dom

Admittedly, you got me there. Although I suspect a quick edit after your initial post. I wouldn't want to converse with someone who continually owns me either.

Costco

this is too good





I think a FWD Ridgeline would be a good idea. I had no idea it wasn't available in a 2WD trim, that makes no sense at all. It's not exactly a move downmarket to do so but it opens up the truck to a lot more consumers.

ttribe

Good grief, does this guy run away from EVERY single person who disagrees with him? He keeps this up and his "Ignore List" is going to include every single registered user on this site aside from himself.

Colin

The Ridgeline is still a 1G vehicle. It's not like the 1G Odyssey was a hit either. I'd say this deserves a second 'go around' to see what they can do. If it doesn't start to do better they can kill it like the damn CL.

fsttyms1

ok, let me clarify for you. A transfer case with a real low range. Like a real pickup would have.

fsttyms1

Good, then maybe he would stop replying to everyone's posts arguing with everyone and dumbing up the threads with his honda is the greatest banter

dom

And its now very clear its not being killed. So instead of discussing its sale worthiness lets discuss what they should do with it.

V6 is the only option so we can't expect too much more power. Just make it look good. IIRC I wasn't too impressed with the interior either. Too truckish (if that even makes sense) and a bit low rent. But that was well over 4 years ago.

phile

^ I know what you mean by the interior. it was very imitative of the US trucks in layout, with the shifter stalk on the actual dash rather than a more car-like setup. I was expecting more "Honda-ness". I think the last vehicle prior to the Ridgeline that had such a set up as the first gen CR-V, and by the time Ridgeline came out Honda had clearly moved away from that set up. If the shifter was in the dash, it was more akin to the one on the Honda odyssey where it was on the dash but not attached to the steering wheel column. I remember thinking it was a step backward just to be in the same boat as the US entries. it's like failing a class just to be with the cool kids who were also failing.

Sarlacc

The problem is it was a good (great imo) 1G vehicle...

But SEVEN YEARS later...this thing is past due for refresh. Its under-powered, refreshed styling cues made it worse for wear and its starting to become too late.

Honda needs to shit or get off the pot already.

jnc2000

Agree.

Quite frankly we all know this truck is lacking low end TQ. It's begging for a desiel option, but I don't speculate we'll see that anytime soon. That ship sailed the US shores long ago. That leaves the J-series platform to save the day... but coming in at 4500lbs the truck is quite heavy - lightening the chassis would only lower the GVWR -- lowering the towing and payload.

For what it is the Ridgeline is a phenomenal truck. It has a full time AWD system that performs remarkably well. It has a 1500lb payload capacity which in it's class (MID SIZE) is quite attractive. It can fit comfortably in a garage, and maneuver about a mall parking lot / city street with easy.

Gary Flint - who was the engineer for the 1st Gen Ridgeline has already stated the trucks powertrain is highly optimized... VTM-4 won't sustain much more than 300lb ft of tq.

I don't see Honda building a dedicated RWD system for this truck. So keeping the AWD is the most likely option. Dumping the half-shaft and transfer case would get them laughed at all over the industry.

So what will be Honda's answer to the 2G Ridgeline?

Since 2012 brings us nothing more than a rebadging and a special "Sport" model ... guess we'll have to wait another year.

jupitersolo

That's all Honda meant for it to be, they said from the start, they weren't going to compete with the Big Boys on this. It's a car/suv with a bed.

Sarlacc

And it doesn't have to...but some new sheet metal and 25 more hp, would go a LONG way.

Maybe even figure out how to improve some stuff as well (trunk bed, rear fold up seats for even more room, etc.)

As it stands on its own, its becoming stale.

CarbonGray Earl

Man, I love my ridgeline....that said, I wouldn't buy a new one. I bought my used because a) its cheaper, b) it hasn't changed much.

The lack of power and lack of aftermarket support to make power is pretty annoying, but I can't think of a better truck for mine and my family's needs...

AZuser

More from Honda. Great.

F23A4

Invisible

It's interesting to read articles like this one.

http://www.world.honda.com/design/de.../civic/spirit/

Note in the article, they show the first vehicle Honda introduced was a Pickup Truck. Fanboys are screaming for Honda to return to it's roots.

Invisible

http://www.hondanews.com/channels/co...uel-efficiency

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

How long are they going to keep that design?

Legend2TL

Probably awhile

Invisible

Trucks have much longer lifespans than passenger cars. Take for instance the Ford Ranger that soldiered on for decades. All the Ridgeline competitors are OLDER. Frontier, Colorado, Tacoma...

myron

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't call them competitors at all, ridgeline is useless and those other ones aren't

Invisible

Such as?

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

phile

right...long life spans...trucks like the Mazda B-Series, Mitsubishi Raider, Subaru Baja, Chevy S10, soon to be Ranger. BTW Colorado is only 1 generation old.

dom

I'd suspect the Ridgeline gets updated when the Pilot does. So 2 or 3 more model years.

Moog-Type-S

Came in here to see if it was killed.....not yet.

F23A4

Legend2TL

I was curious how much power and gears some of the competition has.

Silverado 1500
V6 195HP
V8 302HP
both use a 4AT

F150
302 @ 6500 rpm (3.7L V6)
360 @ 5500 rpm (5.0L V8)
411 @ 5500 rpm (6.2L V8)
365 @ 5000 rpm (EcoBoost™)

6AT on all

So the 250HP 5AT on the Ridgeline sits in the middle on the Silverado range HP but at least has another gear but is below the offerings on the F150. That V6 Silverado must be a dog to drive.

Costco

I am still baffled as to why Honda doesn't offer a 2WD variant - a suggestion that has been beaten to death. Perhaps someone in the know could shed some light on that?

I suppose it's to maximize profits? Maybe Honda only intended for the Ridgeline to be a 4WD and don't want to spend more in R&D to make the changes after production began. But Honda seems to be in a great spot as far as pricing goes.... right in line there with compact trucks like the Tacoma when optioned out and still undercutting some competitors in the full-size segment. Maybe in hindsight it would be too little, too late but a lot of people would probably agree with me that Honda dropped the ball on not making 4WD an option instead of standard like they did with the RDX MMC.

As an aside, GM still uses 4ATs and that ancient 4.3 on a 2012 truck? I have no clue, but I'm sure it has it's merits on reuse - to maximize profits by means of lower costs and thus base MSRP. Maybe because it's a reliable engine? I have no clue.... on paper it just looks bad.

biker

^ A 2WD Ridgeline would be FWD - that just would not sell. Everyone else's 2WD truck is RWD.

phile

GM gets away with it though cuz people buy them for patriotic reasons. it's kind of an unfair comparison against Honda, which obviously does not enjoy such an advantage.

i was on a business meeting and one of the clients drives a new Cadillac DTS and he drove us to lunch since his car was the largest and could accomodate all of us. I'm thinking "surely by now they must have revamped this car's interior at least" - nope, same one from my memory of sitting in one at the auto show years ago. So imagine leather seats, cheap plastics, wood veneer, and a tired interior design.

Costco

My qualm is that the Ridgeline edges the border between a pickup and a crossover. Personal experience tells me that it drives like a car with a higher seating position and center of gravity (the ideal crossover, driving experience-wise). Ultimately a 2WD Ridgeline will be cheaper than a 4WD Ridgeline. They could maybe even decontent it to drop the price a bit more, as well as give consumers more options. I mean, it's not like they have to worry about the Ridgeline stealing sales from other similar vehicles in their lineup.

The Ford Ranger is FWD too, last time I checked. I would know because I accidentally peeled out while driving one bad tires and heavy rain will do that. I know a lot of their sales are to fleets which isn't really Honda's thing, but Honda tends to do its own thing anyway.

If you don't need 4WD because your Ridgeline is only going to see pavement, why not get the 2WD for two or three thousand less?

biker

Nope -Ranger, along with all other pickups are RWD in 2WD form. Honda could certainly make a smaller pickup, a la Frontier/Tacoma, but they just don't have the RWD platform for a 2WD version - any pickup they make would have to be 4WD. They could certainly decontent it and make it smaller based on the CR-V, but it would still end up being a 25K truck.

dom

Just a guess but I'd bet that 195HP Silverado still has more payload and towing than a Ridgeline and is favored by companies who need a simple, low cost truck to move stuff around. There's really no point in comparing it to a Ridgeline. Its apples and oranges.

Invisible

Why are people comparing the Ridgeline to a fullsized trucks?

CrewCab versions of the Colorado and Tacoma...are all longer than the Ridgeline for instance.

And about payload. It's interesting to hear myths about payloads. The Ridgeline payload is 1546 lbs.

Take for instance the new Ford Raptor with a 900 lbs payload, or the Avalance with less payload than the Ridgeline.

CrewCab 4x4 versions of the Fullsized trucks are.

1550 Ford F150
1530 Dodge Ram
1671 Silverado
1575 Tundra

Invisible

I also notice the towing on the Silverado 1500 4x4 Crewcab is 5500 lbs.

The Ridgeline is 5000 lbs. Plus Honda's tow rating allows two passengers AND 150 lbs of cargo. Most all other trucks rating is for zero passengers, and zero cargo in the truck.

fsttyms1

the chevy v8s 5.3 and larger get the 6 speed autos

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Who is Honda targeting with Ridgeline trucks? Just curious.

Legend2TL

^ Originally just current/previous Honda owners who owned domestic and other import pickups. Mostly weekend construction and recreational use. Very similar to the marketing approach to the Oddy/Pilot being Accord/Civic owners who owners who had Dodge minivans and SUV's from other manufacturers.

Then the marketing folks decided to gather input from the real pickup truck users, the blue collar crowd. This is were I think the Ridgeline went off course they tried to go after too many different segments of the market. The result of this was the large knobs (alot of workers wear gloves) and controls, the Tonka truck styling, ..

If it had remained more mild in styling would it have been more successful? Who knows, but I think they tried for too many market segments.

Someone above commented it was useless, and that is complete opposite comment that many Ridgeline owners in the AZ forums have said. Edmunds also said the Ridgeline was also a very versatile truck.

It's got some pretty neat features that are unique but the pickup truck market is very loyal and having a ladder frame, V8, and RWD requirements so the Ridgeline from the get go had alot going against no matter how nice and functional it is.

Legend2TL

Yep, but they're only available on the Silverado 2500 also not the 1500.

One of my friends in CO just bought a 2012 Silverado and I was in it recently. Not a hugh surprise but the interior styling of the controls, displays, instrument/center consoles are more GM car bases than truck base. Quite different from the Ridgeline which choose large controls for it's interior. None the less it was a really nice interior in a $45K truck.