Honda appears poised to deliver a new look for its 2024 Ridgeline pickup truck if these fresh spy shots are to be believed. This mystery prototype caught on public roads bears all the hallmarks of a light-refresh-in-testing, but could it be the TrailSport variant Honda teased last year? Given that the Ridgeline is due for replacement, one would be wise to temper expectations for anything too wildly off the beaten path, but fortunately for Honda fans, that’s where the TrailSport is right at home.
It’s important to note that “TrailSport” means different things depending on the age of the Honda you’re looking at. The 2023 Pilot TrailSport, for example, gets an upgraded, torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system and a new trail-specific drive mode. It is also equipped with a new tire: a Continental TerrainContact A/T. The package offered on the 2022 model year Pilot and Passport (both of which were still built on Honda’s last-gen platform, just like the Ridgeline) came bundled with Firestone Destination LEs tires and offered some basic, off-road-oriented upgrades. In short, it was an appearance package with some vaguely knobby rubber.
This prototype leans more toward the latter than the former, which is what we’d expect from a refresh. The Ridgeline already benefits from Honda’s enhanced all-wheel drive, so it doesn’t need the new platform to unlock that capability. Plus, the Firestones were already standard fare for Honda’s pickup. The camouflage on this prototype covers the front and rear bumpers, both of which would likely be replaced with parts designed for (or at least to give the impression of) additional approach/departure clearance.
All of this would be consistent with the packaging of TrailSport models on Honda’s older platforms — but because the Ridgeline was already ahead of the rest of its siblings in capability, we can’t call it a lock. All we can say with a reasonable degree of certainty is that Honda has something in the works for its aging pickup, and judging by its state of completion, we won’t have to wait long to find out exactly what it is.
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