2021 Toyota Tundra vs 2022 Honda Ridgeline

If you’ve been paying attention to any new truck ads, you’ll likely see items being promoted like a massive touchscreen or even a six-way multi-function tailgate. Like the rest of the automotive industry, the truck segment is charging ahead with many new innovations, incorporating new in-car technologies. But this seems like overkill for a segment whose main purpose is to tow, haul, and get work done.

The window sticker for this Toyota Tundra says “2021,” but its design and underpinnings date back to the mid-2000s. It’s the oldest truck in a segment where companies are constantly one-upping and updating. So does the Tundra’s age hinder it among full-size pickups? Not really. In fact, it might be its best attribute. The Tundra might be an old design, but the engineers at Toyota have kept the Tundra relevant with some key updates and special editions.

Honda isn’t known for pickup trucks, but that means it brings a different perspective to the genre. The 2022 Honda Ridgeline is like no other pickup on the market.

The Ridgeline isn’t just being different for the sake of being different, either. It uses the same unibody construction that gives crossover SUVs greater refinement than traditional models to offer increased comfort and better on-road handling than most pickups.

Since the Ridgeline’s debut, the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick have applied the unibody concept to smaller compact pickups, creating a new niche, but the Honda is a larger vehicle that competes with existing midsize pickups like the Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, and Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon twins.

The Ridgeline debuted for the 2006 model year and the current second-generation version dates back to the 2017 model year. It got a facelift for 2021, so it carries over to 2022 essentially unchanged. Trim levels include the base Ridgeline Sport, midlevel RTL and RTL-E, and the range-topping Black Edition, which is what we sampled for this review.