Wow. Despite my indifference at the time of its launch, I'm actually impressed with the Ridgeline. In no way do I think it will draw people away from full-size trucks on refinement alone (perhaps the new coil-sprung Ram will do that), but I do think it'll attract crossover owners who hanker for a cargo bed.
And there's the great thing about the Ridgeline - it drives neither like a car nor a pickup, but like the chunky crossover it's built from. I'll attribute the solid feel to the over-engineered hybrid unibody/box frame structure out back, which likely adds a considerable amount of weight.
Still, the 3.5-liter V-6 pulls this thing around fairly well, although quick sprints require revving it into its upper limits. All-wheel-drive kept things well-planted, even in a few washboarded dirt corners I managed to throw the truck into. A well-sorted, well-composed ride - I can't knock that, even though the slow, heavy steering is a bit too "trucky" for this thing.
I have issues with a few things, however:
- If you're going to sell a unibody pickup with a V-6 on the basis of fuel economy, then you've got to do better than 15/20 mph city/highway. May I suggest a sixth gear - or perhaps shedding some weight?
- Plastics inside are way too hard, and the substantial panel gaps around the dash pad and instrument panel aren't impressive.
- Whoever was in charge of control placement must have flunked human factors design.... Read full article