It isn't a ten ton backhoe hauler.
It isn't a Moab rock crawler.
It doesn't have the biggest bed.
It doesn't have the best fuel economy.
But it does the job of what a truck is needed for really well.
My truck is the RTS trim level in "obsidian blue" - why do all vehicle manufacturers insist on superfluous color descriptors? It is dark blue.
The RTS trim level is one above the base level. It has the more basic radio, textile seats, no wizz-bang auto-braking or automatic target acquisition system. Some of these features I may have appreciated, but I'm a bit of an outlier in that I really dislike leather in a car - it cooks in the summer, freezes in the winter. Heated and cooled seats are a just a fix for these symptoms.
Aesthetics are subjective and initially I was 100% neutral on the appearance of the truck. After owning it and seeing several others around, the look of the vehicle has grown on me. I do think it looks better in darker colors relative to some of the lighter options, but I wish Honda didn't use such a benign color palette. All the available colors are somewhat corporate. Blue is, of course, the fastest color.
I'll start off with what I don't like about the Ridgeline. I really miss my manual transmission. My left foot sits there forlornly and my right hand has little else to do other than occasionally helping to steer. Only a little over 2% of the cars sold in the US still have a manual transmission, and many manufacturers are saying it is just a matter of time until they do away with them completely. I'll just have to get over it, but I won't be happy about it.
In some ways, all future four-wheeled vehicles will be compared to my 1994 F-150. I loved that truck, although it was probably as much because it was my college graduation present to myself as anything else. Given the slow growth in size of almost all vehicles over time, the Ridgeline is pretty close in size to that '94. But space is more usable for what I need now with the crew cab and smaller bed. I'll still plea for a smaller capable truck in the US, but they just don't exist anymore. Thank you chicken tax...
Coming from my last vehicle, a Toyota Tacoma, I love the power level of the truck. It isn't a rip-snortin' Raptor, but acceleration is quite quick and the payload of the truck is more than adequate for a midsize truck - on par with other similar vehicles. Fuel economy and power level are often trade-offs. So far, fuel economy is averaging just over 23mpg vs 22.8 for the Tacoma - given the mileage difference, I'll call that the same, so the increase in power is comparatively great. Many of my vehicles had slight overall increases in fuel economy over time while the Tacoma's mpg decreased slightly. Only time will tell how the Ridgeline acts, but at this point, I'm very happy with both power level and efficiency.
I'm somewhat surprised at the performance of the Ridgeline engine. The V6 redlines at 6750 - this compared to another Honda I own, my GL1800 which redlines at 6000RPM. The Goldwing has solid shim-under-bucket lifters with far less reciprocating mass, yet the Ridgeline engine still revs higher. However, I'm probably unlikely to use the upper limits on the Ridgline as much as I do with the GL1800.
Getting to where the rubber meets the road - lots of people hate this truck because Honda has taken a slightly different approach to many things. The 4wd vs AWD is probably the biggest one. In place of a 2-speed transfer case, the Ridgeline has permanent All Wheel Drive. This past winter was sort of the winter-that-wasn't, but on the few occasions I needed it, I was quite impressed with how the truck handled on snow and ice covered roads. And with more advanced ability to place torque to the wheels with grip, it was slightly better than most previous 4wd vehicles I've driven in the winter.
Off road manners have been similar to driving with poor road conditions. I had a hog hunting trip in the swamps of South Carolina and I never once felt uneasy about the conditions I had to put the Ridgeline through. One of the message boards I sometimes read through had a Tacoma owner say, "I can't wait to see one of these stuck." The cliquey mean-spiritedness aside, this shows ignorance more than anything else. The system used on the Ridgeline is not dissimilar to what has been used for decades in other AWD vehicles that have demonstrated good capability in poor traction conditions. On a road trip out west last year, I talked to a guy in a Subaru in Nevada who had outfitted his Outback for off-roading. He had some good stories to tell about its capabilities. I have gotten 4wd vehicles stuck in the past, although that was due to crappy tires as much as anything else. I don't worry about getting stuck in the Ridgeline any more than that. The hog hunting trip was successful.
There is some AWD push/understeer; the front wheels do push gravel around my parking area during tight turns. But I've yet to own a vehicle that doesn't do this at least a little. This is far less than in SO's much smaller Ford Focus.
Where the Ridgeline really shines is interior. With a unibody construction, there is much more room inside to work with. Honda has laid out everything fairly well. The digital speedometer took some getting used to as I can't look at it askew and lie to myself that I'm going a more compliant speed as I can with an analog gauge, but I've adjusted to that quickly. There is a large center console, although I wish it was a little taller - it would give more room and stop the dogs from walking on it quite so much. Seats are comfortable enough that my trip to South Carolina (11 hours) was done easily. Interior noise is minimal and the audio system works well. It was nice to dump a few books onto a USB drive and listen to that for my longer trips.
Some people have complained about how far the rear doors open, but they open wide enough to get a double rifle case into the back seat area - or UNDER the back seat! This frees up tons of space for other stuff. The complaints about the rear doors seem to be niggles about nothing.
Ride quality of the truck is fantastic. With fully independent suspension, my commute in the vehicle is very tolerable. Bumps that would have the Tacoma bouncing down the road are soaked up by the Ridgeline. The truck feels solid with very little road noise. There is one downhill section of torn up road with a stop sign on my morning commute which would always set off the ABS on my Tacoma. I've yet to have that happen on the Ridgeline.
The truck has an automatic climate system which I was somewhat leery of at first. I tried to use it manually and it was slightly frustrating. Eventually I just hit the Auto button and - surprise - it worked very well. Much like the permanent AWD system, it just works - trust it. I still use manual when the temperature is hovering between needing heat and cooling, and the ability to force the AC off while in "Auto" mode is a nice feature as I don't like AC when the temperature is only moderately warm.
I'm currently around 5000 miles on the truck after six months. The Ridgeline has an automated system to tell me when maintenance is due - which is both good and bad. I suppose this will help save money in the long run, but it makes it really hard to plan as I intend to do most of my own maintenance. Based on what I've read about other Hondas, it seems the Ridgeline has slightly more required maintenance than something like the Ford F-150. I've read about 15k differential fluid changes and 30k transmission fluid changes, but I really haven't put enough miles on it yet to know that for sure; I'm currently at 50% oil life which would suggest somewhere around 10k between oil changes, longer than I'm used to, but I'll adjust and it will save time and money.
As a comparatively low volume seller, getting good information on the Ridgeline can be a little more challenging than some other vehicles. There are lots similarities between the Ridgeline forums and other trucks. There are the ever-present people who will do nothing but complain about their newly purchased vehicle, or write stuff with the delusional belief that Honda is anxiously reading forums and individual buyers will cause them to change something. There are also the clearly ignorant people, and the bafoons who insist on arguing with them.
As two examples, one guy on a Ridgeline forum was complaining about the amount of rust on his suspension parts. Who would have thought unpainted steel would rust? And this is clearly not an issue. A guy on a Tacoma forum was complaining about a high steering effort, only to find out later in the thread that he had put his truck in 4wd, and had never taken it out. The fact that his truck was still driving shows the strength of the drivetrain on the Taco - but I would never want to own his used vehicle.
Thankfully, the Ridgeline shares a lot in common with the Honda Pilot - so with a bit of creative searching it is possible to get informed opinions from multiple sources. Still, it never ceases to amaze me, regardless of make or model, how many people have never read through their owner's manual.
Some of this review may sound like I'm knocking my 2009 Toyota Tacoma - I am not. At the time, it was the best option for me. The first generation Ridgeline had, quite frankly, terrible fuel economy for what it was. My Taco was a great truck for well over 100k miles. Over time, I'm sure there will be things I grow to like more and less about the Honda.
I need a truck for commuting, home projects, for hunting road trips and all kinds of other things that come up day to day. John Davis is probably right, the Honda Ridgeline appears to be doing everything very well and maybe even great.
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