Honda is carrying out a facelift on the Ridgeline, a medium-sized pick-up that we actually do not know at all in the Netherlands. A shame, especially since the Ridgeline is a special model by nature.
The Acty, based on the Daihatsu Hijet, is the only pick-up that Honda has on its international menu, next to the Ridgeline. The current second-generation Ridgeline was presented in early 2016, meaning that 2020 sees Honda as the perfect year to facelift the car. The renewed version peeks into the world a little more aggressively, something that is partly due to the new, larger LED headlights. The Ridgeline gets a new grille, a modified front bumper and a new silver-gray design element that optically dips into the headlights from the top of the grille. The design of the rear is not changed except for the rear bumper.
The remaining exterior changes are quite minor. Honda gives the Ridgeline new 18-inch wheels and increases the track width at both front and rear by 2 centimeters. New is the Honda Performance Development package, which includes wide black plastic wheel arch edges, bronze-colored wheels, stickers and a more pronounced grille to the model. The changes in the interior are limited to the arrival of a new infotainment system, a copy with one physical button with which you can adjust the volume.
Under the newly designed bonnet is a 280 hp 3.5 V6, a V-Tec machine that is standard linked to an automatic transmission with 9 speeds. What makes the Ridgeline so special? Where the majority of pick-ups are placed on a ladder chassis, the Pilot-related Ridgeline has a self-supporting body. That is something we hardly ever see in the Ridgeline segment, where cars like the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier operate. Not only is a self-supporting chassis unusual in the Ridgeline segment, we hardly ever see it in the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux segment below and the class above in which the Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado operate.