The 2017 Honda Ridgeline Pickup: This is Your Personal Adventure Machine

@image : autoweek.com

To hear the automaker tell it, the 2017 Honda Ridgeline -- which just made its debut at the Detroit auto show -- is the sort of truck you'll buy if you're honest about what you really want, and really need, in a pickup.

Which is why where other pickups might flaunt their ability to haul CDL-mandating loads of cargo, or even the occasional Space Shuttle, Honda drove its new truck onto stage with a side-by-side ATV in tow.

Honda figures that the odds are fairly good that you, dear civilian pickup owner, don't spend much time off-road, or on the jobsite, or moving a hobby farm's worth of agricultural equipment around on a daily basis: You own a truck because It's a fun, functional lifestyle vehicle -- which is exactly what the new Ridgeline aims to be, only without any of the compromises of its old-fashioned, body-on-frame competitors (or so goes the sales pitch).
Not that you'd know it from its appearance. Unlike its immediate predecessor, the 2017 Ridgeline's styling is, in a word, conventional.

Honda has acknowledged that the look of flying buttress-festooned first-gen Ridgeline, built for the 2006-2014 model years, was something of a head-scratcher for a decent chunk of the pickup-buying public; it has gone with a traditional three-box silhouette here instead.

It’s almost enough to make you forget that the whole thing is riding on a unibody platform. Which, we suspect, is precisely the point.

Still, while the Ridgeline’s face is a little squarer and more aggressive than the Pilot’s (or CR-V’s), the family resemblance is there, and not without reason: The Ridgeline is built on the same global light truck architecture underpinning of the Odyssey minivan and the Pilot crossover, with which it shares a 3.5-liter V6 engine and six-speed automatic transmission. Based on the 2016 Pilot’s specs, that should mean 280 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. The pickup will be available in front-wheel and all-wheel-drive configurations; the latter setup borrows the Pilot’s i-VTM4 torque-vectoring system, which includes drive modes for mud, sand and more.

The Ridgeline's conventional looks are backed by a list of conventional pickup attributes: The bed is on the short side at 5 feet, 4 inches long, but it's 5 inches wide with 4 feet of space between the wheel well humps -- enough width accommodate a sheet of plywood or drywall laying flat, something Honda says its segment competitors don’t offer.

There are a few Ridgeline-only bonuses, too. The new truck retains its predecessor’s dual-action tailgate, which folds down in the usual manner but also swings to the side, as well as a lockable in-bed trunk. Plus, there's an available in-bed 400-watt power inverter and in-bed speakers for all those tailgates adherents of the Honda Ridgeline LifestyleTM are throwing -- another first (if only because nobody else thought to do it).

As for capacities: Honda has not yet released full specifications, and like it or not, this truck's success depends on how it stacks up to the perceived competition on a spec sheet. But the automaker expects a payload “approaching” 1,600 pounds, which is in line with its midsize competition, and “medium-duty” towing capability is promised. If the platform-mate Pilot is anything to go by, the Ridgeline should be able to tow 3,500 pounds or 5,000 pounds (or perhaps more), depending on whether it's front- or all-wheel drive, respectively.

None of this is enough to make full-size pickup builders sweat, and it might not even be enough to best a properly equipped mid-sized 2016 Toyota Tacoma (which can tote up to 6,700 pounds). But full-sized trucks have grown ever bigger and brawnier, with capabilities far beyond what the average buyer will ever need -- a trend which has spurred renewed interest in mid-size pickups like the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Tacoma.

If its capability figures are good enough to get prospective buyers to give it a look, Honda hopes the Ridgeline's more crossover-like features will seal the deal. This includes class-leading fuel economy (once again, exact figures have not been announced), handling, ride refinement, safety and cabin quietness. Whether these unibody-derived benefits will be worth the loss of ruggedness, perceived or actual, that come from the move away from body-on-frame construction remains to be seen -- and for that reason, we're eager to get behind the wheel.

The 2017 Ridgeline will launch in the first half of this year. We'll bring you more information on the pickup as it becomes available.

source :autoweek.com

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