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Anyone towing with a Honda Passport or Pilot?


Robmh

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Looking at buying a boat and really like the new A20’s. Only thing is we have a 2019 Honda passport that’s AWD rated for 5,000lbs and I’m not sure if it would work out. Trying to figure out if we should look for a lighter boat since getting another car isn’t an option right now. Anyone currently towing with a Honda?

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my wife drives a Pilot and my daily driver is a ridgeline.  I tow the boat,  RV, stock trailers , and equipment with a 2500HD.

towning any malibu with a Honda would be unsafe and would damage the tow vehicle.  Honda rigs are not set up to tow any weight regardless of what the manufacturer says.  a small fishing boat, maybe.  but the suspension and transmission would fail quickly pulling a heavy load. 

your A20 weighs 3500lbs dry.  add at least 500lbs of fuel and gear, and your trailer weighs approx 1500lbs, so you are way over the published GWVR of the Honda. 

if you have a 1 mile commute to the lake, on flat ground, on a not busy road, you could do it.  but I don't think either rig could pull the boat up a steep ramp.

some guys on here pull with midsize SUVs and make it work.  IMHO it scares the hell out of me when I see overloaded rigs going down the road.  

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We pull our Sunsetter with a 2013 AWD Pilot.  Boat is 2900 and trailer is 1100.   I have weighed them both.   I figure I’m 4300 with fuel and skis.  It pulls  it with no issues even out of steep ramps and up to 2 hour trips once and a while.  
 

I know it’s close to my max tow rating and it’s not ideal but no white knuckles.   Just be sure not to exceed your tow rating in case you are in an accident.   It seems the a20 will exceed it so I’m not sure I would do it.  

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A Pilot is actually a decent little tow vehicle as long as you are under the tow limits.  My Mother has one and she hauled our Am. Skier camping over passes on a number of occasions over the years when we were towing our TT.  She also tows a little pontoon boat with it (which is pretty light).  She closing in on 250k miles and no major mechanical issues so far.  But I know for a fact we were under the rated towing capacity as my Am. Skier and trailer loaded was 4400 lbs. and we did not load her full of peeps and gear.  Based on the numbers listed above, it looks like you might be over limits, especially if you add passengers and gear to the vehicle.

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My brother pulled his MC PS190 with an MDX and then a Ridgeline for 12 years. I agree they pull better than many in that segment. Even better than some older GM products we've owned with more rated capacity.

But I agree you will be over the rating and can't recommend it.

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Ive been towing my 01 vlx with an 06 pilot  for past 6 years. Pilot now has 220k miles. Weighed boat, trailer, gas and gear and have 4100 To 4200 pounds total. I only tow about 15 to 20 min one way most times. Take a few 100 mile tows a year. For those, I’d rather have a better tow vehicle. It is awd. That makes a difference on steep ramps and towing in the rain. You will get stuck or squirrelly without awd. Just saying a 06 pilot can tow 4200 pounds and live . I would not do it daily but for the summer weekend it does fine. Your situation may be different so verify the loaded boat/trailer weight. If within limits, try it, but know a better tow vehicle would be a a good idea if you can swing it. 

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