Compare the2026 Nissan FrontierVS 2025 Honda Ridgeline

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

Safety

© 1999 - 2025Advanta-STAR Automotive Research, all rights reserved. This vehicle comparison and all of the content in it are provided only by license from Advanta-STAR Automotive Research Corporation of America (“Advanta-STAR”). If you are not a legally licensed user of this vehicle comparison, it is against federal law to access it, copy it, forward it, or use it in any manner whatsoever. Any unauthorized use of this vehicle comparison is a violation of U.S. and international law and is punishable criminally and civilly. Removal of this watermark/notification without prior written license and approval received from Advanta-STAR is an agreement, understanding, and/or stipulation by the person(s), entities, agents, attorneys, and any other persons involved in the removal of this watermark/notification (including but not limited to Search Optics, LLC and any and all parent entities, sister entities, and subsidiary entities of Search Optics, LLC and/or any other entity, agent, attorney, and persons related in any manner to Search Optics, LLC) to: 1) an agreed upon amount of liquidated monetary damages of a minimum of $1,250,000.00 US Dollars in favor of Advanta-STAR; 2) the jurisdiction and enforcement of any legal claims associated with this matter asserted by Advanta-STAR in the United States Federal District Court in Portand, Oregon; and 3) service of process of any legal claims asserted by Advanta-STAR associated with this matter may be accomplished by First-Class Postage by the United States Postal Service or comparable service. P5DDX-4CWSY 2a06:98c0:3600::103 2025/10/28

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Frontier have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Ridgeline doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Nissan Frontier has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags help prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Frontier has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Frontier has standard Rear Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Frontier 4x4’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The Frontier PRO-X/PRO-4X offers an optional Around View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Ridgeline only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Frontier’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Ridgeline doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Frontier and the Ridgeline have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available four-wheel drive.

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 Nissan Frontier is safer than the Honda Ridgeline:

	Frontier	Ridgeline
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	58	93
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	14 inches
HIC	351	456

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

Warranty

Nissan pays for scheduled maintenance (up to 3 visits) on the Frontier for 1 year and 12000 miles longer than Honda pays for maintenance for the Ridgeline (2/24,000 vs. 1/12000).

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Frontier’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Ridgeline’s camshafts. If the Ridgeline’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Frontier has a standard 185-amp alternator. The Ridgeline’s 150-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Frontier third among midsize pickups in their 2025 Initial Quality Study. The Ridgeline isn’t in the top three.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan second in initial quality, above the industry average. With 10 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 6th.

Engine

The Frontier’s 3.8 DOHC V6 produces 30 more horsepower (310 vs. 280) and 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (281 vs. 262) than the Ridgeline’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

The Frontier has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Ridgeline (21.1 vs. 19.5 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Nissan Frontier higher (5 out of 10) than the Honda Ridgeline (4). This means the Frontier produces up to 5.2 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Ridgeline every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

The Frontier’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Ridgeline are solid, not vented.

The Frontier stops much shorter than the Ridgeline:

	Frontier	Ridgeline
70 to 0 MPH	183 feet	195 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	122 feet	129 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	136 feet	142 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Frontier has larger tires than the Ridgeline (265/70R16 vs. 245/60R18).

The Nissan Frontier’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.

The Frontier has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your work or a trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Ridgeline; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Frontier King Cab’s wheelbase is .8 inches longer than on the Ridgeline (126 inches vs. 125.2 inches). The Frontier LWB Crew Cab’s wheelbase is 14.6 inches longer than on the Ridgeline (139.8 inches vs. 125.2 inches).

For better maneuverability, the Frontier King Cab 4x4’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the Ridgeline’s (42.4 feet vs. 43.4 feet).

Chassis

The front grille of the Frontier 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 Frontier Crew Cab shortbed has a much larger cargo box than the Ridgeline shortbed (40.1 vs. 33.9 cubic feet).

A low lift-over bed design makes loading and unloading the Frontier Crew Cab easier. The Frontier Crew Cab’s bed lift-over height is 33.4 inches, while the Ridgeline’s liftover is 35.3 inches. The Frontier King Cab’s liftover is only 32 inches.

The Frontier’s cargo box is larger than the Ridgeline’s in almost every dimension:

	Frontier King Cab	Frontier Crew Cab	Ridgeline
Length (short/long)	73.3”	59.5”/73.3”	64”
Max Width	61.4”	61.4”	60”
Min Width	44.5”	44.5”	50”
Height	19.4”	19.4”	16.9”

The Nissan Frontier has a standard tailgate assist feature, 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 Nissan Frontier offers an optional rear cargo step, which folds out and allows for much easier access to the cargo area. The Honda Ridgeline doesn’t offer a rear cargo step.

The Frontier 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 Frontier also has indentations to separate the cargo box into three different sections length-wise.

Payload and Towing

The Frontier’s minimum standard towing capacity is much higher than the Ridgeline’s (6760 vs. 5000 pounds).

The Frontier has a higher maximum payload capacity than the Ridgeline (1590 vs. 1543 lbs.).

Servicing Ease

The Frontier 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 Frontier 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 Frontier’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 Frontier’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Ridgeline’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports rated the Frontier’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Ridgeline’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Frontier’s available headlights were rated “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Ridgeline’s headlights are rated “Marginal.”

The Frontier SV/PRO-X/PRO-4X’s 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.

Compared to traditional radio, the Nissan Frontier’s standard SiriusXM satellite radio provides an unmatched listening experience. Its extensive coverage guarantees consistent, crystal-clear reception across the continental U.S., and access to over 100 channels dedicated to a multitude of genres, including music, news, sports, talk shows, and comedy, many with only limited commercial breaks. Satellite radio is only offered on the Ridgeline RTL/TrailSport/Black Edition.

Model Availability

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

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

Economic Advantages

According to iSeeCars.com the 2025 Nissan Frontier retains 60.44% of its original value after 5 years, more than the 57.65% resale value of the 2025 Honda Ridgeline after five years, which can save the Nissan’s owner up to $4324.25402 in depreciation.

Recommendations

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Frontier third among midsize pickups in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Ridgeline isn’t in the top three.

The Nissan Frontier outsold the Honda Ridgeline by 52% during 2024.

See Available Inventory