VTEC with a bed

[Sijray21]

Despite feeling like a sheeple (or a quintessential suburban homeowner dad), I bought a new 2019 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E in Obsidian Blue. Back to Honda and VTEC I go. I’ve been debating with which vehicle to replace the GTI for a while now and pulled the trigger yesterday. Acquiring the z3 last year threw my initial plans of a sporty hatch/wagon back to the drawing board as it gave me a cheap(er) fun car to drive and tinker with as a project. A mid-sized truck was ideal for a utility fitment into the fleet to compliment the roadster and my wife's wagon and this one is the best fit for what I plan to do with it.

The truck is nice, like really nice. The steering is clearly of a larger vehicle, but not over bearing. I'm still getting used to the width, turning radius, and wheelbase when maneuvering in tight spaces. The features really make this a pleasant experience and I've yet to really master much of the tech yet. I haven't tried the ACC yet, I hope to never test the safety stuff, and I already don't like the aggressive lane keep assit.

I also haven’t daily driven an automatic transmission since the Titan in early 2010 and I forgot how nice it is in stop/go traffic. I do find this strange when I think about it, but when I do drive an automatic I tend to just cruise as opposed to trying to find the open spot and gain a better spot in the rat race line; maybe this is good for my overall driving demeanor. The suspension is cush and this thing is q-u-i-e-t. If I don’t turn on any music it’s eerily quiet. The handling is what it is; responsive for its size, slightly heavy, and yet numb. The engine feels strong and throttle is nice. It gets out of its own way except when in eco mode where it feels like I put it in limp mode. The seating is comfortable and not bolstered. The interior space was a big selling point and had plenty of room in the cab for both rows, probably because it's pretty much a pilot with a bed instead of a third row. It feels like I’ve given up a little getting this nicer suv/truck/car thing and beautifully I don’t really care about the stigma. This thing will be useful and hopefully pretty reliable pending my maintenance.

Only future additions I can think of are a tonneau cover, bicycle rack mounts for the bed, and some all weather mats, but that’s about it. Maybe those extended door checks for the rear doors, but not planning to do much with this car/truck aside from drive and use it.