DriveTech

2006 Hound Ridgeline RTL S/R

A little over 30 years ago I bought a brand new Honda Civic (MY first import) for commute purposes and became a big fan of Honda so much so I moved to San Diego and went to work for now gone Honda of San Diego downtown on Kettner and Ash. Honda was good then and they have done nothing but get better. I did have my reservations when the Ridgeline showed up, my first thoughts were, “they copied the Avalanche how cheesy, well I was mistaken, the Ridgeline is more than what you see, it is what you don’t see that really makes this little ½ ton, that is correct a ½ ton 4-door pickup stand out.

Check this out a tailgate that does double duty, drops like a normal tailgate and swings from right to left like an old station wagon tailgate but I must admit it took awhile to figure out how to open it to the side but at least it opens to block traffic that may be driving by, I hate the doors that open to the curb, not only are you exposed to traffic on your left but you have to walk around the door when it is opened to the curb but what really blew me away was the lockable storage area found under the 5-foot composite bed. Talk about storage I didn’t get the numbers but a full size adult would fit in the cargo area under the bed along with the spare tire! Excellent use of un-used storage area and it is lockable in fact it even has drain holes with plugs so if you wanted to turn it into a tailgate ice box you could and since we are still in the cargo box area wait until you see the lighting they have, not your normal one cargo light mounted at the top of the roof of the cab oh no, Honda has given its customer four lights in the cargo bed for maximum lighting and with a pretty good size switch in the driver area finding out how to illuminate the bed is very easy, in fact all the controls are big and easy to operate.

Now let’s hop behind the wheel, nice size steering wheel with controls mounted in the wheel for convenience but what caught my eye were the grab handles located in the front doors, they actually stuck out so if you were wearing big snow gloves you could still grab and shut the door. The dash is very well set up and the night time lighting is comfortable to the eye. If you look at the photo you see there are a lot of storage areas with doors for those hidden items you don’t want anyone to see and the climate control is easy to read thanks to two round view windows that keep you informed of the temperature you have just set. The driver seat is very comfortable and easy to adjust to my liking and the front seats can be heated if needed and this feature is standard and the center armrest has one of my favorite features, you can slide the top of the arm rest back and forth for added comfort.

The Ridgeline comes with only one engine and one transmission, the engine is a 3.5-liter single overhead camshaft VTEC V6 backed by a 5-speed automatic transmission and with this combination you should get 16 miles per gallon in the city and 21 miles per gallon on the freeway. Because this is a 4-wheel drive unit you get included a transmission cooler which is a must for off road use and the Ridgeline is a true boxed frame truck, nothing cheap about this rig, no one just put a truck on a car frame this has been built from the ground up with a purpose in mind, support the active lifestyle of young and old. You can get either 2WD or 4WD depends on your needs but get this, your fuel mileage doesn’t change with either 2 or 4 wheel drive.

The Ridgeline has a big back seat area with a sliding back window and headrests for the rear passengers and the seats split and fold and there is even more storage under the back seat and check out the cup holders in the rear doors, pretty sturdy if you ask me and check out the inside rear view mirror there is a compass that is done in brilliant blue and works day or night.

Safety is all around you in the Honda Ridgeline you get front air bags, side air bags and curtain airbags with roll over sensors you also get Vehicle Stability Assist, ABS all designed to keep you and your occupants safe and sound.

I got this Ridgeline from Poway Honda so stop by or check out a Honda dealer in your area and take one out for a test drive, smooth and stable with good acceleration and my favorite, XM radio, so don’t let the looks scare you away not only is it functional but economical!