AUTOBUZZ WITH STAN RISENER OF KCAUTOSOURCE

2006 Honda Ridgeline

Published 09/15/2005

It's an over simplification to say that many sport utility vehicles were simply pickups with a passenger box replacing the bed, but most "body on frame" SUV's do share platforms with an existing pickup truck line. So did Honda take a popular "unibody" SUV and simply replace the box with a bed? Of course the answer is no, but there are certainly similarities between the Honda Pilot and the new 2006 Honda Ridgeline pickup.

Platform sharing is common in the industry because it allows a manufacturer to take existing engineering and develop multiple, similar but separate models from a common platform.

Almost all pickups are built with a ladder type frame that provides a strong foundation for the engine compartment, cab and bed to rest. Separate from the cab, a variety of beds can be interchanged on a traditional body on frame pickup, including flat beds, utility beds, stake beds and pickup beds of various lengths. This is not available with the Honda. With the body on frame design structural rigidity is a function of the foundational frame rather than dependent on the body.

Newer cars and crossover sport utility vehicles rely on the entire body structure to provide foundational rigidly. This allows a manufacturer to produce vehicles that are lighter, more fuel efficient and often safer than the traditional body on frame design.

Developing a unibody truck from the Honda Pilot platform was a much more difficult task than simply opening up the bed. Structural rigidity, a crucial element in reducing noise vibration and harshness, is compromised when sheet metal is removed to open up a pickup bed. Honda answered this challenge by essentially constructing a boxed frame underneath, adding multiple cross supports to the undercarriage.

I like the 2006 Honda Ridgeline. There is nothing offensive about the truck. I'm just not sure it's a truck. I know that four door trucks with full size back seats are all the rage but for me a truck should be a truck. The 2005 Honda Ridgeline is a great sport utility vehicle with a truck bed rather than a work truck. Which begs the question of why I wouldn't just buy the Honda Pilot? Honestly, the Honda Ridgeline confused me all week long.

Choices are limited with the 2006 Honda Ridgeline. Whereas GM, Dodge and Ford offer a dizzying variety of weights, box lengths, widths, engine and drive configurations, Honda has a one size fits all solution. With the 2006 Honda Ridgeline you get a four-door, five-foot bed, six-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive automatic transmission pickup. You may choose one of three trim levels.

Exterior styling is very truck like except for the odd unibody bed connected to the cab look. The grill is strong and masculine and fenders are exaggerated bulges. The cool lockable, below the bed trunk, has a nifty drain hole so that you can ice down several cases of your favorite beverage for the next Chiefs tailgate party. The five-foot bed will carry a sheet of plywood but 17" will stick out past the lowered tailgate. With an optional hitch the 4,500 pound 2006 Honda Ridgeline can tow up to 5,000 pounds. Driving and handling is so car-like you will think you are in a Honda Pilot rather than a pickup. The renowned Honda 3.5 Liter V6 engine provides 247 horsepower and 245 lb. ft. torque.

The interior of the 2006 Honda Ridgeline is just as distinctive as the outside with big beefy "D" rings to pull the doors shut and lots of storage spaces. Big instrument gauges and oversized mirrors were reminders that this was not an ordinary Honda. My test vehicle was the fully equipped RTL package. Lacking only Navigation and a sunroof this package topped out at $32,040 including the $550 destination charge. A very well equipped base RT is available for $27,700 plus destination.

The 2006 Honda Ridgeline is a truck for those who want a four-door, four-wheel drive truck that is not really a work truck. The Honda Pilot is one of my favorite sport utility vehicles so there is no question that this derivative pickup will please a limited segment of the truck market.