2019 Honda Passport vs. Chevy Blazer — Which Should Be Your Next Family SUV?

The rugged 2019 Honda Passport and sporty 2019 Chevrolet Blazer are two new intriguing SUVs that seem ripe for people looking for fun vehicles but have expanded passenger and cargo needs. Video hosts Alistair Weaver and Jonathan Elfalan have both recently become new dads and seek to determine which one is the better pick.

If there's anything the Blazer does well, it's make a style statement. Chevy adapted the aggressive muscle-car styling of its Camaro to a midsize family SUV, which makes the Blazer look sportier than anything in the class. The Blazer's interior is less impressive, plagued with design compromises that have functional drawbacks and obvious cost-reduction measures in the wrong places. And the price of our tester was steep, at over $50K.

The Passport doesn't share the exterior panache of the Blazer, but its cabin feels leagues better, both in quality and use of space. And although the Blazer could outpace the Passport by a small margin on most roads, the driving experience in the Passport is simply superior. With more space, more driving engagement, a smarter design, and more features for the money, the Honda Passport is not only a landslide favorite but also our top-ranked midsize SUV.

2019 Chevrolet Blazer Review

The 2019 Chevy Blazer is an all-new vehicle, but it's been around in several forms, dating back to the 1960s. In its most iconic form, it was a two-door SUV with a removable top. For 2019, the Blazer morphs into a five-seat crossover SUV that fills a gap in Chevy's lineup between the smaller Equinox and the three-row Traverse.

The new Blazer comes standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine good for 193 horsepower. It's an underwhelming mill for this size of SUV, so we'd go with the optional 3.6-liter V6. It puts out more than 300 hp and is capable of towing up to 4,500 pounds. On the inside, the Blazer offers a long list of available equipment such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, along with desirable safety features such as adaptive cruise control and forward collision mitigation.

The 2019 Blazer is available in four trim levels: L, Blazer (also called the LT), RS, and Premier. The L trim level is the base model, with a decent amount of standard equipment, including a few key tech items. You're more likely to find the next-level Blazer trim on dealer lots, however, and it comes in three subtrims: 2.5L Cloth, 3.6L Cloth and 3.6L Leather. They offer increasing amounts of safety equipment plus the upgraded engine. The Chevy Blazer RS has a sporty look with some unique exterior details, while the Premier is the most luxurious.

Read more about the Chevrolet Blazer: https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/blazer/2019/

2019 Honda Passport Review

The all-new Passport is a shorter and taller Honda Pilot, which is certainly a good place to start. The Pilot is one of our favorite three-row crossover SUVs. Because it's shorter, the Passport doesn't have a third-row seat as the Pilot does. Instead, it dedicates more interior space to its second-row passengers. Honda also made the Passport a little more off-road capable thanks to a higher ground clearance and better approach and departure angles.

Under the hood, the 2019 Honda Passport gets the same V6 engine and nine-speed automatic transmission that the Pilot uses. That V6 gives it 5,000 pounds of towing capability and strong unladen acceleration. We've been critical of the Pilot's nine-speed automatic in the past for clunky shifts. But with the Passport, Honda has seemed to have solved most of those issues.

The Passport is available in four trim levels: Sport, EX-L, Touring, and Elite. Every Passport comes with Honda's 3.5-liter V6 (280 hp, 262 lb-ft of torque) and a nine-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard on the Sport, EX-L and Touring. All-wheel drive is standard on the Elite and optional on the other three trim levels.

The topped-out Honda Passport Elite is certainly the most desirable trim level with its ventilated seats and LED interior lighting, but we recommend most buyers look at the midlevel EX-L first. The EX-L offers all the standard safety equipment of the base Sport trim plus extras such as blind-spot monitoring and heated front seats. The EX-L also gets the Passport's larger 8-inch center screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility.

Read more about the Honda Passport: https://www.edmunds.com/honda/passport/2019/