Compare the2026 Honda PassportVS 2025 Audi Q5 Sportback

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda Passport have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Audi Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Passport are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda Passport has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Passport deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Passport’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Q5 Sportback’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

With its standard Collision Mitigation Braking System, the Honda Passport is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Audi Q5 Sportback, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

	Passport	Q5 Sportback
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Crossing Child - DAY
12 MPH	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
	Crossing Adult - NIGHT
12 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-8 MPH
12 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	-1 MPH
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-13 MPH
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	-2 MPH
	Parallel Adult - NIGHT
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-2 MPH
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	No Slowing
37 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	No Slowing
Warning Issued-Brights	2.3 sec	No Warning
37 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	No Slowing
Warning Issued-Low beams	2 sec	No Warning

In a Vehicle-to-Vehicle Frontal Crash Prevention 2.0 test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the Honda Passport achieved a “Good” rating - the highest possible - for its performance in forward collision warning and automatic braking systems, demonstrating its excellent capabilities in preventing collisions. The Audi Q5 Sportback has not been tested.

The Honda Passport TrailSport Elite’s Multi-View Camera System is available with washers for its front and rear cameras, ensuring crystal-clear visibility in any weather condition. Conversely, the Audi Q5 Sportback only offers a rear camera washer, which may not provide the same level of all-weather performance.

Both the Passport and the Q5 Sportback have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH moderate front offset crash tests on new cars. In this updated test, results indicate that the Passport is much safer than the Q5 Sportback:

	Passport	Q5 Sportback
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Chest Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Thigh/hip Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Leg/foot Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
	Rear Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck Rating	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Thigh Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Restraints	GOOD	POOR

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Honda Passport is safer than the Q5 Sportback:

	Passport	Q5 Sportback
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	31	96
Neck Tension	112 lbs.	245 lbs.
Neck Compression	67 lbs.	89 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.67 in	.71 in
Torso Max Deflection	.59 in	.98 in
Torso Deflection Rate	5 MPH	5 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	335 lbs.	1116 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	101	346
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	223 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.71 in	1.73 in
Shoulder Force	335 lbs.	402 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	.75 in	1.54 in
Torso Deflection Rate	6 MPH	11 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	513 lbs.	1249 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

The Honda Passport has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Q5 Sportback is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2025.

Warranty

Honda’s powertrain warranty covers the Passport 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Audi covers the Q5 Sportback. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Q5 Sportback ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 3 times as many Honda dealers as there are Audi dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Passport’s warranty.

Reliability

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Passport’s reliability 51 points higher than the Q5 Sportback.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Passport second among midsize suvs in their 2025 Initial Quality Study. The Q5 Sportback isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 90 more problems per 100 vehicles, Audi is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Audi vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in long-term dependability. With 1 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Audi is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Audi vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda fourth in overall reliability. Audi is ranked 7th.

Engine

The Passport’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 24 more horsepower (285 vs. 261) than the Q5 Sportback’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

Fuel Economy and Range

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Passport’s fuel efficiency. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Passport uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Q5 Sportback requires premium for maximum efficiency, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The Passport has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Honda Passport higher (7 out of 10) than the Audi Q5 Sportback (4). This means the Passport produces up to 13.2 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Q5 Sportback every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Passport, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a seven-speed automatic is available for the Q5 Sportback.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Passport’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Q5 Sportback:

	Passport	Q5 Sportback
Front Rotors	13.8 inches	13.3 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Passport has larger standard tires than the Q5 Sportback (265/60R18 vs. 235/55R19). The Passport TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Q5 Sportback (275/60R18 vs. 255/45R20).

The Passport has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Passport offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Q5 Sportback; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Passport’s wheelbase is 2.6 inches longer than on the Q5 Sportback (113.6 inches vs. 111 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Passport is 4.4 inches wider in the front and 4.9 inches wider in the rear than on the Q5 Sportback.

Chassis

The front grille of the Passport uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Passport has 2.4 inches more front headroom, .2 inches more front legroom, 4.2 inches more front shoulder room, 3 inches more rear headroom, 2.9 inches more rear legroom and 5.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Q5 Sportback.

Cargo Capacity

The Passport has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Q5 Sportback with its rear seat up (44 vs. 24.7 cubic feet). The Passport has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Q5 Sportback with its rear seat folded (83.8 vs. 51.9 cubic feet).

Towing

The Passport’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Q5 Sportback’s (5000 vs. 4400 pounds).

Standard Trailer Stability Assist on the Passport uses the Vehicle Stability Assist sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Servicing Ease

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Honda service is better than Audi. J.D. Power ranks Honda 7th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 11% lower rating, Audi is ranked 18th.

Ergonomics

The Passport’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. An easy entry system costs extra on the Q5 Sportback.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Passport has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the Q5 Sportback only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

Compared to traditional radio, the Honda Passport’s standard SiriusXM satellite radio provides an unmatched listening experience. Its extensive coverage guarantees consistent, crystal-clear reception across the continental U.S., and access to over 100 channels dedicated to a multitude of genres, including music, news, sports, talk shows, and comedy, many with only limited commercial breaks. Satellite radio costs extra on the Q5 Sportback.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Honda Passport has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Q5 Sportback Premium Plus/Prestige offers wireless charging.

The Passport TrailSport has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Q5 Sportback doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends the Honda Passport, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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