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I would like it more if it had the SH-AWD like the acura have. Looks wise I like it a lot
More of less, it does, just like the Pilot. It's mainly the software and tuning that are different from SH-AWD. My take is that SH-AWD focuses more on handling, while the Honda version is more about off-road capabilities.
Reviews are fairly positive and full of features, time will tell if the selective US pickup truck market will accept another FWD based uni-body design from Honda. I like the interior alot more.
More of less, it does, just like the Pilot. It's mainly the software and tuning that are different from SH-AWD. My take is that SH-AWD focuses more on handling, while the Honda version is more about off-road capabilities.
Honda is trying to show up both Chevy and Ford in a video just released showing that the Ridgeline’s truck bed stands up to a load of concrete stones better than the competition.
This test is similar to the tests Chevy ran on the Silverado and F-150, but this one produced decidedly different results. Since the Ridgeline has a standard composite bed, the damage to it was minimal compared to the denting and scratching seen in the Silverado.
Chevy ran the test 12 times on their truck where Honda only shows results from one drop.
Honda filmed the drop, clean-up and results in one take, showing complete transparency in their testing. It’s a small difference from Chevy’s video, but one that we took notice of.
The test itself is but one measure to determine a truck’s toughness and durability, and it’s not necessarily something most of us would experience day to day use. Still, check the video out for yourself; it’s a worth a watch.
I really can't stand that massive "H" on the box gate though minor, but ugly.
It's nice to see Honda kept the functionality of the 1G Ridgeline box though, with the gate and the storage compartment. My brother uses both of those features a ton on his Ridgeline.
My dealership has several RL's on the lot. I must say that the RL Black Edition looks pretty good in person (looks like crap in photos), but no way I'm dropping $40k+ for that...
Local dealer has an RTL in their showroom. Not a bad truck, though back seat legroom looks a little tight.
Definitely looks better in person than in photos.
Honda’s Pickup Truck Is Beating Ford at Its Own Game
It took just 12 months for the Ridgeline to grab 10% of the midsize market.
By
Kyle StockJuly 12, 2017, 4:00 AM EDT
Forget game theory, futurists, and cash-flow models: When it comes to product strategy in today’s auto industry, things need not be so complicated.
Just make some trucks, and Americans will buy them—lots of them.
It helps, of course, if you make a very good truck. Honda did just that when it rolled out a thoroughly redesigned version of its Ridgeline pickup in June 2016. Trailing a string of strong reviews, the carlike pickup has been hugely popular among people who buy trucks, and even among those who don’t.
“This is a very capable truck that meets the needs of a vast majority of buyers,” says Jeff Conrad, general manager of American Honda Motor Co. “For somebody who doesn’t care about towing 8,000 pounds ... it’s perfect.”
In the past 12 months, Honda has sold almost 40,000 Ridgelines in the U.S., accounting for one out of 10 vehicles in the midsize pickup segment. Not only did Honda swipe share from established rivals, but it appears to have brought in new buyers—drivers who traditionally were more inclined to buy an Accord than a Toyota Tacoma.
Conrad said Honda could have easily sold more trucks, but the Lincoln, Ala., plant where it welds them together is already operating at full capacity.
Of course, there’s a big gap in these sales statistics. Ford, the heavyweight champion of the truck game, hasn’t sold a midsize version in the U.S. since 2012. It didn’t want to cannibalize the perpetually stellar sales of its full-size F-150. Plus, it has a nifty line of vans to accommodate painters, plumbers, and other small business—at least that’s the justification former Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields offered a couple of years ago.
Ford has since changed tack. Sometime in 2019, it will unveil an “all-new” version of the Ranger, a little pickup it currently makes in Argentina, South Africa, and Thailand, and sells pretty much everywhere except the U.S. Mike Levine, head of product communications in North America, says this newest iteration of the truck, which used to sell in the U.S., will be built in Michigan.
Waiting 2 years to bring back the Ranger “is what works for us,” says Levine. “We’ve put the focus on F-Series today, including the F-150 ... making it more capable and also more fuel efficient.”
Ford may have to change its formula a bit if it wants to capture some of Honda’s appeal. Most notably, the Ridgeline features the so-called unibody construction that sedans get, giving it more of a feel for the road than most trucks, which have bodies that are bolted on to the frame.
While, the front of the Ridgeline is all business—planted on the road—in the back, it’s a party. The tailgate swings out horizontally, like a door, in addition to dropping down traditionally. There’s a 400-watt outlet for plugging in something like a large-screen television, a series of speakers in the bed, and a compartment under the liner that just happens to be the size and shape of a large cooler. Honda calls it an “in-bed trunk,” though perhaps with a wink, because unlike most trunks, it has a drain.
The Ridgeline's “in-bed trunk” for your refreshments.Source: Honda
At recent car shows, Honda has thrown pretense out the window and filled these tubs with ice and booze, albeit fine champagne rather than light beer. And that’s the real clue to where Honda is headed with the Ridgeline while Ford waits for 2019: “We didn’t want to try to out-tough the tough guys,” Conrad says. “Ford and GM have been doing their type of advertising for many, many years. It’s not really the nature of our truck—or our buyers.”
I bet the 2017 Ridgeline drives and handles great but exterior wise, it looks very feminine with soft lines and non aggressive at all, reminds me of the soft front end of the NSX
I think they made a mistake plastering the Pilot's front end on it, but it is an improvement over the 1G. I really like the features though, makes it really stand out from its competitors.
I still remember helping somebody load up like a 60" TV back in the day, it fit in the back with the seat folded up, and had room to spare.
If I were looking for a truck but didn't care about off road capability or towing something heavy, it would be first on my list.
I think they made a mistake plastering the Pilot's front end on it, but it is an improvement over the 1G. I really like the features though, makes it really stand out from its competitors.
I still remember helping somebody load up like a 60" TV back in the day, it fit in the back with the seat folded up, and had room to spare.
If I were looking for a truck but didn't care about off road capability or towing something heavy, it would be first on my list.
Originally Posted by oonowindoo
As weird looking as the 1G was... i actually think 1G looks better (for a truck) than the 2G.
Every time i see a new one on the road, i keep thinking it is a Pilot with half the roof cut off.
Overall, I like the 2G, but the front kills it for me. If it had a more aggressive front end like the 1G I think it would work better.
Honda probably choose a simple plain exterior design for the 2G since the 1G was kinda polarizing with it's Tonka Truck styling which didn't appeal much to construction workers and traditional work truck users.
The interior with the big control knobs and switches for workers with gloves on didn't work much either despite the marketing attempt.
The Ridgeline is still a transverse V6 FWD/AWD drivetrain with a unibody frame, might as well go for the real target buyers which are people who aren't mainstream truck buyers who want the Honda convenience and truck like utility..
This was a huge improvement, even though one shock was a little worse for wear. In isolation, the result may have been dulled by a tinge of disappointment, but the other two trucks — our long-term 2016 Nissan Titan XD and 2016 Toyota Tacoma — that came along to support the effort fared much, much worse. Next to them, this seemed like a clear win.
The new 2017 Ridgeline has something the first-generation truck did not: amplitude reactive damping. In short, this means the new truck's shocks contain two internal valve circuits: one that operates when wheel motions are small and another that joins in as they grow larger.
This difference expands the performance envelope of the shock absorber. With this extra variable in play, the tuning engineer isn't forced to make as many compromises. Trust me, this is a big deal. I was the guy tuning shock valves in my last two jobs before coming to Edmunds. The process is a black art that boils down to managing compromises imposed by hardware limitations — particularly when you're tuning a truck, which is expected to work on a wide range of surfaces.
The precise details of how the second-generation Ridgeline engineers took advantage of this added functionality are not known to me, but I can hazard an educated guess. Our washboard road inputs, vicious as they were in terms of sheer unrelenting repetitiveness, were not terribly large — a little more than an inch at the tire. The shock, in turn, only experiences three-quarters of an inch or so because of its motion ratio, its specific mounting position along the length of the suspension's lower control arm.
In sifting through what we missed in our initial wave of 2018 SEMA Show coverage, we found, stuck between the brodozers and the import tuners, something unusual and fun from Honda: a one-off Ridgeline converted into an overland adventure vehicle, complete with sand rescue rails, the requisite pop-up tent and (naturally) a Honda EU2200i generator on the roof to power your margarita maker no matter where in the great outdoors you happen to find yourself.
It’s called the Honda Ridgeline Adventure Lifestyle Project (RALP?), and with a name like that, it’s no wonder we missed it the first time around the SEMA floor. But the idea is pretty cool: Deck out the Ridgeline for adventure travel using parts and pieces you can actually buy -- or at least prototypes of stuff you should be able to buy soon -- and get people thinking about unconventional ways to use the unconventional pickup.
Yes, we realize the Ridgeline isn’t body-on-frame. Yes, we realize it lacks solid axles and an old-school four-wheel-drive system. But this might be an instance of finding the correct use case for a specific vehicle. We wouldn’t expect the Ridgeline to do the Rubicon Trail, but despite a shared emphasis on finding adventure where the pavement ends, overlanding is a substantially different discipline than off-roading.
We can’t say for sure how it would do in the backcountry until we can take it for a test drive (what say you, Honda?). But the Ridgeline’s i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive system is, as we’ve determined on test drives, capable of chewing through some surprisingly rugged terrain, even if ground clearance is admittedly not its forte. You’d have to radically modify it to get the sort of airspace under the chassis you’d need to go bouldering; the reality is that it’s never going to be a rock-crawler.
That said, this thing should be more capable of handling sand, silt and mud than the unmodified vehicle thanks to meaty BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2s on KMC XD wheels (the beadlock's simulated, in case you were wondering). We’d venture that this setup will go most of the out-of-the-way places the typical overlander would ever want to go -- all while offering road and trail comfort and economy an old Land Cruiser couldn’t hope to match.
Being SEMA, this baby’s loaded up with aftermarket parts. It’s equipped with a 1.5-inch leveling kit (which raises the front suspension to be, as the name suggests, level with the rear), skid plates and side steps from Jsport. The roof rack is an upcoming Jsport product dubbed the “Plateau,” while the bed rack is called the “Mesa.” The tent on top is an easy-up model from Roofnest.
So if this package appeals to you, and you already have a Ridgeline in your fleet, you’ll be able to build one yourself. If you do, let us know how it works out on the dusty trail.
I really like the MMC facelift they gave it. It finally looks like a real truck, and not just a Pilot with a bed (which itself looks like a lifted up Odyssey).
Some of the sheetmetal on the front half is different, but it's mainly the grill. The styling was always the biggest knock on it in my book; if I'm buying a "pickup", I don't need it to look like a minivan. This addresses that problem 100%.
Not sure why it would need to be higher or have bigger wheels...nobody is going to be rock crawling in a Ridgeline. It's a pickup truck for people who don't need a pickup truck, but would like the utility of a bed, but are also self-aware enough to realize they don't actually need a pickup truck and aren't willing to absorb all the compromises of a real midsize pickup truck.
I am just saying that if they wanna differentiate it from the Minivan looking truck, A taller with bigger tires will help with the look... something like the Tacoma TRD look.
Even tho it might not have the utility but at least it should have the look...
it has long range towing advantage. Cannot make it too tall without impacting ride quality and range. it has much wider bed than other this size vehicles.
it has long range towing advantage. Cannot make it too tall without impacting ride quality and range. it has much wider bed than other this size vehicles.
I'm so glad it's smaller wheels allow it to have a long range towing advantage. It would suck if you couldn't tow it's entire towing capacity of *checks notes* 5,000lbs. Wow. Such superiority.
The 2021 Honda Ridgeline is set to launch in early 2021 with a bold redesign that reflects its rugged and versatile pickup truck capabilities. Equally at home on dirt and mud-strewn trails as it is on the highway or twisting mountain roads, the 2021 Ridgeline features standard V6 power, class-leading ride and handling, the segment's largest interior for passengers and gear, a brilliantly versatile bed, and the best standard AWD model payload capacity.
"Truck enthusiasts have long recognized Ridgeline as an incredibly versatile and capable pickup, and now it's got the rugged looks to match," said Art St. Cyr, vice president of Auto Operations for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "The Ridgeline signals a new direction for our light-truck designs, one that more effectively communicates all the hard work that goes into making Honda pickups and SUVs such proficient on- and off-road performers."
Exterior Redesign
The 2021 Honda Ridgeline features all-new sheet metal from the front roof pillars forward. Design changes include a new hood sporting a pronounced power bulge, and new front fenders that emphasize the squared-off nose and more upright grille, flanked by LED headlights updated for better illumination. Atop the grille is a crossbar that bisects the headlight lenses - gloss black on Sport trims and Black edition, chrome on RTL and RTL-E. Below, a new front bumper highlights the toughness of the new Ridgeline's design and adds broad side vents that route air through the bumper and around the front tires and wheels, creating air curtains to improve aerodynamic performance. The body color is also extended farther down the front bumper, and a prominent skid plate emphasizes Ridgeline's tough new look. In back, a reshaped bumper exposes aggressive new twin exhaust outlets.
All trims feature tougher looking 18-inch wheels with backspacing reduced 10 mm, increasing track width a total of 20 mm and lending the Ridgeline a broader, more planted stance, bolstered by all-season tires with a new, more aggressive sidewall and shoulder design.
For those looking to take Ridgeline's dynamic new styling to the next level, a new package created in collaboration with Honda Performance Development (HPD) answers the call. The new HPD Package adds a unique grille treatment, black fender flares, aggressive bronze-colored wheels, and special HPD graphics on the bed walls. Part of a new group of post-production options (PPO), the package will be available on all Ridgeline trims and is one of four new PPO packages that include Utility, Function and Function+ packages.
Interior Upgrades
The 2021 Honda Ridgeline's spacious cabin, which offers top-class passenger comfort and rear-seat legroom, receives an updated Display Audio system with crisp new graphics, easier-to-use touchscreen icons, and a physical volume knob. In addition, Ridgelines in Sport trim add new cloth seat inserts, all trims get new contrast stitching on the seats, and Sport, RTL and RTL-E trims have new dash, steering wheel and center console accents. Ridgeline's flat floor and foldaway 60/40-split rear seat bottoms continue to offer enhanced flexibility for carrying long and tall items in the cabin.
Fully Automatic Torque-Vectoring AWD
Standard on every 2021 Honda Ridgeline is a 280-horsepower, 3.5-liter direct-injected VTEC® V6 backed by a smooth and responsive 9-speed automatic transmission. Available on Sport and RTL, and standard on RTL-E and Black Edition, is Ridgeline's i-VTM4® torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system, which automatically sends up to 70 percent of the engine's 262 lb.-ft. of torque to the rear wheels and continuously apportions 100 percent of that torque between the left and right rear wheels based on driving conditions at each wheel. The Intelligent Traction Dynamics System, standard on all Ridgelines, optimizes power delivery and distribution for various conditions including snow and pavement for 2WD models, while Ridgelines equipped with i-VTM4® get additional selectable modes for mud and sand.
Ridgeline-Exclusive Platform Design
Underpinning its extraordinary packaging, hauling and driving character is Ridgeline's unit-body construction, featuring Honda's proprietary Advanced Compatibility Engineering™ (ACE™) body structure and fully boxed frame members for the body sides and rear tailgate frame with truss-style inner construction, plus a robust fully independent rear suspension. This unique construction pays dividends with uncompromised ride comfort and handling on paved roads, while supporting a best-in-AWD class standard 1,580-pound payload capacity and up to 5,000-pound towing capacity.
Ridgeline's extra-wide stance enables an extra-wide standard bed, making it the only truck in its class that can flat-carry 4-foot wide items, such as plywood and drywall, between the wheel wells. Based on the packaging efficiency of its unibody construction and independent rear suspension, Ridgeline also comes standard with a washable, lockable In-Bed Trunk®, offering an additional 7.3 cu.-ft. of secure storage space under the bed floor.
Ridgeline's versatility as a cargo-hauling platform is enhanced by its Dual-Action Tailgate, which opens downward or to the side, making access to cargo and the In-Bed Trunk® a snap. The tailgate can handle dynamic loads of up to 300 pounds, supporting long payloads such as motorcycles and ATVs. Inside the bed are eight standard tie-down cleats rated at 350-pounds each, for securing loads, and the bed is constructed of glass fiber-reinforced SMC composite that resists dents and scratches without the need for a separate bed liner.
An available In-Bed Audio system utilizes four "exciters" to turn Ridgeline's entire bed into an outdoor speaker (RTL-E and up trims). Combined with its Dual Action Tailgate and In-Bed Trunk, which can do double duty as an ice-filled cooler, Ridgeline is a great tailgating companion.
Safety & Driver-Assistive Technology
Ridgeline comes standard with the Honda Sensing®, featuring Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™) with Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), Road Departure Mitigation (RDM) with Lane Departure Warning (LDW), and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC).
The 2021 Ridgeline targets top-class collision safety ratings from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), including an NCAP 5-star Overall Vehicle Score, a GOOD rating in all IIHS collision tests, and a SUPERIOR IIHS rating for front crash prevention.
Design and Manufacturing
The 2021 Honda Ridgeline was designed and developed by Honda R&D Americas in California and Ohio, and is manufactured along with its V6 engine at the Honda plant in Lincoln, Alabama using domestic and globally-sourced parts. For the 4th straight year, the Ridgeline ranked in the top 10 in the 2020 Cars.com American Made Index.
So the above photo wasn't a photoshop, but the HPD pkg.
From my limited time in a 1G Ridgeline, it was a nice truck to drive & supposedly towed fairly well (my dad towed an 05 S430 on a flatbed trailer from Laredo to Houston without issue).
Don't have any seat time in the 2G to make any comment. This revised (2.5G?) looks a bit better than the 2G before it.
It could be that the 10AT overheats while towing. The Pilot and Passport also uses the ZF9 exclusively; only the Odyssey uses the 10AT with the J35, but it has a lower tow rating.
So the above photo wasn't a photoshop, but the HPD pkg.
From my limited time in a 1G Ridgeline, it was a nice truck to drive & supposedly towed fairly well (my dad towed an 05 S430 on a flatbed trailer from Laredo to Houston without issue).
Don't have any seat time in the 2G to make any comment. This revised (2.5G?) looks a bit better than the 2G before it.
Never drove a Ridgeline, but I assume it's like a taller, lumbering Accord.
You reminded me of the first time I ever saw a 1G Ridgeline up close. I was at work, helping someone load up a flat screen. Guy wanted to put the TV in the backseat, and I was like ???
Was ready to take the TV out of the box. First time I found out that the Ridgeline had a folding backseat, that was really nifty for its time. TV with box slid right in, no tie straps or anything needed.
Imagine my disappointment to discover that most trucks didn't have that, though I'm more of them do these days.
05-09-2016 | 06:14 PM
minor, but ugly.
BloomBerg
