2026 Nissan Murano vs Honda Passport

The Murano opens below the Passport, and its top grade still lands below the Passport's. The 2026 Murano SV launched at $41,670 against the Passport RTL's $44,950, a $3,280 gap, and the Murano Platinum at $49,800 against the TrailSport Elite's $52,650.

Nissan sells the Murano in 3 grades. Honda sells the Passport in 7, but 3 of those are Blackout appearance versions of the other 4, adding black alloy wheels and dark exterior accents without changing anything mechanical. The 4 Passport rows below are the ones that change what you get.

MSRP at launch, 2026 model year, excluding destination. Every grade listed is all-wheel drive.

Our 2026 Nissan Murano overview takes the 3 Murano grades one at a time. Our Nissan specials change monthly, so see our new Nissan offers.

These two engines land close on one number and part company on everything else. Torque, the twisting force that gets a loaded vehicle moving, comes out nearly even between them. From there they split: the Murano's turbocharged 4-cylinder uses less fuel, and the Passport's V6 makes more power and pulls more weight.

The Passport's V6 makes 44 more horsepower than the Murano's turbo four. The torque figures sit 2 lb-ft apart, which is nothing. What you feel instead is where each engine does its best work: the Murano's peak torque lands at 4,400 rpm and the Passport's at 5,000, so the Nissan pulls hardest low in the rev range and the Honda rewards a heavier right foot. Our Nissan engine lineup shows how the variable-compression turbo is put together.

Mileage runs the Murano's way on every measure: 2 to 3 mpg combined, and as much as 4 mpg on the highway against the TrailSport grades and their all-terrain tires.

Towing is the widest gap on this page. Every Passport grade is rated to pull 5,000 pounds once it is equipped with a Class III hitch and harness: the hitch itself plus the wiring that runs the trailer's lights. The base RTL leaves the lot with neither piece fitted. The RTL Towing grade costs $700 more and has both fitted at the factory; from the TrailSport up it is standard equipment.

If your summer involves a boat headed for Geist Reservoir, 5,000 pounds decides it on its own and nothing else here will change your mind. If it involves a small utility trailer for mulch and yard waste, the Murano's 1,500-pound rating covers you, and you keep the mileage.

The two are within an inch and a half of each other in overall length, then separate on most of the rest. The Passport is 79.4 inches wide against the Murano's 78.0, 73.1 inches tall against 67.9, and rides a 113.6-inch wheelbase, 2.4 inches longer than the Murano's 111.2. That wheelbase is what the back seat feels: the Passport gives second-row passengers 40.9 inches of leg room against the Murano's 36.3. Ground clearance is identical at 8.3 inches, which surprises anyone who assumes the taller SUV sits higher off the pavement.

With ground clearance matched, the Passport's extra height goes into the body rather than into ride height. At 67.9 inches and 4,290 pounds against 73.1 inches and at least 4,478, the Murano is the easier one to put under a low garage door, and the Passport is the bigger object to thread into a tight space. Which of those you notice depends on your garage. Neither offers a third row at any grade, so if you need one, that is a different shopping trip.

Screens and phone mirroring cover much the same ground on both sides. Every Passport grade comes standard with a 12.3-inch touchscreen, a 10.2-inch digital cluster, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, and a Wi-Fi hotspot. The Murano runs NissanConnect with Amazon Alexa built-in, and lists a 12.3-inch color display, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, and Google built-in as available equipment. What actually separates them is their status: the Honda set is standard on every grade, and Nissan calls its own set available.

Where the two genuinely separate on technology is the surround-view camera, the overhead parking view stitched from cameras around the body. The Murano's arrives at the SL, the middle rung of a 3-grade line, while the Passport's waits for the TrailSport Elite at the top of a longer one. That fits how Honda spaces this lineup out: the screens and connectivity come standard on the entry RTL, and a Bose 12-speaker system and that camera wait for the top of the line. If the overhead view for parallel parking matters to you, the Nissan gets you there for less money. Our Nissan safety and technology guide goes through the Nissan systems named here.

On safety the two sit closer than most cross-shoppers expect. Nissan Safety Shield® 360 is standard on the SV, the SL, and the Platinum alike, with ProPILOT Assist on every grade. The Safety Shield set carries automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, high beam assist, lane departure warning, rear cross traffic alert, and rear automatic braking, with Blind Spot Intervention standard on every Murano grade as well. Honda Sensing is standard on every Passport grade and covers much of the same ground with a different mix: collision mitigation braking, road departure mitigation, lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow, blind spot information with lane change assist, cross traffic monitor, and 4 front and 4 rear parking sensors. Blind spot and cross traffic alerts come standard on the cheapest version of each, so that is not a tiebreaker.

As of this writing, both SUVs hold an overall 5-star safety rating in the federal crash-test program run by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Ratings change as agencies retest, so check current scores at NHTSA.gov.

Coverage is a wash. The Murano's basic warranty runs 36 months or 36,000 miles, and its powertrain warranty, the one covering the engine, transmission, and drive system, runs 60 months or 60,000 miles. The Passport's basic warranty runs 3 years or 36,000 miles and its powertrain warranty 5 years or 60,000 miles, the same coverage stated in years instead of months. Roadside assistance runs 3 years on both.

The Murano's case is what it costs to buy, to fuel, and to park, and what it puts in the cabin at each step.

• Price of entry: the SV launched $3,280 under the Passport's opening grade.
• Fuel economy: 23 mpg combined, 2 to 3 mpg ahead of every Passport grade.
• Surround-view camera: standard from the SL, well before the Passport's arrives.
• Cabin materials: semi-aniline leather on the Platinum, with ventilated and massaging front seats available on the SL.
• Everyday size: 67.9 inches tall and 4,290 pounds, low enough and light enough to make a tight garage or a parking deck the easier job.

The Passport's case is what it pulls, the room and equipment it gives its passengers, and what it is built to drive over.

• Power: 285 hp from the V6, 44 more than the Murano makes.
• Towing: 5,000 pounds on every grade with the Class III hitch and harness, against 1,500.
• Standard equipment on the entry grade: tri-zone automatic climate control, heated front seats, a 10-way power driver's seat with memory, and a wireless phone charger are all standard on the entry RTL.
• Back-seat room: 40.9 inches of second-row leg room against the Murano's 36.3, a 4.6-inch difference on the longer wheelbase.
• Off-road hardware: the TrailSport grades bring the underbody skid plate, off-road-tuned suspension, all-terrain tires, and recovery hooks.

This decision comes down to what you pull, where you drive, and what that capability costs you at the pump and in a tight garage.

Look past the Murano if: your weekends end on gravel or at a boat ramp. The Murano is not built for either job, and the Passport's TrailSport grades are, right down to the skid plate.

Look past the Passport if: you park in tight garages and count your fuel stops. It is the taller, heavier, thirstier of the two, grade for grade, and it asks more at the pump for capability you may never use.

If neither line describes you, 20 minutes behind the wheel settles it faster than a spec sheet does. Drive the Murano with us first, then drive a Passport at a Honda store the same week, and tell us which cabin you did not want to get out of.

Trading something in changes the math, so use our trade-in valuation tool to get a number on yours before you drive either one.