FIRST DRIVE: 2017 HONDA RIDGELINE [REVIEW]

By Drew Johnson

Flip back a few chapters in the automotive history book and you'll find the birth of the sport utility vehicle. In those early days, the SUV recipe was rather simple -- mix one part truck chassis with one part station wagon and voila, you have a multi-passenger vehicle capable of traversing the Rockies or taking the kids to soccer practice.

But, as it turned out, most families didn't really need a vehicle capable of climbing mountains. Moreover, those early SUVs suffered from clumsy handling and poor fuel economy because of their body-on-frame construction. As a result, most SUV owners eventually jumped ship to the modern, unibody crossover, which offers similar space without the punishing ride. But for whatever reason, the pickup truck segment didn't follow the SUV-to-CUV evolution path, even with the advent of the weekend warrior.

Honda attempted to jumpstart the Darwinian process in the mid-size truck segment with the original Ridgeline in 2006. Although that first Ridgeline packed several clever features, its unibody construction and oddball styling proved too much to overcome. With sales sliding, Honda pulled the plug on the first-generation Ridgeline a full two years before its replacement would be ready.

That followup truck is now here in the form of the 2017 Honda Ridgeline. Like the original, it has a unibody chassis and Honda's excellent packaging, but now features more conventional styling. So, is the 2017 Ridgeline the start of the next big thing in the pickup truck segment or is it doomed for extinction? Come with us as we find out.
Pilot in the front, business in the back
Since the original Ridgeline was a different kind of truck, Honda decided it needed a different kind of look. That, as it turned out, wasn't a great idea.

But Honda learned its lesson and went down the more conventional design path for the 2017 Ridgeline. The new truck features a front end that's heavily inspired by the Honda Pilot. In fact, it looks like Honda simply grafted the Pilot's nose onto the front of its newest truck.

There are some subtle differences, however. The Ridgeline sports a different grille with an oversized badge, which seems to be a prerequisite for any pickup truck. The lower bumper of the Ridgeline is also tougher-looking than its crossover counterpart.

Honda nixed the Ridgeline's controversial flying buttresses for the latest go-around, resulting in a more typical pickup truck silhouette. However, in profile the Ridgeline's sleek nose seems a little at odds with its newly chiseled rear end; it almost looks as though one design team was assigned the front half of the truck while a second team penned the rear. A little more cohesion might improve the overall look.

The rear of the Ridgeline is generic yet somehow still interesting. We particularly like the tinted taillights with LED accents and the subtle spoilers on the rear edge of the roof and the top of the tailgate that not only give the Ridgeline a dose of sport, but also help with aerodynamics.

Although still not perfect, the styling of the 2017 Ridgeline is much more successful and, more importantly, much less polarizing than the model it replaces.

Nuts and bolts
The 2017 Ridgeline rides on a unibody chassis that's mostly based on the Pilot crossover. We say mostly because over 50 percent of the Pilot's chassis parts were reengineered for use in the Ridgeline.

2017 Honda Ridgeline
BASE PRICE RANGE	$30,375-$43,770
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, FWD/AWD, 5-pass, 4-door pickup
ENGINE	3.5L/280-hp/262-lb-ft SOHC 24-valve V-6
TRANSMISSION	6-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT	4,250-4,500 lb (mfr)
WHEELBASE	125.2 in
LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT	210.0 x 78.6 x 70.2-70.8 in
0-60 MPH	6.5 sec (MT est)
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON	18-19/25-26/21-22 mpg
ENERGY CONSUMPTION, CITY/HWY	177-187/130-135 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB	0.90-0.94 lb/mile
ON SALE IN U.S.	July 2016