Taking The Honda Ridgeline Off-Road

Something that isn’t talked about enough is the confidence-inspiring capability of the Ridgeline off-road.

When it comes to talking about Honda vehicles, somehow the Ridgeline is often overlooked. The lazy put-down is that it’s a Pilot with a truck bed. The reality is that a Ridgeline is the truck most people need as opposed to the truck they think they need. As comfortable as an SUV on the road, but all the capability a truck owner could need. A Pilot with a truck bed isn’t a put-down, it’s part of the mission statement. It goes a lot deeper than that, but its a good headline before you take a deeper dive into what the Ridgeline is really about.

One of the key components to a recreational truck is its ability to go off-road. Of the few videos out there taking a Ridgeline off-road, this video from the Driving Sports TV YouTube Channel is the best so far.

ALSO SEE: Roadtripping the Honda Ridgeline Black Edition

Driving Sports TV was at the 2018 North West Automotive Press Association’s Outdoor Activity Vehicle of the Year test day, also dubbed as Mudfest.

Host Ryan Douthit hit the challenge course with Honda representative Davis Adams and, from the off, we can see just how much confidence Adams has in getting the Ridgeline off-road. The first thing he has Douthit do is mash the throttle and keep his foot in it while swerving the Ridgeline left to right on loose gravel. What’s remarkable is how undramatic it looks as the torque vectoring kicks in to stop the Ridgeline from spinning around in a big cloud of dust.

The Ridgeline is also as capable when getting into the brown wet stuff. While it may not look as spectacular as rock crawling or deep diving into mud pools, small slippery obstacles, like sunken tree trunks in the mud, are often the thing that will catch you out if the all-wheel-drive system isn’t up to scratch. They’ll also tell you how much fun it is to mash it through mud puddles to get the money shot at the end of the video.

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Ian Wright

Ian Wright has been a professional writer for two years and is a regular contributor to Corvette Forum, Jaguar Forum, and 6SpeedOnline, among other auto sites.

His obsession with cars started young and has left him stranded miles off-road in Land Rovers, being lost far from home in hot hatches, going sideways in rallycross cars, being propelled forward in supercars and, more sensibly, standing in fields staring at classic cars. His first job was as a mechanic and then trained as a driving instructor before going into media production.

The automotive itch never left though, and he realized writing about cars is his true calling. However, that doesn’t stop him from also hosting the Both Hand Drive podcast.

Ian can be reached at bothhanddrive@gmail.com