Honda's Ridgeline SEMA concept will likely provide more clues about the 2017 model.
There’ll be plenty of interesting concept vehicles taking a bow at the annual SEMA Show in the coming week, but few are likely to draw as much attention as one set to appear on the Honda stand.
That’s because we’ve seen nothing but sketches and teaser images of the reborn Honda Ridgeline until now. And the customized pickup set to debut in Las Vegas should be pretty close to what the actual midsize pickup is going to look like when it finally makes its official debut next year.
The best look we’ve gotten so far is this rendering released during the Chicago Auto Show last February. It revealed a four-door, short-bed pickup much closer in design to the trucks Honda’s competitors are now offering.
The original Ridgeline, you’ll undoubtedly recall, was a much more radical vehicle, Honda aiming to emphasize the fact that its pickup was crossover-based, rather than opting for the traditional body-on-frame design used by other brands.
The 2017 Honda Ridgeline will continue to go with a crossover platform, but this time the Japanese maker is going with a more classic look meant to emphasize its ruggedness and capabilities.
How well will it stand up to the likes of the updated Toyota Tacoma or the recently relaunched Chevrolet Colorado? Well, we’ll have to wait to hear more at the official Ridgeline introduction, but Honda is clearly dropping a hint with the SEMA Show car, which it is describing as the Ridgeline Desert Race Truck.
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“The Ridgeline Desert Race Truck will offer a first look at the styling direction of the highly anticipated 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup. The ‘racing Ridgeline’ also marks Honda’s re-entry into Honda Performance Development (HPD)-powered factory off-road racing,” Honda noted in a release ahead of the SEMA Show.
The production version of the Ridgeline is expected to be motivated by a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V-6 – shared with the Pilot. In the truck, it should make something on the order of 260-horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque.
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As with the new Tacoma and Colorado models, don’t be surprised if the 2017 Honda Ridgeline is limited to a crew cab only.
Sadly for potential buyers, the annual SEMA aftermarket convention is limited to industry-types. But you won’t have to wait much longer to get a better look at the Honda truck. The Ridgeline is on the schedule to make its official public debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November.
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The new Honda pickup appears to have fortuitous timing. After years of steep decline, the midsize pickup market has suddenly shown new signs of life, in large part driven by the arrival of competitive new product. Toyota and Chevrolet, as well as GMC, with the Canyon, have redesigned their offerings, and Nissan is readying a replacement for its outdated Frontier, as well. Whether there’ll be enough growth to handle them all remains to be seen.