2022 Honda Ridgeline Review, Ratings, Specs, Prices, and Photos (2024)

Robert Duffer Senior Editor

October 21, 2021

Likes

• Capable AND comfortable
• Good standard safety and tech features
• Standard AWD
• Roomy crew cab
• Clever truck bed

Dislikes

• Same tow rating as Pilot
• Middling fuel economy
• Cramped infotainment
• Not cheap
• Bronze wheels?

Buying tip

The base Ridgeline Sport comes well equipped; anything more strains the value proposition.

features & specs

What kind of car is the 2022 Honda Ridgeline? What does it compare to?

The 2022 Honda Ridgeline finds familiar footing in a resurgent mid-size pickup segment that attracts shoppers from crossover SUVs as well as utilitarian trucks. Sharing a platform with the Honda Pilot three-row SUV, the Ridgeline squares off against traditional pickups such as the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier, as well as newcomers like the smaller Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.

Is the 2022 Honda Ridgeline a good car?

The 2022 Ridgeline scores a TCC Rating of 6.8 out of 10, thanks to its comfy ride, impressive standard features, and overall utility. (Read more about how we rate cars.)

What’s new for the 2022 Honda Ridgeline?

After last year’s refresh, the 2022 Ridgeline carries over unchanged except a new paint color.

The Ridgeline’s blunt nose and broad grille give it more truck presence than its predecessor, and in back twin exhaust pipes add some growl to all that black cladding over the square wheel arches. An appearance package from Honda Performance Development (HPD) carries over with 18-inch bronze wheels and big black fender flares. The cabin is nearly indistinguishable from the Pilot, with its gear panel in the console and horizontal span of the dash.

The Ridgeline comes standard with all-wheel drive that can handle jaunts down modest trails, but it’s meant more for on-road traction. The 3.5-liter V-6 makes 280 hp and 262 lb-ft of torque. Power comes on later in the rev range, but the 9-speed automatic doesn’t keep the engine there too often. It can tow up to 5,000 lb, and has a payload of about 1,500 lb.

The Ridgeline crew cab comes with a 5.0-foot composite bed with an underfloor cooler and a tailgate that can swing out or down. Despite the trucky innovation, the Ridgeline possesses crossover-like comfort and ride quality thanks to its unibody construction. Rear-seat passengers can stretch out with 36.7 inches of leg room, and front riders can fiddle with a standard 8.0-inch touchscreen with an actual volume knob.

Other standard features on the 2022 Ridgeline include standard automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and adaptive cruise control. It earned a five-star crash rating from the NHTSA, though the IIHS faulted its front-passenger protection.

How much does the 2022 Honda Ridgeline cost?

Sold in Sport, RTL, RTL-E, and Black Edition trim levels, with an HPD appearance package on base Sport models, the 2022 Ridgeline costs $38,115, including $1,225 destination fee. The loaded Black Edition adds upgrades such as navigation, premium audio, and truck-bed speakers for $45,095.

Where is the 2022 Honda Ridgeline made?

In Alabama.

2022 Honda Ridgeline Styling

Is the Honda Ridgeline a good-looking truck?

The 2021 refresh introduced a broader, taller grille spanned by a chrome bar that seems to support a bulged hood. A more squared-off nose flanked by LED headlights gives the truck more muscle than its Pilot-based complement, and that earns it a point as does a calm interior that avoids the massive dash parts of other trucks. It’s a 7.

Down low, a more prominent skid plate separates side vents that funnel air through the bumper and around the front wheels. New 18-inch wheels with a slightly wider track buff up the look in the squared off wheel wells, and in back the rear bumper better exposes twin exhaust pipes.

It works better without the $2,800 HPD appearance package. Its massive black fender flares slap on more cladding than a crossover mimicking the Subaru Outback. We could live with the 18-inch bronze wheels; hold the decals for the desktop version.

Inside, the truck look fades nicely into a crossover feel. A dash mostly shared with the Pilot and Passport crossovers flows horizontally over the pushbutton gear selector in the console. There is no bottomless center storage, nor giant dials or controls, though there is a volume knob and climate buttons. Storage bins abound, but like the rest of the cabin it’s as understated as vanilla. It’s a welcome change from truck interiors that range from basic work trucks from an earlier decade to luxury beasts lined with more material grades than Floor & Decor.

2022 Honda Ridgeline Performance

Decent acceleration and a comfortable ride earn the 2022 Ridgeline points here to a 7.

How fast is the Honda Ridgeline?

The Ridgeline’s 280-hp 3.5-liter V-6 enables it to hit 60 mph in under seven seconds, by our guess, but there’s nothing overwhelming about the 2022 Ridgeline’s performance: It’s modestly quick, modestly capable, and modestly comfortable. The bed in back is an added bonus that doesn’t detract from ride quality and handling as in shakier mid-size trucks built with body-on-frame design.

The unibody Ridgeline is comfortable and smooth on most road surfaces, and the steering provides more road connection than other trucks. Power comes on later in the rev range, but the 9-speed automatic doesn’t keep the engine there too often and it hesitates when downshifting out of overdrive for passing moves at cruising speeds. The V-6 makes 262 lb-ft of torque, enabling it to tow 5,000 lb—same as a Pilot—and has a payload of about 1,500 lb, depending on how it’s equipped.

Is the Honda Ridgeline 4WD?

Every Ridgeline comes with all-wheel drive, but it’s better for on-road grip than off-road capability. A traction management button lets drivers choose between four drive modes—Normal, Snow, Mud, and Rock—that adjust torque between the axles, as well as throttle feel and shift points. Like the Pilot, it can handle modest off-roading detail, but with 7.7 inches of ground clearance instead of 7.3, and a better approach angle.

2022 Honda Ridgeline Comfort & Quality

The Ridgeline puts the utility in sport utility and adds a versatile bed to make it a truck. It earns a point for its comfy front seats, roomy crew cab that seats five, and its bed with a hidden trunk. That makes an 8.

Supportive front seats upgrade to heated and power adjustability on all but the base Sport model; the driver gets 10-way power seats with lumbar support. The roomy crew cab affords 36.7 inches of rear leg room, and it’s possible to fit three passengers back there, as long as lunch boxes are stowed under the seat. When unoccupied, the 60/40-split bench seat flips up to fit a bike, golf clubs, or big dogs that can stuff their heads out of the power-sliding rear window standard on all but the base model.

Behind that, the bed measures about 60 inches long and 50 inches wide, so it’s on the smaller side. There’s no damping on the tailgate, but it can be lowered like normal or swung out like a barn door on the driver’s side hinges. In the floor, and reachable when standing behind the truck, is a lockable trunk with a drain plug that can be used as a cooler or for storage. Top trims get in-bed charging and speakers to rock the tailgate.

2022 Honda Ridgeline Safety

How safe is the Honda Ridgeline?

Honda provides automatic emergency braking, active lane control, and adaptive cruise control on every Ridgeline, earning a point on our scale. Its five-star crash rating from the NHTSA earns it another point to a 7.

The IIHS dinged the Ridgeline for an “Acceptable” grade on its front passenger overlap test that simulates if the truck were to hit a fixed object head on the passenger’s side; the five other tests rated “Good.”

Safety options include blind-spot monitors and automatic high beams.