Honda entered the world of off-road pickup truck racing several years ago with a custom-built Honda Ridgeline race vehicle. The team was racing in Class 7, without much opposition, but that all changed in November 2023 with the third-generation Honda Ridgeline trophy truck — the one you see here. The premier trophy truck class is one filled with huge V8-powered beasts that produce 1,000 horsepower, ride on 40-inch off-road tires and fly over the desert at mind-bending speeds.
This one-of-a-kind Ridgeline truck is powered by a special version of Honda’s ubiquitous 3.5-liter, twin-turbo HR35TT V6 engine, built by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC, formerly Honda Performance Development/HPD). Honda doesn’t list precise power specifications, but some estimates put this Ridgeline trophy truck’s power output above 550 horsepower. The truck rides on special FOX suspension with 20 inches of front suspension travel and insane 32 inches of rear suspension travel. This Honda is rolling on 40-inch off-road MAXXIS tires.
This trophy truck class is the pinnacle of off-road racing classes in North America. The team budgets are huge and so are the expectations. This truck’s debut at the grueling 2023 Baja 1000 race showed a lot of promise. The truck finished 11th out of 22 trophy trucks and 323 total race vehicles that took part in this race. The team is owned by Proctor Racing Group. The driver was 17 year old Ethan Ebert.
Why move into the hyper-competitive virtually unlimited trophy truck division. Honda representative says that Honda is always very serious about their racing efforts. Honda supplies engines and/or fields vehicles in Formula 1, IMSA, Indycar, and more. Although, they may not be able to win in this class for some time, they are ready to improve their technologies and their vehicle and fight for podium positions in the future. The Honda (HRC / Proctor Racing Group) Ridgeline trophy truck will participate in the 2024 Baja 1000 this November. This is something to pay close attention to.
The Ridgeline trophy truck has a 70-gallon fuel cell tank on board. It’s going up against trophy trucks with naturally aspirated V8 engine nearly twice the size and twice the power, but the Honda truck is looking to gain advantage with their LeMans Series LMP-derived racing twin-turbo V6 engine. One of the advantages is relative fuel efficiency. If Honda can gain an advantage during pit stops – they can surprise many other teams.
Will Honda build a factory production pickup truck to rival the Ford Ranger Raptor or Ford F-150 Raptor? This remains to be seen. Honda is generally conservative and methodical when it comes to their production vehicles. However, their TrailSport off-road lineup of vehicles is expanding and it is getting more aggressive.
Here is our stock Honda Ridgeline HPD off-road test. Actually this truck has a small suspension lift and Kase takes it for an overland trip.
Here is a look at our Ike GauntletTM, the World’s Toughest Towing Test, where we tow a heavy trailer with a stock Honda Ridgeline and some other small pickups.
And finally, if you’re looking for another, more down-to-earth review, we give a more in-depth look on daily living and driving with the latest Honda Ridgeline TrailSport:
