The Ridgeline also comes with only one engine, a 3.5-liter V-6 paired to a six-speed automatic (the Pilot’s nine-speed gearbox is not available here). But we might argue that it doesn’t need another one. Honda’s V-6 makes 280 horsepower, versus 250 previously, and 262 lb-ft of torque, up from 247. Those 280 horses put it mid-pack in this group (with the GM twins on the high side, at 305 with their V-6, and the Frontier on the low end, at 261); Honda’s peak torque is the lowest, but not by much, trailing the Toyota and GM V-6s by less than 10 lb-ft, the Nissan by 19.
At the test track, however, all of that was academic. The Ridgeline blasted to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 15.2 at 93 mph. That smokes the Tacoma, which laid down a 7.9-second zero-to-60-mph time and a 16.1-second quarter-mile at 91 mph in our most recent test of a V-6 Limited 4x4. The Honda also was a full second quicker than the more powerful Colorado to 60 mph, and beat it in the quarter-mile as well. Subjectively, though, the Honda doesn’t always feel particularly muscular. Driving up gentle grades, you have to get your foot well into the throttle before there’s a downshift, giving the impression that the Ridgeline struggles to maintain speed. But mash the gas—when, say, jumping out into fast-moving traffic—and the Ridgeline roars ahead.
The Ridgeline also leads the field in its roster of available active-safety features, with adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, lane-departure warning, and blind-spot warning. All of those, however, are reserved for the RTL-E and Black Edition. During our time with the Ridgeline, the forward-collision warning had a couple of freak-outs, with especially curvy roads triggering false alarms from oncoming traffic.
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