New 2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport HDD Redesign, Specs, Review – Americans love our pickup trucks. Our pickup trucks are a great choice for moving all kinds of equipment, from sports equipment to campers and race cars to building materials for our next DIY project. Pickup trucks are great for moving heavy items and cleaning up after them. Half-ton trucks are growing in size. The midsize market has trucks that can be moved easily and have an eight-foot bed. The 2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport, a midsize vehicle, is an exceptional player in this market.
Source: autoevolution.com
Every other truck on the market is an old-school, body-on-frame design. Honda’s Ridgeline stands out as a unibody. A unibody truck is supposed to ride better, be stiffer, and be capable of towing and hauling a reasonable amount. Honda sent me a 2022 Ridgeline Sport equipped with the new-for-2022 HPD package to see how it performed as a truck.
2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport HDD Redesign
This 2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport comes with the HPD package. This is the fourth-generation Ridgeline. Honda has taken the Ridgeline’s styling to a completely new direction than the Pilot-esque design of previous years. This is a more trucky and squared-off design, which is important for people who have their identity wrapped in a utility car.
The HPD package gives the 2022 Ridgeline an extra flair. The HPD package includes a set of unique 18″ bronze HPD wheels, black plastic flares, a front grille, HPD decals, and a tailgate badge with the HPD badge. The HPD’s look is great, but it comes at a high price for the number of stickers, wheels, and plastic.
Engine
The Honda J-series V6 is the same engine that powers every 2022 Honda Ridgeline. It’s a 3.5-liter version that produces 262 lb-ft and 280 horsepower. The power and torque are sent to all four wheels via a nine-speed torque converter automatic. All 2022 models include Honda’s iVTM4 all-wheel-drive. While the Ridgelines were previously available as front-wheel-drive trucks, they are not available for purchase. The i-VTM4 system can send as much as 70% of the truck’s power backward, with all of that 70% being allocated to one of two rear wheels. It is said to work in conjunction with several drive modes to ensure that you can move well enough on off-road trails. It is not possible to find a locking differential or low-range gearbox.
Firestone Destination LE2 tires are available, regardless of whether you have the HPD package. Do not be deceived by the chunky tread blocks around the edges. They are mainly for display and may help with gripping a hair. They’re not only for all-seasons but also for all-terrains. My 2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport came in at $48,860 MSRP. If I were buying, I would skip the HPD goodies to move up a trim, to the RTL. You could get heated leather seats, blind-spot monitoring, and a moonroof for the same price.
Towing Capacity
Every 2022 Honda Ridgeline has the same towing capacity as its drivetrain. Your 2022 Ridgeline can tow 5,000lbs regardless of trim level. Payload is a complicated topic. Every manufacturer has a maximum payload. This can decrease if you add an Option to your build sheet. Honda claims that the maximum payload is 1,583 pounds. My basic Sport’s doorjamb sticker indicated 1,543 pounds. All models include a standard transmission cooler for heavy-duty applications.
Source: autoevolution.com
Maximum tongue weight of 600 lbs is included in the tow rating for 5,000 pounds. This is 12 percent more than what you would get with American trailers.
Gearbox & Transmissions
Honda doesn’t include a trailer brake control, nor do they offer one as an option. However, the wiring harness is hidden under the dashboard and the glovebox has a pigtail so that you can wire it in yourself. For my towing test, I used a Tekonsha ProdigyRF. It plugs in between the Ridgeline’s seven-pin connection and the trailer’s seven-pin connection. To put the 2022 Ridgeline together, I borrowed a friend’s steel open-deck trailer as well as a 1974 BMW 2002 from another friend. The total weight was approximately 4,300 pounds. The Ridgeline was a great tow vehicle. The V6 produces peak horsepower at 6,000 RPM and maximum torque at 4,700 RPM. To tow with great authority, you will need to rev the engine hard. But if the J35 V6 is allowed to sing, it can still hustle and sound good.
The transmission gearing is well-placed and the nine ratios keep the V6 in the best place possible. The transmission in “S”, (Sport) worked better for me. instead of let’s-make-the-EPA-happy Drive. S allowed me to either allow the transmission to do its job – which it did – or I could use my eyes and anticipate traffic and power requirements, controlling the gears using paddle shifters. The paddles responded to my inputs, allowing me to control the car with both hands.
Suspension
The brakes were solid with good initial bite, stopping power, and good pedal travel. The suspension was able to handle the trailer weight and tongue weight with ease, despite the presence of expansion joints and large bumps. Honda’s payload and tow ratings have a caveat. This is the same caveat that applies to everything with a hitch or a payload capacity. However, most manufacturers don’t discuss it. The Ridgeline’s cab can hold fewer people than it can haul. Honda offers useful information about the maximum trailer weight and tongue load depending on how many passengers you have. Assume that each passenger is 150 lbs and that 17.6 lbs of cargo have been placed in the bed. Have a look at these photos:
New 2022 Honda Ridgeline Sport HDD Specs
The truck market is very competitive, regardless of whether it’s midsize (like this Ridgeline), or large. You can only do so much with a cab and a bed and a hitch. Honda has done a lot to make the Ridgeline stand out, but in practical ways that can be used every day. The in-bed trunk was well-designed and protected from the elements. It can hold two 17-inch wheels without tires. You can fold the back seats against the back wall of the cab, but if you lower them, there is still an open “tunnel” underneath the seats to store weekend bags and other cargo. There are many other storage options in the cabin, including an enormous console between the front seats.
Source: autoevolution.com
Safety
The Ridgeline’s climate control panel is a bit odd. It advertises a three-zone climate system, with separate controls for fan speed and rear temperature. The Ridgeline was very hot and the HVAC was set to “low” for seven consecutive days. However, I believe the climate panel is also shared with the Odyssey and Pilot, which have more vents in the second row. I think the Ridgeline’s rear passengers will be able to control their temperature and fan speed from the vents at the back of the center console.
Interior
The 2022 Honda Ridgeline’s most distinctive feature was the ride quality. Ram’s full-size trucks are notoriously uncomfortable to drive, and this is something society accepts as “a truck problem.” Ram uses a combination of air suspension and coil springs to improve the comfort of their trucks. It works better than leaves. The Ridgeline is a coil-sprung unibody design that Honda elevates pickup truck ride quality. The Ridgeline feels unloaded like a car’s ride and crossover-like in its handling. Although you won’t be cornering in your Ridgeline truck, it is one of the most composed trucks on the market via an on-ramp.
Exterior
The 2022 Honda Ridgeline truck is very popular and is all that buyers want. There is a segment that requires a half-ton truck or larger. If you have an open trailer and a racecar, the Ridgeline can be used as a tow vehicle. However, your weight must not exceed 650 pounds. The Ridgeline is a good choice for average truckers. It can haul air and is capable of doing normal tasks. Americans are image-conscious and will always have a subset who associate their truck with themself. This group will criticize the Ridgeline as a Honda, Ridgeline, sharing a platform and minivan with, or because it looks “too soft” even when equipped with the HPD package. This small group can pogo-stick over expansion joints or slow down to make curves on roads. They’ll miss out if they need to tow more than 5,000 pounds or travel far, far away.
