So I bought the 2019 Passport Touring and added the dealer installed towing package. With this, vehicle should be able to tow up to 5,ooo lbs without difficulty. Well I'm here to say, it was an epic failure.
I was towing my Aluma trailer (916 lbs) and my Indian Chieftan Limited (834 lbs), along with my wife and I (400 lbs on HIGH side), luggage (200 lbs, again, HIGH side) and bicycle (17lbs). So total, 2,367 lbs. I'll say i'm off a little on luggage and go to 2,400 lbs for arguments sake. This stated I was WELL UNDER the 5,000 lb max capacity.
We began our trip along some county 2 lane roads, max speed about 45-50 mph. PP engine did ok, but not stellar. The really disconcerting thing was the braking and the "floating" front end I encountered, along with when hitting any type of larger bump, the feeling of the vehicle being "pulled backwards" or temporarily losing forward momentum.
We made it to the highway finally and while accelerating to get on the PP could barely get up to speed quick enough to merge safely. While moving along finally at about 60-65 mph the engine seemed to start to struggle, those bumps that caused the lost momentum feeling got real bad and the floating sensation of steering became much worse. Braking, well it felt as though the trailer was really pushing us and hard braking was necessary, even more so when someone would cut into my "safety zone" between myself and the car in front of me.
Well, after about 40-50 miles my wife stated to me that she couldn't handle the unsafe feeling of the vehicle towing any longer, and I had to agree with her. We found a Ram dealer and that first day of towing (with this vehicle) and our first day of vacation was ruined. I traded in the PP for a 19 Ram.
The punch in the gut on the trade in price, and the feeling of betrayal by Honda for stating that this vehicle is capable of such a task was overwhelming. I will never purchase a foreign vehicle again, nor will I purchase a SUV for ANY towing needs ever again. It was that large of a disappointment for me.
If you are purchasing this vehicle to tow with, be warned. If you are purchasing this vehicle to tow the "max" with, I pray for your safety as I don't truly think it is capable of this, especially over any long distance. Honda, IMO has truly misrepresented this vehicles abilities when it comes to towing so it could sell them to this segment, and should be ashamed of themselves for it.
