2024 Honda Ridgeline Preview: Now with 100% more TrailSport!

The 2024 Honda Ridgeline is getting the TrailSport treatment along with a number of key interior updates for the entire lineup.

The big news is obviously the new Ridgeline Trailsport, which 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 gets a unique grille insert complete with Pewter Gray finishing, a color also on the special-to-TrailSport 18-inch wheels and lower fascia garnish. Below that is added steel underbody protection. The Diffused Sky Blue paint seen here is a TrailSport special, first seen on the Pilot and now Ridgeline and Passport. Judging by our time driving the Pilot TrailSport in this color, people dig it. That said, it would be nice if Honda offered a new, special TrailSport color every year the way Toyota does for its TRD Pro trucks and SUVs.

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. Ultimately, the Ridgeline TrailSport seems like it’s going to be a big hit among those considering a Ridgeline, but it does feel like Honda could’ve gone just a bit further here as the Ridgeline is a pickup rather than a family SUV.

As for the entire 2024 lineup, “RIDGELINE” is now stamped in huge font across the dual-action tailgate. It’s a suitably truck thing. There was previously very little trucky about the Ridgeline’s last-gen Pilot interior, and that’s still the case. Honda did make updates, however, to improve the cabin and address owner complaints.

The last-gen Pilot’s minivan-like center console and seat-mounted armrests are gone. While the huge floor-mounted bin was big enough to hide away a substantial purse, customers did not like its sliding garage-door-style cover. It’s gone now (in the new Pilot, too), replaced by a more conventional bin covered with a typical cantilevered cover. It’s considerably smaller than before but still capable of holding a large tablet. On the upside, other center console storage was enlargened. The two cupholders are now capable of holding two 32-ounce Nalgene bottles (attention Nalgene Test fans!), while the phone-holding tray can hold two phones side-by-side with one atop a wireless charger. There’s also now USB-A and USB-C plugs.

2024 Ridgeline interior top/left with 2023 Ridgeline interior (bottom/right)

Up above is a new, larger 9-inch touchscreen that apparently runs a quicker than before. Which is good, because the old infotainment system was old and slow and just not very good. We’re told this is the same software as what’s found in the perfectly adequate new Pilot. The revised Passport also gets this revised software, but not the Ridgeline’s new screen housing, which is recessed by 0.8 inches to create a little grippy ledge to rest your hand against while pressing touchscreen buttons.

Every Ridgeline also gets a new instrument cluster, also shared with the new Pilot, featuring a 7-inch display on the left for the tach and other information, and an analog speedometer.

Pricing was not available at the time of this writing, but we do know that the 2024 Ridgeline will be begin arriving in dealers this December.