Compare the2022 Chevrolet ColoradoVS 2022 Honda Ridgeline

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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Both the Colorado and Ridgeline have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Colorado has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Ridgeline’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Colorado are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Colorado’s standard pretensioning seatbelts also sense rear collisions and remove slack from the front seatbelts to help protect the occupants from whiplash and other injuries. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Colorado offers optional OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Colorado and the Ridgeline have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, collision warning systems, lane departure warning systems and rear parking sensors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Colorado is safer than the Honda Ridgeline:

	Colorado	Ridgeline
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Colorado is safer than the Honda Ridgeline:

	Colorado	Ridgeline
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	22	93
Hip Force	180 lbs.	246 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	46	70
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	14 inches
HIC	227	456

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The Colorado’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Ridgeline’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are almost 3 times as many Chevrolet dealers as there are Honda dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Colorado’s warranty.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Colorado third among midsize pickups in their 2021 Initial Quality Study. The Ridgeline isn’t in the top three.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Chevrolet vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Chevrolet above average in initial quality. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Chevrolet vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Chevrolet above average in long-term dependability. With 21 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

Engine

The Colorado’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 28 more horsepower (308 vs. 280) and 13 lbs.-ft. more torque (275 vs. 262) than the Ridgeline’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

The Colorado’s 2.8 turbo diesel produces 107 lbs.-ft. more torque (369 vs. 262) than the Ridgeline’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Colorado gets better mileage than the Ridgeline:

			MPG
Colorado
	RWD	2.8 turbo 4-cyl. Diesel	20 city/30 hwy
		2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	19 city/25 hwy
		3.6 DOHC V6	18 city/25 hwy
	AWD	2.8 turbo 4-cyl. Diesel	19 city/28 hwy
		2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	19 city/24 hwy
Ridgeline
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	18 city/24 hwy

The Colorado has 1.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Ridgeline (21 vs. 19.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Brakes and Stopping

The Colorado stops much shorter than the Ridgeline:

	Colorado	Ridgeline
70 to 0 MPH	174 feet	195 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	122 feet	129 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Colorado has larger standard tires than the Ridgeline (255/65R17 vs. 245/60R18). The Colorado’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Ridgeline (265/60R18 vs. 245/60R18).

The Chevrolet Colorado’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Honda Ridgeline only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

Suspension and Handling

The Colorado has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Ridgeline’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Colorado Extended Cab’s wheelbase is 3.1 inches longer than on the Ridgeline (128.3 inches vs. 125.2 inches). The Colorado Long Box Crew Cab’s wheelbase is 15.3 inches longer than on the Ridgeline (140.5 inches vs. 125.2 inches).

The Colorado Long Box LT Crew Cab 4x4 handles at .78 G’s, while the Ridgeline RTL-E pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Colorado Short Box Z71 Crew Cab 4x4 executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Ridgeline RTL-E (27.6 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 28 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Colorado Extended Cab’s turning circle is 2.1 feet tighter than the Ridgeline’s (41.3 feet vs. 43.4 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Colorado Long Box Crew Cab has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Ridgeline (8.1 vs. 7.64 inches), allowing the Colorado to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Colorado Short Box ZR2 Crew Cab’s minimum ground clearance is 2.36 inches higher than on the Ridgeline (10 vs. 7.64 inches).

Chassis

The Chevrolet Colorado may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs up to about 450 pounds less than the Honda Ridgeline.

The front grille of the Colorado uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Cargo Capacity

The Colorado Crew Cab shortbed has a much larger cargo box than the Ridgeline shortbed (41.3 vs. 33.9 cubic feet).

The Chevrolet Colorado offers an optional EZ-Lift and Lower, which prevents the heavy tailgate from falling with a crash and causing injury. It allows adults and children to easily open and close the tailgate with one hand to better facilitate loading and unloading. The Honda Ridgeline doesn’t offer a tailgate assist.

The Chevrolet Colorado has a standard CornerStep (not available ZR2), which allows for much easier access to the cargo area. The Honda Ridgeline doesn’t offer a rear cargo step.

The Colorado has bed indentations that accommodate 2x4’s for two-tiered loading to help accommodate diverse loads; the Ridgeline doesn’t offer two-tiered loading. The Colorado also has indentations to separate the cargo box into three different sections length-wise.

The Colorado has stake post holes, to allow the containment of tall, light loads. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer stake post holes.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Honda Ridgeline is limited to 5000 pounds. The Colorado Crew Cab offers up to a 7700 lbs. towing capacity.

The Colorado 4WD can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Colorado can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Ridgeline can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Servicing Ease

The Colorado uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Ridgeline uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The engine in the Colorado is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Ridgeline. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because there are no rear spark plugs and the accessory belts are in front.

Ergonomics

The Colorado’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Ridgeline does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The power windows standard on both the Colorado and the Ridgeline have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Colorado is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Ridgeline prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Colorado’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Colorado’s optional power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Ridgeline’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

Model Availability

The Chevrolet Colorado comes in extended cab and crew cab bodystyles; the Honda Ridgeline isn’t available as an extended cab.

The Colorado is available in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Economic Advantages

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Chevrolet Colorado will be $220 to $6372 less than for the Honda Ridgeline.

Recommendations

Car and Driver performed a comparison test in its May 2019 issue and the Chevrolet Colorado Short Box Z71 Crew Cab 4x4 won out over the Honda Ridgeline RTL-E.

Motor Trend selected the Colorado as their 2016 Truck of the Year. The Ridgeline was Truck of the Year in 2006.

The Chevrolet Colorado outsold the Honda Ridgeline by almost two to one during the 2021 model year.