What we want and what we need are usually pretty far apart. We need shelter, food, water, transportation, and if you asked 98 percent of truck owners in this country, they’d say they need a body-on-frame pickup truck equipped with nothing less than a V8 and solid axles. Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You don’t.
Enter, the Ridgeline, Honda’s entry into the mid-size pickup market, and Autoblog‘s latest long-term test vehicle.
The first-gen Ridgeline debuted back in the 2006 model year. Like this model, it shared its unibody platform with the Honda Pilot, had four-wheel independent suspension, a transversely-mounted V6 and is available in front-wheel drive. The original model also didn’t look like any other truck on the market. Though the new Ridgeline has a much more traditional appearance this time around, everything else is pretty much the same.
With a smaller truck comes better gas mileage. Or at least that was the idea. The Ridgeline is rated at 18 city, 25 highway mpg, which isn’t great, and over the last 2000 or so miles we’ve averaged just above 22 mpg. For the size I’d hoped for more.
Let’s talk looks. This truck isn’t the best looking out there, but it seems like all of the mid-size pickups out there today seem to be suffering from some growing pains, short of the top tier trims like the ZR2, TRD Pro and Ranger Raptor. That being said of the four trucks I just mentioned, the Ridgeline looks the worst.
What bugs me the most though, other than the fuel economy are the rear doors. They are tiny! I was barely able to fit small end tables in the back of the truck when I was moving in the rain. Once I got them in the truck, there was plenty of space, but getting in was a pain.