"The Ridgeline's IFS and IRS can't be compared with conventional leaf-spring and live-axle combinations," noted one driver. "Going from any of the other trucks into the Ridgeline is like climbing out of a horse and buggy and into a flying saucer," quipped another. It's just so weirdly gentlemanly--a Rex Harrison in a roomful of Harrison Fords. Still, the truck's chunky-treaded P245/65R17 tires, blunt aerodynamics, and all-wheel-drive system refuse it carlike interior noise levels--or mileage. Frankly, we expected better numbers than the Ridgeline's 16 city mpg and 21 mpg on the highway, evidence that even Honda's most clever technical gnomes can't yet jigger with the immutable laws of physics.
Remember when Honda introduced the original Accord in 1976? What charmed the automotive world then wasn't just the little sedan's durable construction (though it had that in spades), but its nearly obsessive attention to clever, practical detailing. Think coin bins, actual ergonomic controls. Think of the Ridgeline as the Accordification of the truck concept. Visually stroll through some of its feature highlights, including its drop-down, swing-out tailgate, lockable watertight below-bed minitrunk, or well-illuminated cargo hold that helps you secure gear even on pitch-black nights. Now, before all of you traditional truck fans blow a fuse (we presume some have already popped), we'll be the first to admit this isn't the perfect truck.
Some will blurt out that no real pickup could ever be based on a [expletive deleted] minivan platform with an independent rear suspension and powered by a transverse V-6. At least, the facts of the accusation are mostly correct. The 247-horsepower, 245 pound-feet of torque, 3.5-liter V-6 engine is transversely mounted, though the structure is 93 percent unique to the Ridgeline. And that structure's no wimpy unibody, either, as the monocoque upper structure is clam-shelled to a fully boxed traditional frame, the joint effort offering 2.5 times the bending stiffness of the best body-on-frame trucks. Our fully loaded acceleration tests have also demonstrated that the Ridgeline's independent rear suspension can haul what Honda says it can haul, though the extended durability of the setup is open to conjecture (keep an eye out for reports on our new long-term Ridgeline's brutal stay with us).
According to "Webster's New World College Dictionary," the word "truck" means "an automotive vehicle for hauling heavy loads along highways, streets, etc." Its slang use is to "walk in a carefree, leisurely manner'," i.e., the truckin'-on-down-the-road lifestyle of burbling chrome-grilled showboats quaking on suspensions designed for thousands of pounds but never supporting more than a surfboard or two in shiny unscratched beds. Our 2006 Truck of the Year winner offers an intriguing third idea as a responsive people and cargo hauler that doesn't beat you up. One way or another, we predict the Honda Ridgeline is going to leave a lasting impression.