{"id":52256,"date":"2021-10-11T16:35:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T23:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-honda-ridgeline-awd-sport\/"},"modified":"2021-10-11T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T23:35:00","slug":"car-review-2021-honda-ridgeline-awd-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/life\/car-review-2021-honda-ridgeline-awd-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Car review: 2021 Honda Ridgeline AWD Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Honda’s Ridgeline is the perfect vehicle for anyone looking for light-truck versatility and off-road capability while still maintaining best-in-class ride quality and handling.<\/p>\n

My tester was the 2021 Honda Ridgeline AWD Sport, which seats up to five adults, delivers almost 25 miles per gallon down the highway, and includes a handy-dandy swing-gate or fold-down tailgate.<\/p>\n

Ridgeline’s four-foot wide, composite bed is scratch and dent resistant, and wide enough for plywood or drywall sheets to be transported flat. It also includes an in-bed trunk and spare tile assembly that slides out for easy access and use as a work station.<\/p>\n

The Ridgeline is offered in a choice of four trims: Sport, RTL, RTL-E, and Black Edition.<\/p>\n

Powered by a 3.5-liter, VTEC V6 engine with variable cylinders mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission, Ridgeline generates 280 horsepower with a payload capacity of 1,583 pounds and towing capacity of 5,000 pounds.<\/p>\n

Newly standard for 2021, Ridgeline’s i-VTM4 torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system enhances controllability and traction management by automatically sending up to 70 percent of the engine’s 262 lb.-ft. of torque to the rear wheels and continuously apportioning 100 percent of that torque between the left and right rear wheels based on driving conditions at each wheel.<\/p>\n

“Truck enthusiasts have long recognized Ridgeline as an incredibly versatile and capable pickup, and now it’s got the rugged looks to match,” said Art St. Cyr, vice-president of Auto Operations for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The Ridgeline signals a new direction for our light-truck designs, one that more effectively communicates all the hard work that goes into making Honda pickups and SUVs such proficient on- and off-road performers.”<\/p>\n

For those looking to take Ridgeline’s dynamic new styling to the next level, a new package created in collaboration with Honda Performance Development (HPD) answers the call. The new HPD Package ($2,800) adds a unique grille treatment, black fender flares, aggressive bronze-colored wheels, and special HPD graphics on the bed walls.<\/p>\n

Inside, Ridgeline adds a physical volume knob for the audio system, and available wireless phone charging. All Ridgeline trims get new contrast stitching on the seats; Sport trims add new cloth seat inserts; and Sport, RTL and RTL-E trims have new dash, steering wheel and center console accents. Ridgeline’s spacious cabin offers top-class passenger comfort and rear-seat legroom, with a flat floor and foldaway 60\/40-split rear seat bottoms, offering enhanced flexibility for carrying long and tall items in the cabin.<\/p>\n

Creature comforts abound including a premium audio system with seven speakers, multi-view rear camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth, USB ports, tri-zone climate control, steering wheel-mounted controls, push-button start, and a fold-down rear seat center armrest.<\/p>\n

My tester also included an integrated trailer hitch and hardness, LED fog lights, LED headlights with auto-high beam, smart entry with security system, rear privacy glass, 18-inch alloy wheels, and walk away auto lock.<\/p>\n

And what puts Ridgeline over-the-top in the light truck category is its Honda-Sensing driver-assist and safety suite. Honda adds adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation braking system,<\/p>\n

lane-keeping assist system and road departure mitigation safety features at no extra charge.<\/p>\n

And with a base price of $36,490 (without destination charge), the Ridgeline Sport provides value for your hard-earned dollar.<\/p>\n

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline was designed and developed by Honda R&D America in California and Ohio, and is manufactured, along with its V6 engine, at its plant in Lincoln, Alabama using domestic and globally-sourced parts. For the 4th straight year, the Ridgeline ranked in the top 10 in the 2020 Cars.com American-Made Index.<\/p>\n

Base Price: $37,665<\/p>\n

Price As Driven: $40,860<\/p>\n

Destination charge is included in base price. Vehicles are provided by the manufacturer. List price may vary at local dealerships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Larry Lark, contributor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":52257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52256"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=52256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}