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DAN EDMUNDS: So this is the Honda Ridgeline, which has
been around for about 10 years.
But they didn't redesign it for the longest time.
And this is the new one.
It came out just this last year.
And the thing about the Ridgeline,
different from all other pickup trucks,
is it's based on a crossover platform.
The Honda Pilot platform.
To be precise.
If you look inside, everything here looks just like a Pilot,
except for what's behind these seats.
That does a lot of things that make this really
an interesting truck.
I mean, it's really quiet, and it's really smooth
because it's not a body-on-frame pickup.
It's more like a crossover.
And you couldn't tell really that you were in a pickup truck
from where I'm sitting until you look in the back.
It's actually quite a great concept
for those who don't really plan to go off road much,
although we've proven that you can do dirt roads just fine.
But it still has a decent amount of cargo capacity.
In fact, this truck is has a higher payload rating
than the Tacoma double cab that we have in our fleet.
And it has a longer bed by an inch or so.
And it's a wider bed, as well.
And the fenders that usually make
it necessary to put a piece of plywood in cockeyed,
are far enough apart that you can put a 4
by 8 sheet of plywood flat on the floor of the bed.
So this is actually a pretty decent truck up until the point
you want to go boulder hopping in Moab.
You know, you can't do that because the clearance just
isn't there.
The Ridgeline, as you have heard,
is a crossover car-based truck.
So it has independent suspension on all four corners.
It doesn't have a solid axle on the back.
And it also has a unit body, instead of just a ladder frame
with the body sitting on top.
It's a little bit more integrated than that.
And that allows it to sit a little lower it
and also makes the whole thing more robust
when it comes to NVH, which is noise, vibration,
and harshness.
And so-- you know, I'm on this nice winding road here,
it's coarse asphalt, so we're hearing
a little bit of road noise.
But really it's pretty muted considering
the surface we're on.
And the car-like ride that comes from the crossover chassis
is no joke.
It goes straight down the road, it steers nice,
I'm not sitting up high.
So when the body rolls in corners,
I don't feel like I'm sitting way up high,
I'm sitting a lot lower.
It just feels a lot nicer to drive in it.
It's a bonus.
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The Ridgeline has a really nice comfortable interior,
and it's attractive.
It doesn't look like a truck interior
because it's kind of a Honda Pilot interior.
But what's nice about that is there's a lot of storage.
I mean, there's a big thing here.
I've got a bunch of beef jerky and stuff in here now.
I can't get it back in.
A couple of big cup holders of slot here
that our phone will fit in.
Another one here.
The door pockets are like two levels
and there's a place for a bottle up front and stuff back here.
And I'm using it all.
And it's just really, really convenient.
I don't really put sunglasses here
but there's a mirror in that position that
allows parents to see their kids in their car seats.
So that's kind of neat.
And sunroof control is right here.
The visors extend for those times
when the sun comes in from the side, which for me is a lot.
Although it's coming from the other side right now.
Don't need it.
And the steering wheel has quite a bit of telescopic range.
For somebody my size, I pull it all the way back,
which might be counter-intuitive.
But that allows me to put my seat back,
get lots of leg room.
Yeah, I really like driving this.
It's really quite pleasant.
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This Ridgeline has a tire pressure monitoring system,
as all cars do now.
As of 2007 it's been a requirement.
But the requirement, the minimum requirement,
is just the warning light that just tells you
you have a low tire, it doesn't tell you which tire is low,
but it tells you you have a low tire.
This system lists the tire pressure.
I can look at it right now on the screen.
35, 37, 36, 37.
The 37s are in the sun, the 35 and 36 are in the shade.
That's kind of normal to see that.
If I drove the other way, they might reverse.
But yes.
So there are sensors in the tires that
are measuring the pressure and communicating with sensors
in each fender well.
That's how it knows which sensor is at which position.
And then the computer just displays them here.
And if one of them gets below 25% of the set pressure,
and that's 35 PSI is what it's supposed to be.
So you can do the math.
27 or 28.
I don't know.
If it gets down that low, I'll get a low tire warning.
And this one will tell me which tire is low
and what that pressure is, which is great.
It's a lot better than a warning light that just says,
you've got a low tire.
Just one.
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One of the things I like about the new Ridgeline is
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are built into the head unit.
Those are really neat.
It's so seamless.
The interface that everybody has kind of
memorized when it comes to their phones
is basically mimicked here.
The problem we have with that is,
you think it would be great because I could use Google Maps
or Apple Maps if you like that, but I
don't know anybody who does.
But you think you could use that.
But there's a problem.
And the problem is we're in Death Valley right now.
We've got no signal.
And if we've got no signal we've got no data,
and if we've got no data, we've got no maps.
So we can't use the map function in CarPlay and Android Auto.
And that presents a problem if I'm
trying to use the nav system on this
and listen to music on my iPhone using CarPlay,
it doesn't like the fact that I'm
trying to use both worlds at the same time.
It wants me to be in one environment or the other,
but not one for music and a different one for nav.
And I think that's kind of a problem that
needs to be addressed.
But other than that, you know--
I mean, how many times are you in a place
where there's no signal?
Not too often.
But still, I do like to go outdoors.
And it happens quite a bit for me.
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This Ridgelines Ridgeline shares a lot with the Honda Pilot.
Which is good and bad.
I mean, it's great interior, it's
comfortable seats, driving position, lots of room,
all of that is excellent.
Quiet.
But it also has this stereo head unit that's pretty annoying.
It doesn't have a volume knob, and the little buttons here
that you have to push to switch between modes are really small.
And if you're moving around like I am now, as we're driving down
the road, you might miss the one you want, hit a different one.
Honda's fixing that in newer cars, like the CRV,
they've added a volume knob.
But the problem with the small targets for the touch screen
still exists.
And it could be better but that's really one of my biggest
beefs with the car.
And if that's the biggest beef, I
think I could probably live with it.
If you want to learn more about the Honda Ridgeline,
or any of the vehicles in our long-term test fleet,
just click below or check out more videos
on the Edmunds YouTube channel.