ports added for the 2021 model year. Sync 4's simple graphics and straightforward menu layouts made it user-friendly.

The 2020 Honda Passport prioritized safety, earning good scores from the IIHS and NHTSA, and being named an IIHS Top Safety Pick. It came standard with the Honda Sensing suite, which included collision mitigation braking, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control. Higher trims offered additional features like dynamic gridlines for the rearview camera, blind-spot monitoring, parking sensors, and rear cross-traffic detection.

The 2021 Ford Edge was also an IIHS Top Safety Pick, scoring top ratings in most crash tests and front crash prevention tech. However, it received lower ratings for vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention, LATCH child-seat anchor ease of use, and headlights. The NHTSA gave the Edge a five-star overall safety rating. Standard safety features under the Ford Co-Pilot360 banner included automatic high beams, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, post-collision braking, dynamic brake support, and rear parking sensors. Adaptive cruise control and Evasive Steering Assist were standard on all but the base trim.