Automakers are waiting until late in the year to get their 2024 models priced and shipped. The Honda Ridgeline is no different, finally getting a preview at the beginning of November that didn’t include pricing. Now that the veteran unibody pickup is headed to dealers, it’s time to talk dollars. The MSRPs for 2024 after the $1,375 destination fee, and their differences from 2023, are:
- Sport: $41,125 ($950)
- RTL: $43,955 ($800)
- TrailSport: $46,355 (New)
- Black Edition: $47,725 ($120)
What do the money and the price increases get buyers? For all trims, “RIDGELINE” has been stamped into the tailgate just like we’re used to seeing on so-called “real trucks.” And that’s about it for what’s universally new on the exterior.
Every Ridgeline also gets a new instrument cluster, the same one installed in the latest Honda Pilot, that has an analog speedometer on the right and a 7-inch display on the left for the tachometer and other information. To the right, a new, the previous eight-inch screen grows to nine inches, is recessed by 0.8 inches to create a little grippy ledge to rest your hand against while pressing touchscreen buttons, and rewards button presses with a more responsive infotainment system. We’re told the software’s the same as what’s found in the new Pilot.
Below the instrument panel beltline, the Ridgeline’s former minivan-like center console and seat-mounted armrests are gone. Occupants accessed the huge floor-mounted bin through a sliding garage-door-style cover, and customers didn’t like it. The replacement is a smaller bin and a typical cantilevered cover. The tradeoff is more storage ahead of the bin, on the tunnel console. Its two cupholders are now capable of holding two 32-ounce Nalgene bottles, the phone tray can hold two phones side-by-side with one atop a wireless charger.
The big edit to the lineup is the TrailSport trim sliding into the spot where the RTL-E trim used to be. TrailSport and RTL-E aren’t comparable, the former focused on off-road prowess, the latter an RTL with a few more frills, but the TrailSport is only $250 more than the former RTL-E. The backwoods Ridgeline adapts many of the same elements of the all-new Pilot TrailSport and the recently revealed updated Passport TrailSport. The suspension gets unique spring rates, damper valve tuning and stabilizer bars. The tires are General Grabber A/T Sports — the same all-terrains found on the Passport TrailSport, but different than the Continental TerrainContacts of the Pilot. We were told that the performance of each should be comparable, but that engineers found the Generals were better suited to the last-generation platforms of the Passport and Ridgeline.
Visually, the TrailSport differentiates itself with a unique Pewter Gray grille insert, a color also found on the lower fascia garnish and TrailSport-exclusive 18-inch wheels. The Diffused Sky Blue paint seen here is a TrailSport special, first seen on the Pilot and now Ridgeline and Passport, making a nice contrast with the Pewter Gray steel underbody protection. Ground clearance remains unchanged from the already lifted Ridgeline, while the torque-vectoring i-VTM4 all-wheel-drive system is so good that it’s not surprising that Honda left it alone for TrailSport duty.
Ridgelines are making their way to dealers now.
