From Dale Wickell,
Your Guide to Trucks.
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Don't be surprised if your first glance at the Honda Ridgeline leaves you wondering if you're looking at a pickup truck, an SUV, or an Avalanche-like combination of the two. Yes, the Ridgeline is definitely a different breed of truck, but a truck it is. Once you get past its somewhat unconventional appearance you'll discover that Honda engineers equipped the Ridgeline with a full set of desirable features.

Price as Driven: $28,895, ranges up to $33,090

Basic Limited Warranty: 3 years/36,000

Powertrain Warranty: 5 years/60,000

Take a Stroll Around the Ridgeline Truck

Let's start our Ridgeline walk-around at the rear, because that's where we'll find a few of the truck's unique features. Notice that there are two handles mounted on the tailgate; the top center handle lowers the gate in the conventional way, while the other swings it outwards like an open door.

If you're hauling lumber or other long cargo, drop the tailgate down to lengthen the Ridgeline's 5-foot bed. Opt for the open door to haul groceries and boxes -- no more reaching over the tailgate to load and unload.

Opening the gate to the side gives you easy access to another Ridgeline feature, an 8.5 cubic foot lockable "trunk" located under the floor, just inside the bed. The compartment is large enough to carry a full size suitcase, with enough letfover space for your laptop and a few other small items. If you want to, fill the trunk with ice and use it as a cooler for your next tailgate party. When the ice melts, pop out a plug in the floor to drain the water.

The truck's spare tire is tucked away in front of the storage compartment, a high and dry location that makes it easy to get to when you need it, and protects the tire from the moisture (and resulting rusty components) that plague most under-truck spare systems.

The truck bed is made from a durable steel-reinforced composite material, and is wide enough for a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood to lay flat while you transport it.

Moving around to the truck's front end leaves no doubt that it's a member of the Honda family, while a side view offers a clue to its unique construction.

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Take a look at the bed where it meets the cab and you'll see that there's no division between the two -- the cab and bed are all one piece. Honda has created a unit-body truck that is as strong as a conventional pickup on a full frame. The package performed well for its safety exams, receiving NHSTA's best ratings during frontal impact, side-impact and rollover tests.

Inside the Honda Ridgeline

The Ridgeline Crew Cab's interior is spacious, and even the rear seats offer a pretty comfortable ride for adult passengers. All four doors are large and provide easy access to the truck's interior.

Seats are comfortable and easy to adjust, but the high body lines of the truck bed and tall headrests on rear seats combine to create a significant blind spot on the passenger side.

I like the truck's center console, a large multi-unit assembly that moves backwards and forwards for best armrest position, revealing more storage slots in the process. Rear passengers can fold-down a center armrest or leave it up for more spacious seating.

This RT Ridgeline's dash and instrumentation were somewhat basic, and a chunk of the speedometer was hidden with my hands on the wheel in a 10 o'clock / 2 o'clock position -- check that out for yourself.

There's a large, rectangular brushed aluminum grab handle on each front door. The grabs are functional, but seemed bulky and out of place. Other reviewers have liked the feature -- it's one of those things that's a matter of personal taste.

A power sliding rear window lets you make on-the-fly adjustments without climbing into the back seat.

On the Road in the Honda Ridgeline

The 4WD Honda Ridgeline is equipped with a 3.5-liter, 24-valve VTEC V-6 engine that puts out 247 hp, which is plenty of power to pull the vehicle around, even when it's carrying a reasonable load. Add a five-speed automatic transmission with heavy duty cooler and a tow package and you have a truck that's capable of pulling up to 5,000 pounds.

The Ridgeline has independent front and rear suspension, something we see in lots of cars, but not trucks -- most pickup trucks on the road are outfitted with a solid axle on the back. So what's the difference? The primary benefit of independent suspension is better handling.

• With solid axle suspension, rear wheels are in tandem with each other; both are affected when one hits a bump or rut.

• With independent suspension, each axle moves independently of the other; hit a bump or rut and only that wheel is affected.

The Ridgeline handled rough and winding roads with ease, but don't expect the independent suspension to deliver a car-like ride. The stiffer spring rate required for the Ridgeline's half-ton load capacity lets you know you're riding in a truck.

Six airbags come standard in all Ridgeline trucks, and a tire pressure monitor lets you know when inflation is low in any tire. Vehicle Stability Assist™ is standard on the Ridgeline, and helps sense oversteer or understeer when you're in an emergency situation, adjusting brake pressure at the wheels and reducing engine power if necessary to help restore control.

Other safety features include four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, front and rear stabilizer bars, and variable assist rack and pinion steering. Combine those features with the four-wheel independent suspension and you have a truck that goes, stops, and handles well under most conditions.

Final Thoughts on the 2007 Honda Ridgeline

Honda did their homework before rolling out their first pickup truck. The Ridgeline is functional, and proves that unit body construction, when done correctly, can haul loads that are similar to what conventional full-frame trucks can handle. And they've done it with a V-6 engine that gets decent gas mileage for a large truck; my test vehicle averaged 18.2 miles a gallon during a week-long test that combined highway and city driving.

The most common negative comments I hear revolve around the truck's somewhat unconventional styling, but the majority of those people soften that attitude once they've actually driven a Ridgeline. If more people get out there and try one, the Ridgeline will create its own niche in the truck market -- and get better as Honda tweaks its features.

More Honda Ridgeline

• 2007 Ridgeline Photo Gallery
• 2006 Honda Ridgeline Review*
• 2006 Ridgeline Photo Gallery*

*2006 Ridgelines are essentially the same as 2007 trucks