2024 Honda Ridgeline Trailsport Review: Better Than a Truck
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- Опубликовано: 27 фев 2024
- I’ve recently started enjoying more off-road capable offerings from different manufactures. The latest is the 2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport. After driving the Pilot TrailSport, I was excited to see how the Ridgeline did with the TrailSport treatment. I was glad that the color of choice was Sonic Gray Pearl as it’s one of the better color options. I was a little surprised to see no exterior options were added to this loaner. If you were to go online and build your own Ridgeline, you’ll see that Honda offers a large selection of accessories.
The 5-spoke 18” alloys come wrapped in 245/60 all-terrain tires to handle rugged terrain. I do wish the TrailSport got a 1-2 inch lift to help a little more with approach angle, since the front bumper can hang a little low. The tailgate impressed me with the 2 different types of ways to open it, but you’ll need to be careful as it can be relatively heavy compared to its competitors. Although the bed itself is a little on the shallow side, there is additional storage under the bed that can be used as a cooler since it has a drain plug.
Getting in, you’ll get greeted by leather trimmed surfaces that have the orange TrailSport stitching. Having a kid, dog, and living in a more rural area, the all-season floor mats were a carpet saver! There was plenty of space for everyone and felt more like a SUV than a truck. One thing I did have an issue was the angle of the infotainment screen that pointed up and was reflective. The lack of a 360 degree camera system was a shame since the Pilot had such a great system to help with parking and trail driving.
Under the hood, the 3.5L VTEC V6 pumped out 280 horsepower. With all the force induction vehicles, it was nice to drive a naturally aspirated vehicle that offered responsive and linear power delivery. The impressive component of the Ridgeline is its i-VTM4 AWD system. The power distribution is proactive instead of reactive like many other AWD systems. When turning, it will actively deliver the power to the outer wheels to help with rotation. When I drove the Ridgeline on unpaved roads, the truck felt stable and completely in control.
Overall, I’ve been impressed with Honda’s TrailSport offering and the 2024 Ridgeline TrailSport definitely gets added to that list.
The Ridgeline is by far the best midsized truck on the market today. It handles well, has a naturally aspirated v6 and can haul 4x8 sheets of building material. It has the most space for rear seat passengers and the same or better load capacity of all the midsized. Nobody drives a brand new truck off road so that argument is not valid. Non-work trucks do not need a full frame as it is old technology.
This is the best midsize truck on the market. Bought one of the first built, and now I’m on my 5th. No problem pulling my 20 ft camper at 4000lbs or the 19 ft covered snowmobile trailer with sleds and gear. Well built and Honda reliability.
The Ridgeline is such an excellent, well thought out truck. It does truck things like hauling and towing extremely well and does them in comfort. This should be the #1 selling midsize truck IMO. I've owned 2 of them and it's so good at hauling my camping gear and towing my 16' boat. The ground clearance isn't great as you mentioned but just add a simple 2" lift kit with slightly bigger tires and you'll be around 9.5" of clearance which is standard for other midsizers. The V6 is incredible and it's amazing in the snow.
I have a 2023 Ridgeline RTL and have grown to love it even more than when I got it. Prices are so high on trucks that leasing seems the only viable option (for me at least). I can't wrap my head around $800-1200 monthly payments for one vehicle.
Great presentation.
Love my 2020 sport! It is such a good looking truck! Great vid!
Nice review. I am going to get a Black Edition soon.
Dude you want it all‼️ I think most people want a cheaper truck as expensive as things are today.
Great review! We tow a small camper (2,900 lbs) so the RL’s 5,000 tow capacity is just fine. What I like about the RL is that its real world payload surpasses most midsize trucks with 1,500 to 1580 lbs. So, it can handle passengers, topper/shell, camping gear, and tongue weight. I agree with most of your shortcomings of the 2024 RL mild refresh. However, I am so impressed with what the RL can do and the features it provides. I am leaning TrailSport, but will consider a Black Edition as well. We are buying at the end of 2024. At this point, the RL is the truck that we are measuring all other trucks against for our needs and preferences.
Great video and very detailed - I'm wavering on whether I want to basically sell my 2023 Colorado Z71 for a Ridgeline. It was a tossup between these two when I was shopping for a mid-size (moving down from a 2011 RAM 3500 diesel mega-cab...now
I agree. Need the 360 camera 📷
HONDA es una marca de excelentes carros y esta trucka es hermosa 😃
I just bought one of these and the fact that the engine has been around a long time, is tried and true, and has no turbo was the big reason.
Hey there - great video. Think i will wait for 2025 though. If you could provide any new info on this soon to be release would be appreciated! Thankyou.
Black Edition should include ACC with stop and go, 360cam or at least a front trail cam, center front parking sensors, passenger seat height adjustment, hill descent control... hopefully when they redo the ridgeline they include these.. also it should have over 8 inches of ground clearance and the cargo bed should be at least 20 inches deep... all this would make the Ridgeline perfect.
The black editions adds more feature to the back center console like climate controls with USB-A and USB C charging ports
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The trailsport edition should contain over head fog lights bars . A portable tent for outdoors activities. Also a over head. roofrackstorage container for rugged out door storage. 20" 245/60/R20 wheels and tires package. 3" liftkit to increase ground clearance and height 👏 due to the fact its called the truck version of performance that honda has designed. Even though it's considered convenient. But a foldable honda flat roller trailer should be designed as well for large appliances that may not fit on the 5 foot truck bed... or the trailer could be used for camping 🏕
Keep in mind that 2023 Pilot is a generational platform update and 2024 Passport and Ridgeline are just refreshes of old platform. I hoped Ridgeline would get the same platform update after 7 years but all manufacturers seem to stretch truck generations to 6-12 years now. I don't expect a true platform upgrade for Passport/Ridgeline until 2026, but that's my opinion only, not based on intel of any repute.
Smallest insignificant complaint ever, but I’m looking for ways to dye the orange trim 😬 only part we don’t like, looking for a TS Pilot for the wife first :)