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2011 Honda Ridgeline Manchester NH

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The 2011 Honda Ridgeline serves the need of a consumer looking for a commuter truck or a multi-use pickup perfectly. From its styling to its tailgate and storage innovations to its combination of body-on-frame isolation and unibody stiffness, the Ridgeline is pleasant to drive in all circumstances, and as much truck as many buyers will ever need. The Ridgeline is the first mainstream pickup with fully independent rear suspension, which improves ride quality considerably. Other pickup trucks have traditionally been built with a separate nose section, cab section, and cargo bed, bolted to a separate ladder frame. Honda's pickup uses both a one-piece unit-body and a steel ladder frame welded together. Its cab and bed are built as one piece, with separate subframes for the engine, front suspension and rear suspension. Ridgeline's rigid design is more resistant to twisting and bending than traditional pickups.

Design of the '11 Honda Ridgeline

The Ridgeline features an easy-to-reach, locking storage box under its bed. The Ridgeline doesn't look quite like any pickup before it. The grille, the front end, the cab shape, the buttresses coming down off the rear of the roof to join the integrated pickup bed, all seem to have been deliberately designed to be different. The grille opening, once rigidly rectangular, now narrows a bit at the bottom as it dips into the top of the bumper; and is now boldly outlined in chrome instead of body-color plastic. The grille insert has been simplified: The Honda H still features prominently at the center, but rather than something that looked like an old television antenna, it is now flanked by a pair of flattened wings. These wings are black on the Ridgeline RT and show up against the black mesh grille mostly because of the difference in texture, a handsome, sophisticated touch. The cargo bed is made of steel-reinforced SMC plastic, not steel with a sprayed-on or slipped-in liner. The bed is five feet long with the tailgate up, and six and a half feet long with the tailgate down, enabling it to carry two dirt bikes or a large ATV. A tubular aluminum cargo bed extender is available for longer loads. There are four large retaining chocks, one in each corner of the bed, to help secure large pieces of cargo; and a total of eight cargo tie-down points.

New Honda Ridgeline Cabin

The 2011 Ridgeline offers as much comfort, space and convenience as any half-ton pickup available. Bucket seats come standard in front with a center console. The driver and front passenger seats are roomy, comfortable and supportive, with plenty of adjustment range for rake and travel. The navigation system, with its DVD data base and eight-inch screen, is a paradigm for size, brightness, contrast and overall ease of use. The voice commands work well; alternately, the menus are simple, effective and easy to master. The back seats are quite comfortable for two adults, with a 24-degree backrest angle, more like a front seat. The rear seat is nearly as roomy and versatile as those in front.

Driving the 2011 Ridgeline

All Ridgelines are powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine generating 250 horsepower, with a five-speed automatic transmission and Honda's VTM-4 all-wheel-drive system. This full-time all-wheel-drive normally proportions 60 percent of the power to the front wheels, but if conditions indicate it will automatically send as much as 70 percent of the engine torque to the rear wheels. Ridgeline also incorporates a limited-slip differential with lock feature. The 2011 Ridgeline is pleasing to drive when measured by comfort and ease of use. It's smooth, quiet and very maneuverable, with a load of useful features. Although the Ridgeline cannot do the work of a full-size pickup, but its 1500-pound payload and 5000-pound towing capacity are enough for many buyers. The drivetrain, the combination of engine, transmission and all-wheel drive, is impressively smooth and quiet. With four doors, five seats, all-wheel drive, and independent front and rear suspension, the Ridgeline is a relatively heavy vehicle, but the 250-hp V6 engine is generally up to the task.

Honda Ridgeline Trim Levels

The 2011 Honda Ridgeline is sold in three different trim levels, RT, RTS, and RTL. Ridgeline RT comes standard with black door handles; 17-inch steel wheels; six-way manually adjusted driver's seat; air conditioning; power windows, mirrors, and locks; cruise control; outside temperature gauge; a trailer hitch; and a 100-watt, six-speaker, CD/MP3/WMA-capable stereo.

Ridgline RTS adds power front seats with power lumbar support; a160-watt, seven-speaker stereo with six-CD changer, auxiliary input and steering-wheel mounted controls; dual-zone automatic climate control; security system; body-color door handles; wiring for towing, and 17-inch machine-finish alloy wheels.

Ridgeline RTL upgrades to leather upholstery, heated front seats, power lumbar support for the driver, power moonroof, compass and HomeLink remote integrated into the rear-view mirror, heated side mirrors, 115-volt power outlet, XM Satellite Radio, and 18-inch machine-finish alloy wheels. The RTL is available with Honda's DVD-based navigation system with voice recognition, Bluetooth, and a rear-view camera.

Conclusions

The Ridgeline has been around since 2006, but it was significantly updated for 2009 with a more powerful engine, several equipment upgrades, and freshened styling inside and out. A trailer hitch became standard on all models, and the optional navigation package was expanded to include Bluetooth and a rear-view camera. Other new features included the addition of a 115-volt power outlet on the RTL, an MP3/auxiliary input jack on the RTS and RTL, and MP3/WMA compatibility for all audio systems. Active front seat head restraints and daytime running lights were added to Ridgeline's already long list of safety features, and two more cargo tie-down points were added to the pickup bed. In all, Honda claimed to have made 50 significant changes. For 2011 there are no significant changes. For more on this unique pickup, visit the official Honda Ridgeline website.

Some information for this review was obtained from NewCarTestDrive.com