Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.
Reviewer: John McElroy
Manufacturer: Honda
Make: Honda
Model: 2017 Ridgeline
Final Impression:
What an amazing truck… unlike any other in the market. That’s due to two things: unit-body construction and an independent rear suspension.
By using a unit-body Honda got away from the jiggly ride you get with a body on frame construction. Hard-core truckers love that jiggle, and will probably look at this as a sissy truck. But Honda’s approach could well bring in new buyers to the truck segment, especially women. The Ridgeline rides far more smoothly than any other truck on the market, and it’s quieter too. Thanks to its IRS it handles better than all the other trucks.
On a long road trip I averaged 26 miles to the gallon on highway driving. That’s very impressive for an all wheel drive truck.
But it’s not perfect. The touchscreen can get real smudgy and can be hard to read when the sunlight hits it. It really needs a hood above the screen to shade it.
The adaptive cruise control can be slow to react especially when you want the truck to start accelerating after it’s slowed down. I found I had to set the cruise control 1 mile an hour higher than the speed I wanted or it would not hold the speed I wanted.
Unfortunately, this is not a comfortable truck to drive with the windows down. You get a shuddering inside except at low speeds.
Even so the pluses far outweigh the minuses. It may take a few years before people catch on to how good it is, but I bet that sales pick up as people realize this is a terrific pickup.
John McElroy is an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He is a journalist, lecturer, commentator and entrepreneur. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis.
