R U Kidding? A Honda Ridgeline Type R?

We admit it; the Honda Ridgeline is an excellent vehicle.  Kind of like the way the Whirlpool WRF535SWHV side-by-side is an excellent refrigerator (Honda Fridgeline, anyone?).  While both are competent and well screwed together, neither is likely to peg your personal fun meter.  Until now.

A few days ago while speed-walking Cletus, his 18-year-old Finnish Spitz, Parksplug photographer Balsey Wingo, Jr. caught sight of a vehicle about which we had only heard rumors–the Honda Ridgeline Type R.

The R’s styling cues are, as you can see from the photo, borrowed (or perhaps brazenly snatched) from the Civic Type R, and the truck sits low enough to scrape oil stains off your driveway.

Our friend, Honda expert and part-time hearse detailer Ajax Korpf, has heard rumors that a detuned version of the Civic R’s turbocharged 2.0 liter four lies under the Ridgie’s sloping hood (think slightly fewer horsepower but more torque).  

Korpf adds the RRidgie is more suitable for runs to Office Depot than Home Depot. “It can’t pull a trailer because of the three center-mounted exhaust pipes, and payload is roughly equivalent to a that of a Roomba.”  

The owner’s manual for the Whirlpool WRF535SWHV fits in the bed just fine, however.