Four Seasons Wrap-up: 2006 Honda Ridgeline

So this is how it went for the Honda Ridgeline, from the moment it entered our lives until the day it left, one year later:

Logbook Entry #1 November 29, 2005: On the Ridgeline's first day with us, I drove it straight from the office to a friend's apartment to help move his bed to his new condo across town. A double box spring and mattress fit lengthwise in the bed with the tailgate down. I also folded up the rear seats and we stashed four wheels and summer tires from his Mazda 3 hatchback.

In the next month alone, the Ridgeline's five-foot cargo bed and commodious 8.5-cubic-foot underbed trunk saw groceries, more tires, luggage, a (fake) Christmas tree, cross-country skis, a futon, a Polaris ATV, a 48-quart cooler, and hunting gear--not to mention what wasn't listed in the logbook. That was one month. It went on to carry hundreds of grocery bags, one load of sixteen tires, a La-Z-Boy recliner, thirty cans of paint, three sets of wheels and tires with a jack and two toolboxes, a queen-size mattress and box spring along with a bookshelf and card tables, chairs, lamps, a fridge, coolers, dog crates, more luggage, three mountain bikes, and thirteen bags of mulch.

It's no surprise that we hauled a lot of crap over the course of twelve months. The Ridgeline is a pickup truck. But it was more handy than your average box on wheels. Two things stand out: that weatherproof underbed trunk and the dual-action tailgate. The supreme simplicity and overwhelming usefulness of a trunk in the bed of this clever truck made seemingly everyone who saw it say the same two things: "What took so long?" and "Why doesn't every truck have one?"

Look at the photo directly above to get an idea of exactly how big the trunk is. It easily will hold a dozen grocery bags full of bacon, corralling them securely for the ride home. Its location far aft and up against the cargo-bed floor makes it simple for shorter folks to load and unload. Just the fact that it can contain smaller items that would slide around in the bed of a "normal" pickup truck makes it that much easier to put into use.

Add the everyday usefulness of a tailgate that swings not only down but also out, allowing you to belly up to the very edge of the bed, and you begin to understand the specialness of this trunk. We were also enamored of the lid that lifts with minimal effort and stays in the raised position while you load. It was just as easy to close with one hand and a solid click.

You can see part of the spare tire in the above photo, too. It sits on a tray that you slide out with the tailgate swung open, allowing you to easily free the spare--as long as there's no freight in the trunk or the bed. Not that we ever had the misfortune to try it.

The 60/40 back seats are another example of Honda's thoughtful engineering. Each side releases with the pull of a handgrip, then locks up and out of the way with an easy push. This one-hand operation is probably the simplest method of freeing up cargo space we've ever experienced. When the seats are lifted, you can stick in a bicycle--sans front wheel--east-to-west, locating its rear wheel securely in a slot along the floor. The seat-support legs fold flat against the cushion (see above). When the seats are lowered, the supports are designed to allow a bag of golf clubs to slide underneath; the passengers perched above get an armrest with two cup holders that pulls down from the seatback.