10 Features That Make the Honda Ridgeline Unlike Any Other Truck

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline is worth buying as a daily driver because it combines crossover-like ride comfort with genuine midsize pickup utility, standard Intelligent Variable Torque Management ( i-VTM4®) all-wheel drive, and a proven 3.5-liter V6 engine. Delivering an EPA-estimated 21 mpg combined alongside a 5,000-pound towing capacity, it provides a smoother daily commute and far more interior passenger room than traditional body-on-frame trucks.

Midsize truck buyers frequently face a compromise between day-to-day comfort and truck capability. Standard pickup trucks built on rigid truck frames often bounce over road imperfections, feature cramped rear seating, and offer limited weather-protected storage. The 2025 Honda Ridgeline solves this issue by leveraging advanced unibody engineering that cushions highway commutes while offering smart bed solutions like a lockable trunk and dual-hinged tailgate.

For drivers navigating suburban routes or commuting from Gretna on rain-slicked highway stretches, standard all-wheel drive and independent suspension deliver confident traction and car-like handling. Inside, a spacious five-passenger cabin features generous legroom and versatile cargo configurations under the rear seats.

Whether you need a quiet daily commuter during the workweek or a capable tow vehicle for weekend lake trips, exploring our new Honda Ridgeline inventory is a great starting point. You can also view our broader new vehicle inventory, check out current pricing and financing information, or complete an online credit application to streamline your purchase process. If you want to compare body styles across our vehicle lineup, take a look at the new Honda Passport, the new Honda Pilot, or family crossovers like the new Honda CR-V and new Honda CR-V Hybrid.

Table of Contents

• How Does Unibody Construction Give the Ridgeline a Smoother Ride than the Toyota Tacoma?
• What Unique Bed and Tailgate Features Make the Ridgeline Unlike Any Other Truck?
• How Do the Sport, RTL, TrailSport, and Black Edition Trims Differ on the 2025 Ridgeline?
• What Kinds of Trailers Can the Ridgeline’s 5,000-Pound Tow Rating Handle?
• How Does the Ridgeline Handle Winter Driving, Tri-Zone Climate Control, and Cabin Tech?
• Common Questions About the 2025 Honda Ridgeline
• What Routine Maintenance Keeps Your Ridgeline Reliable?

How Does Unibody Construction Give the Ridgeline a Smoother Ride than the Toyota Tacoma?

Unibody construction integrates the truck frame and body into a single rigid structure, allowing the 2025 Honda Ridgeline to utilize fully independent front and rear suspensions that absorb road bumps better than the solid rear axles found on competitors like the Toyota Tacoma. This setup eliminates truck-bed hop over uneven pavement and dramatically lowers cabin noise and vibration.

Traditional midsize pickups rely on body-on-frame architecture with leaf springs or live rear axles. While effective for extreme rock crawling, that design often results in a stiff, skittish ride on paved highways. The Ridgeline utilizes approximately 45 percent high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel in its unibody architecture, providing exceptional torsional rigidity that keeps the chassis planted during cornering.

Under the hood, every Ridgeline features a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter direct-injection i-VTEC V6 producing 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. Power flows through a smooth-shifting 9-speed automatic transmission, delivering linear acceleration without the lag or frequent gear hunting common in small turbocharged four-cylinder engines.

Drivers switching from a traditional car or sedan will feel instantly at home behind the wheel. If you are comparing body styles or searching for pre-owned transportation options, take a look through our general pre-owned inventory or browse our selected pre-owned sedans.

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What Unique Bed and Tailgate Features Make the Ridgeline Unlike Any Other Truck?

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline sets itself apart from every other midsize pickup with its industry-first Dual-Action Tailgate, a lockable In-Bed Trunk®, and a lay-flat composite bed wide enough to hold four-foot sheet goods between the wheelwells. These features transform how owners store gear, load heavy cargo, and use their truck bed.

The Dual-Action Tailgate hinges both at the bottom to fold down traditionally and at the left side to swing open laterally like a door. Swinging the tailgate open allows you to step closer to the bed floor, making it significantly easier to load heavy items or reach into the trunk without leaning over a dropped tailgate.

Beneath the composite bed floor sits the lockable In-Bed Trunk®, providing about 7 cubic feet of secure, weather-tight storage. Equipped with a built-in drain plug, this compartment serves as a secure toolbox, wet gear locker, or tailgating ice chest. Additional cargo highlights include:

• A flat composite bed floor constructed from UV-stabilized, scratch-resistant fiber-reinforced material.
• Approximately 50 inches of flat floor width between wheel arches, allowing four-foot-wide plywood sheets to lay flat.
• An available 150-watt/400-watt AC trunk-bed power outlet for running electric power tools, lights, or entertainment devices.
• Heavy-duty tie-down cleats rated to secure up to 350 pounds each.

Trim pricing starts with a base MSRP of $40,150 for the Sport trim ($42,050 for Sport+), $42,980 for RTL ($44,880 for RTL+), $45,380 for the trail-ready TrailSport ($47,280 for TrailSport+), and $46,750 for the top-tier Black Edition, with a standard $1,395 destination charge across the lineup.

When evaluating your current vehicle to upgrade into a new truck, you can quickly evaluate your vehicle’s value using our online trade-in valuation tool, or browse value-oriented pre-owned choices like our used vehicles under $20,000.

2026 Ridgeline Pricing

Pricing by trim

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How Do the Sport, RTL, TrailSport, and Black Edition Trims Differ on the 2025 Ridgeline?

The four core trims of the 2025 Honda Ridgeline— Sport, RTL, TrailSport, and Black Edition—differ primarily in seating materials, off-road equipment, interior comfort features, and exterior styling packages. All four models come standard with the 3.5-liter V6 engine, 9-speed automatic transmission, and i-VTM4® all-wheel drive.

When shoppers walk around our showroom floor to compare trims, they usually want to see how the cabin materials and chassis upgrades step up across the lineup. Here is how each model compares:

• Sport: Serves as the well-equipped base model, featuring 18-inch alloy wheels, tri-zone automatic climate control, cloth seating, a 9-inch Display Audio touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™, and the complete Honda Sensing® safety suite.
• RTL: Adds everyday luxury with leather-trimmed seats, heated front seats, a 10-way power driver seat with memory, a power moonroof, power-sliding rear window, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and Blind Spot Information System ( BSI).
• TrailSport: Engineered for off-pavement excursions with an off-road-tuned suspension, standard steel oil pan guard, 18-inch Pewter Gray wheels wearing General Grabber™ A/T Sport tires, synthetic leather seating with orange contrast stitching, and power-folding side mirrors.
• Black Edition: Represents the flagship luxury model with exclusive black exterior accents, 18-inch gloss-black wheels, red ambient interior lighting, ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, and a 540-watt 8-speaker premium audio system.

If you like customizing your vehicle with utility gear or protecting your truck bed, you can shop Honda Genuine Accessories directly through our online parts store. You can also explore efficient commuter choices like our new Civic Hybrid options.

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What Kinds of Trailers Can the Ridgeline’s 5,000-Pound Tow Rating Handle?

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline comes standard with a 5,000-pound maximum towing capacity and a heavy-duty integrated frame receiver hitch with a 7-pin connector across every trim level, allowing it to easily tow small powerboats, utility trailers, camper trailers, and horse trailers.

A 5,000-pound tow rating is ideal for real-world recreational towing. Combined with a standard payload capacity of up to 1,583 pounds depending on trim, owners can confidently haul a loaded bed while pulling equipment behind the vehicle.

Common trailers the Ridgeline handles with ease include:

• Single-axle utility trailers carrying lawn equipment, ATVs, or motorcycles.
• 20-foot aluminum or fiberglass ski boats, pontoon boats, or personal watercraft trailers.
• Lightweight single-axle travel trailers and pop-up teardrop campers.
• Enclosed cargo trailers loaded with household furniture or construction materials.

Standard safety hardware keeps every towing setup secure. Every model includes 4-wheel disc anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, Emergency Stop Signal, and Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™) which automatically initiates emergency braking above 3 mph to reduce frontal impact severity. The system operates across low and high speeds and includes pedestrian and cyclist detection.

If you are planning your next truck purchase and want to lock in a specific trim or color coming from the factory, you can easily reserve a vehicle online.

Safety & Driver Assistance

Safety and driver-assistance features by trim

All trims, including Black Edition, RTL AWD, RTL+ AWD, Sport AWD, Sport+ AWD, TrailSport, and TrailSport+, come standard with comprehensive safety features such as ABS, Isofix preparation, height-adjustable front and rear head restraints (2 in front and 3 in rear), and pre-tensioned, height-adjustable front seat belts for both driver and passenger. Rear seats are equipped with three 3-point seat belts, all of which are standard across all trims, as are rear driver and passenger seat belts.

Emergency call and an accident data recorder are also provided as standard features on every trim, ensuring quick response and data capture in the event of an incident. The anti-collision system included on all trims is the Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™), which activates brake lights and seat belts, and provides automatic emergency braking.

This anti-collision system functions at speeds as low as 3 mph and operates effectively above 78 mph (130 kph), above 30 mph (50 kph), and below 30 mph (50 kph). It also includes pedestrian and cyclist avoidance capabilities, making it a comprehensive safety suite standard on every trim level offered.

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How Does the Ridgeline Handle Winter Driving, Tri-Zone Climate Control, and Cabin Tech?

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline excels in severe winter conditions thanks to standard i-VTM4® all-wheel drive, Intelligent Traction Management with dedicated Snow mode, standard remote engine start, and standard tri-zone automatic climate control.

When winter road conditions worsen, the i-VTM4® system actively monitors wheel speed and steering angle, sending up to 70 percent of engine torque to the rear wheels and distributing up to 100 percent of that torque to either individual rear wheel. Engaging Snow mode recalibrates throttle response and gear shifts to minimize tire spin on icy surfaces.

During cold winter mornings in Lincoln, standard remote start pre-heats the cabin before you open the door. The standard tri-zone automatic climate control allows the driver, front passenger, and rear seat occupants to set independent temperatures. On RTL and higher trims, heated front bucket seats provide fast warmth, while the TrailSport and Black Edition add a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats.

Inside the cabin, driver technology includes:

• A 9-inch Display Audio touchscreen with intuitive pinch and swipe capability.
• Wireless Apple CarPlay® and Android Auto™ smartphone integration.
• A 7-inch color driver meter display with steering-wheel-mounted controls.
• Wireless phone charger pad on select trims and multiple USB charging ports in both rows.
• Standard Honda Sensing® featuring Adaptive Cruise Control ( ACC), Lane Keeping Assist System ( LKAS), and Road Departure Mitigation ( RDM).

If you are open to exploring various pre-owned family vehicles, feel free to check out our pre-owned inventory of pre-owned SUVs.

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Common Questions About the 2025 Honda Ridgeline

Q: Does the 2025 Honda Ridgeline come standard with all-wheel drive?

Honda’s i-VTM4® all-wheel drive system, standard on every 2025 Ridgeline, includes Intelligent Traction Management with selectable modes tailored for Normal, Snow, Sand, and Mud terrains.

Q: Can a 4-foot by 8-foot sheet of plywood lie flat in the Ridgeline’s bed?

Yes, the Ridgeline’s bed features minimal wheelwell housings, creating a flat floor width of approximately 50 inches that allows 4×8 building materials to lie completely flat on the bed floor without resting on top of the wheel arches.

Q: What is the fuel economy rating for the 2025 Honda Ridgeline?

The 2025 Honda Ridgeline achieves an EPA-estimated 18 mpg city / 24 mpg highway ( 21 mpg combined) on Sport, RTL, and Black Edition trims. The TrailSport trim is EPA-rated at 18 mpg city / 23 mpg highway ( 20 mpg combined) due to its aggressive all-terrain tires and off-road tuning.

Q: How does the TrailSport trim differ from the standard Ridgeline models?

The TrailSport trim is equipped with an off-road-tuned suspension with retuned springs and dampers, a steel oil pan protection guard, 18-inch Pewter Gray wheels wrapped in all-terrain tires, power-folding side mirrors, and exclusive orange interior ambient lighting and seat stitching.

Q: What driver-assist safety features are standard on every 2025 Ridgeline?

Every 2025 Ridgeline includes standard Honda Sensing®, which features Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (CMBS™), Road Departure Mitigation ( RDM), Adaptive Cruise Control ( ACC), and Lane Keeping Assist System ( LKAS).

If you are researching alternative body styles or light-duty work trucks across various model years, explore our selection of pre-owned trucks.

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What Routine Maintenance Keeps Your Ridgeline Reliable?

To keep your 2025 Honda Ridgeline performing reliably over the long haul, follow the vehicle’s onboard Maintenance Minder system for scheduled engine oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, transmission fluid drains, and rear differential fluid services.

The Maintenance Minder system automatically monitors driving conditions, engine operating temperatures, and vehicle speed to calculate remaining oil life. When a service code appears on your driver display, bringing your vehicle to factory-trained technicians ensures your engine and i-VTM4® drivetrain receive Genuine Honda fluids and filters designed specifically for your truck. You can review our helpful Maintenance Minder service codes guide to learn what each main code and sub-code indicates.

Routine maintenance milestones for the Ridgeline typically include:

• Engine Oil & Filter: Changed when indicated by the Maintenance Minder system (typically every 5,000 to 7,500 miles).
• Tire Rotation: Performed with every oil change to promote even tread wear across all four all-wheel-drive wheels.
• Rear Differential Fluid: Serviced periodically to keep torque-vectoring rear clutches cool and properly lubricated.
• Brake System Inspection: Inspected regularly to verify pad thickness, rotor condition, and brake fluid health.

Our team at Honda of Lincoln is ready to support you through every mile of vehicle ownership. You can easily schedule a service appointment online, give our service team a call at (402) 437-1200, or visit our showroom on Yankee Hill Road to experience the Honda Ridgeline in person.

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