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S6E66 — Extreme Off-Road School Day with the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport
S6E66 — Extreme Off-Road School Day with the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport
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About this episode
Exploring the capabilities of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport, this episode features insights from Honda experts Jody Suzuki and Pete Langsa during an off-road training session in North Carolina. They discuss the rigorous development process behind the vehicle, highlighting its advanced features like the Trail Watch system and the importance of off-road training for both employees and potential customers. Listeners will learn about the vehicle's design, performance, and the effort Honda puts into ensuring its off-road capabilities, making it an intriguing dive into the world of off-roading.
Topics:
off-road training
honda passport trailsport
vehicle capabilities
product development
customer experience
suspension and tires
recovery techniques
trail watch system
design engineering
customer feedback
In this episode, we head to the Overland Experts Driving School for an advanced off-roading lesson behind the wheel of the 2026 Honda Passport TrailSport — now the most rugged and capable Passport ever built.
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"...e learning today, we're sitting here in the Honda Passport Trail Sport, the very special place. Where we are..."
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We're learning today, we're sitting here in the Honda Passport Trail Sport, the very special place. Where we are. We are in North Carolina.
I don't even know that name of the town. It's Ashboro, right?
Ashboro is the larger town north, but there's a very small town.
Nobody knows. This is Troy. This is the Grand Overland District. So we hear different voices here.
And so we are here with Honda as a guest to learn about the off-road school that they have their employees go through and I'm hoping we can drag it out of the two guests.
They'll eventually have customers come and do this because I think they would love that. So we have Jody Suzuki, who is product planner.
And Pete Langsa. And you are the head trainer for the off-road school.
That's right. So this is really interesting because here we have the two of the...
Honda experts. No, and important aspects of the development of a car because like people don't see the work that they do.
I mean, people getting through the car, they turn it on, like, oh, this ride's fine, but they don't know how many hours you put to design the skid plate for example.
Well, Pete's really into that.
So my job at Honda isn't just training, but also to teach everybody about off-road so they can make better products for Honda.
And my background is engineering. Yeah, just everything that we develop takes years and years of activity, reiterations of redesign, redesign.
Yeah.
That's cool. And you get to play out here every day.
I get to work here. Yes.
And Jody, you're the product planner, so you decide what's getting put in people's cars.
That's right. So I work on trims and features and I work with the engineers to talk about the things that we want to potentially put in the vehicles and offer to our customers.
So the drill sports, the newest of the...
And the most capable now. And the most capable.
That's right. So we're actually in the Trail Sport Elite.
It's a Elite.
Yes. So this is the first time we're offering the Trail Sport Elite on a vehicle.
And what does that include? Can you tell us?
So the Trail Sport Elite has all the creature comforts that a customer might be looking for.
So for example, it has a 12 speaker premium Bose audio.
It has ventilated seats in the front.
It has heated seats in the rear.
And some other things that someone who wants the capability as well as those convenience features.
That's what I want.
I want to offer it all.
And all of the things that be developed for the roading, right?
That's right.
Yeah, this vehicle in this trim, you get the Trail Watch system as well.
It's not in the base Trail Sport. It's only in the Elite version.
Oh, that's good.
And that includes the camera.
The crystal clear cameras.
The main thing is the crystal clear cameras and the gauges that are in the meter.
So we're not going to make justice to that two-hour incline in room session.
We need to learn about the basics.
Or the four hours that we drove.
But tell us a little bit about what makes a better overall driver.
What makes a better off-road driver is someone who decides driving a passport.
Of course.
Oh, thanks.
Elite, yeah.
Someone who can stay calm and constantly be assessing the terrain and being able to place,
then place the vehicle accurately in order to drive the terrain in the safest way possible.
You know, it's interesting.
Is someone I've used to driving fast cars, not slow cars.
So for me, the car control has always been the thing.
And you guys took the time to explain to us about tires and suspension and differential.
And all the things that I don't think the average person even thinks about.
And if you're an off-roader, you get it.
But it's good that it's here because what we've learned is that Honda puts this type of effort in.
I don't know if every brand does that.
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But I think they just kind of put the stuff on it and go, yeah, me too.
But it's interesting that Honda puts this type of effort into the passport
and I think that's what customers really need to know.
There's a group of us now within the company.
So Jody and myself, Eric Scott, we're all part of a group that is really trying to build the knowledge in the company.
But also provide legitimate performance and legitimate features that the customer needs.
We're teaching both our counterparts in the US as well as our counterparts in Japan.
What that is as well right now.
Yeah. Jody, you, I mean, everybody's so training the industry since the pandemic.
I guess people wanted more more capacity in their cars, right?
And that's why I guess you're doing these extra efforts to put these things in.
That's right. So part of my position is understanding the customer what they're using their vehicles
for what they potentially want to use them for and have the confidence in doing.
So that's where we really want to focus on providing that confidence to our customer through capabilities
and protection and safety through our vehicles.
So with the trail sport elite, this is like the best of everything.
What percentage and we always have this conversation on journalists.
What percentage of people are actually taking this off road?
Not aggressively off road, but just off road in general.
So sorry.
So for this customer, how many people do you think drive their Wranglers off road?
Probably not, man.
No, that's a great answer to that.
Or the defenders of the G-wagon.
The other ideas I had to go through Starbucks and they made me drive on the dirt.
But that made dissuade companies from trying to get into this market.
But what we identified is the small percentage of people who take their vehicles off road
influence the rest of the buying market.
The people want the Wranglers so that they have that kind of cachet, that heritage of the off road vehicles.
So if we can do that and make that customer happy, then we get normal people to drive the car in larger volumes.
But at the same time, we're going to try to encourage them to drive the vehicle in off-road areas
because we see such a large value in them getting that life experience.
Because of the beautiful things that you see, the exciting experiences that you have,
which is why it's so important to have good performance and protection like Jody said.
I think it'd be interesting if you get consumers in the cars to see this.
Maybe not at this intensity level.
But maybe just a one day school where they could come and see its capabilities.
I think they'd be more likely to say, you know what?
Let's try that trail of the local park.
Let's go camping or let's do it.
Because I mean, you offer a full line of trail sports across the full handle line up.
So really all of them?
Not all of them.
Not every single one.
No, not the RDC.
Right now.
No, not.
We have a passport as well as pilot, ridge line and CRB.
We all have varying levels of trail sport capabilities and lifestyle support for those different customers.
And they all look good.
I think part of it is the look.
They look good.
The orange detail.
Here in the seats.
Yeah, that's the first.
Yeah.
It looks good.
But I think if you get people in the car to see its capabilities, it'd be even more enthusiastic as I'm coming.
So that's something we recognize as well.
And we're trying to do as much as we can to get the company to support that type of activity.
We're also trying to build.
This is a team that's done a lot more after the development than most other development teams.
So we've worked very, very closely with PR and marketing to make sure that the videos you guys see in the commercials reflect the vehicle in doing real things.
Not just shooting them out up in the air and stuff, but driving in technical situations to show that it's actually capable.
And we're going to continue to do more things like that.
So customers actually start to associate our vehicle with that type of adventure.
So during our two hour class this morning, you went through five main points.
Can you go briefly through them?
Yeah, there are five main systems that we teach.
And this is similar to other industry off road driver training classes.
There are four mechanical systems that we need to understand in order to manipulate your vehicle properly off road.
The first is powertrain braking.
The second is the tire.
The powertrain braking job is forward forward and reverse momentum and movement.
The tire's job is to put that power to the ground.
The third is the suspension.
The suspension's job is to keep the tire on the ground so that both the powertrain and the tire can do their job.
The fourth is body protection and recovery.
That means the dimensions of the vehicle to go through the train,
making sure that the areas that are vulnerable to contact are protected.
And then if we're letting customers, we're suggesting to customers that they go off road,
we make sure that they have a way to be recovered if they do get a little too adventurous and get stuck.
And then the driver, the attitude of the driver,
which is very important.
Like don't think that you know a lot or you know everything right?
Just always be modest about what you know and try not to.
You should try to learn things, but don't go beyond your capability that puts you in harm's way.
Yeah, I think experiencing what the car is capable of is really impressive.
The super handling all will drive.
You know, we've all heard it.
We've seen it on your cars for a long time,
but actually experiencing it off road is when you really can see the difference.
So, Jody, can you tell us a little bit about the price range?
Obviously, this is the top of the line.
So, yes.
But how far down it goes the price?
So, we have three trims, that's RTL,
and then we have the base trail sport, and then we have trail sport, Uli.
So, the RTL is the base.
But more or less pricing.
Remember, tell your head average.
40s.
40s to 50s.
Yeah, which is pretty amazing for the capability of the vehicle, right?
Yes.
And it's very competitive pricing within our segment.
Yes.
I have the pricing.
Oh my god.
He has it.
He has it.
He has it.
It brings from $43,850 to the top trim level.
Well, actually, the black edition is the top trim level.
Oh, really?
But the base sport is $46,450.
Wow.
That's a lot for you.
That is a lot for you.
My name is considering the competition.
I know.
That's a lot of value.
And what it's capable of doing,
and what it really impressed me this morning also,
besides all the knowledge of all the experts,
it's how many systems go?
I mean, you went briefly through the five points,
but like, you pay attention to even the support for the skid plate
and where you protect and where you don't protect.
I mean, tell us a little bit about how much work it takes
to put the car together like this.
It's a little bit of work.
A little?
Yeah.
But at first began with education and understanding what's important.
So we spent years and years making lots of mistakes
so that we could figure out everything that needed to be protected.
Not just protected, when I say protected,
it doesn't mean like skid plates,
but everything that needed to be designed a certain way
in order to have off-road performance that's high quality.
And doing it at the same time without suffering
with the onrode performance,
because we always want to keep that DNA.
Yeah.
The other interesting thing about these plays
is that you train the engineers.
And we were talking about going through the theory of it,
but then put them here through this,
so they can understand what they need to develop
and then like transfer that information to you
to put into the customer's hands, right?
Yeah.
So part of my role is to work with the engineers.
And then I also work very closely with PR and marketing
to convey what the development intention was
and that kind of goes into the messaging
that the customers receive in the end.
In terms of that of the final product,
I mean, I think with all the respect that your Joe is like
the most challenging because you have to, like,
not fight, but argue with design engineering.
There's a very passionate.
Yeah.
Well done.
Everyone is trying to achieve something different
in their area.
And then you have limits, right?
Like regulations?
Yes.
Well, price is always a limit.
For us sites.
But also in engineering and designing,
regulations, safety regulations,
where you put the cameras,
where you put all those things out,
there's so many little...
There's a lot of things to balance.
There are a lot of passionate discussions,
like along to the multiple vehicles like this.
And lots of meetings.
Yeah, I know.
Lots of meetings.
I'm sure.
And that's the thing.
I mean, it's always surprising to me how people just
get into their car, turn it on.
Like turn it on.
Don't think about it.
I even know what they drive after that.
Exactly.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Even before driving, just turn it on,
put in the volume knob.
Thank you again for that.
Yeah.
That's what's really hard for them.
This was so important.
I know.
A little, a little, a little thing like that.
But I mean, customers want what they need
or they think they need, right?
Well, I think customer feedback is really important.
Honda's been really good about taking feedback
and putting it into the car.
Not every brand does.
Just so you know,
you may think that every brand would,
but they do not.
So we appreciate the fact that you put the volume dial in
because everybody asked for it.
Exactly.
So you won your war.
So what was that most impressive thing for you,
learned today?
I think that, you know,
we've all done off-road.
You and I have done off-road all around the world.
Yeah.
Literally every brand that does off-road.
But I'm really impressed with the passport
because if you had asked me before coming here,
I would say, yeah, I could off-road it.
But I would have never thought it was this capable.
So I think that is a huge improvement.
And this vehicle is running for North American SUV of the year.
Yeah.
So.
We're going to both for that.
Yeah.
I mean, I have to say and I told our instructors
before we came here that like you,
I saw it.
I said, okay, that's cool.
But once you try it in these conditions
because when we go to these events,
they prepare the off-road trail.
Yeah.
We really care for it.
But this is the real thing.
This is where you develop the car.
I mean, this is no nothing.
You're taking the vehicle way further
than we ever expect the customer to take in us.
Yeah.
And which is amazing.
We don't like not everybody has access.
So we heard also that we are the first one
outside the company to do this.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah, we're honored.
Huge privilege to do that.
So thank you very much for that.
Yeah.
I don't know.
We have another day of this.
I know.
Well, the other part.
The more.
The recovery part of it.
Tell us about that.
Because that's important.
You want to get out,
but you're going to get in trouble eventually, right?
Yeah.
That's exciting.
You need to be prepared.
Not just for the terrain,
but in the eventuality that you're going to get stuck.
And just succumb to the fact that you're going to get stuck.
Yeah.
You stay calm.
You just do the problem-solving.
So we teach very heavily all of the standard recovery equipment
that can be offered.
How do you properly use that equipment?
And then how do you go through a recovery process?
And we start very simply.
And we keep making it more and more complicated to show you
all the different variations that you can have in recovery
so that your imagination is only the limit.
So that's important with any off-road vehicle
a bit to learn how to do the recovery.
And the fact that you have some proprietary tow hooks
and some really neat stuff that we're going to get to play with.
So it'll be good.
Yeah, definitely.
Exciting.
Well, thank you very much for this amazing opportunity, really.
I mean, like, nobody can do it.
Yeah, it's wonderful.
Yeah, it's great.
We do appreciate it.
Thanks for having us out and educating us on your expertise
and your passion.
Yeah.
And of course, the passion on the product cloud as well.
And congratulations.
And a really, really nice product.
Yeah.
Very good.
Now everyone needs to go out and test drive one off-road.
Yeah, off-road.
Please.
I'm sure the salesperson loves that.
And many of that must have been in the village too.
Well, thank you.
Yeah, thank you.
Thank you guys.
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can change everything.
And you, who loves the podcasts, you know what that is?
That's why we save your messages.
Does that mean a lot?
For me, if we need animals in the parties,
be here and call.
Marisol, listen to your voice and feel like you're at home.
And if I need to tell someone, call Eric.
It's my best friend.
Listen to him.
It's like a book that I didn't know he needed.
AT&T knows that these parties are perfect to share your voice.
If you have time without calling someone, it's the moment.
Because more than a conversation,
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Connect everything.
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