2022 Toyota Tacoma vs 2021 Honda Ridgeline

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline underwent a significant redesign, focusing on making it look more like a traditional truck. Honda revamped the front end and added a new rear bumper with exposed dual exhaust outlets. The tires featured a more aggressive shoulder tread, and new wheel designs were introduced in black, dark gray, and bronze. The bronze wheels were part of the new Honda Performance Division (HPD) Package, which also included oversized fender trim, a unique grille design, and bold stickers on the cargo bed. The Ridgeline's interior, modeled after the Honda Pilot SUV, emphasized functionality with generous storage and easy-to-clean hard plastic surfaces.

In contrast, the 2022 Toyota Tacoma, despite its 2020 facelift, started to show signs of aging, especially in the cabin. The exterior maintained a contemporary look with an aggressive grille and headlights. However, the interior featured a mix of new elements like push-button start alongside older buttons and switchgear. The Tacoma offered various trim levels, each adding different features, from the basic SR with 16-inch steel wheels and a 7-inch touchscreen to the range-topping TRD Pro with unique exterior styling, underbody skid plates, and a TRD-tuned suspension.

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline came with a powerful, smooth, and refined 280-horsepower V6 engine, producing 262 pound-feet of torque. It used a nine-speed automatic transmission with Normal and Sport modes to power all four wheels. The Ridgeline's all-wheel-drive system with Intelligent Variable Torque Management (i-VTM4) was standard, featuring torque-vectoring that could send up to 70% of the engine's power to a single rear wheel. Intelligent Traction Management provided Snow, Sand, and Mud settings, but the Ridgeline was not designed for rock-crawling off-roading. It had a modest 7.64 inches of ground clearance and shallow approach, breakover, and departure angles. The Ridgeline offered a maximum towing capacity of 5,000 pounds and a payload rating of 1,583 pounds. It excelled in flat terrain and was remarkably athletic and enjoyable to drive.

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma offered a base 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine with 159 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque, but it was underpowered. The optional 3.5-liter V6 engine, producing 278 horsepower and 265 pound-feet of torque, was recommended. The Tacoma had a maximum towing capacity of 6,800 pounds and a payload capacity of 1,685 pounds. Both engines routed power through a six-speed automatic transmission, with the TRD models also available with a six-speed manual transmission. The V6 struggled to get up to highway speeds due to gearing and transmission issues. However, the TRD Pro excelled off-road, with features like Multi-Terrain Select and Crawl Control, making it a capable trail vehicle.

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline offered a comfortable and functional interior, with manually-adjustable front seats and the roomiest rear seat in its class. More expensive trims included leather seats, heated front seats, a power sunroof, and ambient cabin lighting. The Ridgeline's composite cargo bed was dent- and scratch-resistant, with tie-down hooks rated for 350 pounds each. The bed held 33.9 cubic feet of cargo and featured a power locking dual-action tailgate and a 7.3 cubic-foot weatherproof trunk.

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma was available in Access Cab and Double Cab body styles, with a five-foot or six-foot-one-inch bed. The Access Cab had clamshell rear half-doors and seating for four, with tight legroom in the rear jump seats. The Double Cab offered seating for up to five but still had limited rear-seat legroom. The front seats provided plenty of legroom, but the tilt/telescoping steering wheel did not extend far enough for taller drivers. The Tacoma's bed featured in-bed lighting and a wall-style power outlet.

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline came with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto. Higher trims added features like SiriusXM satellite radio, HD Radio, navigation, voice recognition, traffic information, a premium sound system, and wireless smartphone charging. The Sport trim included Apple CarPlay, making it easy to stream music and find destinations.

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma's base infotainment system was a 7-inch touchscreen, with an 8-inch touchscreen available on all trims except the base SR. The system featured a basic layout with large icons, making it easy to use. The Tacoma also included a wireless device charger, but it required manual activation. The infotainment system was familiar and simple to use, with easy access to Apple CarPlay.

The 2021 Honda Ridgeline came standard with Honda Sensing, a package of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assistance, and lane-centering assistance. The Ridgeline also featured a multi-angle reversing camera, blind-spot warning with rear cross-traffic warning, and automatic high-beam headlights on higher trims. The Ridgeline was built to Honda's Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) crashworthiness standards, earning high safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

The 2022 Toyota Tacoma came standard with driver assistance features such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, and lane-departure warning. Optional features included blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear parking sensors. The backup camera was standard but had a grainy image. The 2022 Tacoma received a four-star overall rating from the NHTSA, with four-star scores in frontal and rollover crash tests and five stars in side crash tests.