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They should have eliminated that inappropriate looking Avalanche bed stylings. It just doesn't work. The dash design is extremely un-Honda and incredibly umimpressive. I'm sure we'll see alot of this truck when it get released, but it certainly won't be a welcome sight.
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Saw the concept Ridgeline at the San Francisco auto show. Never saw a person standing within 15 feet of it while we were looking at the other Hondas. It seems to exude the power to repel all people within sight of it.
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Originally Posted by Stevens24
As long as that H is on the grill it will sell.
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Originally Posted by servo
Saw the concept Ridgeline at the San Francisco auto show. Never saw a person standing within 15 feet of it while we were looking at the other Hondas. It seems to exude the power to repel all people within sight of it.
http://www.photohost.org/gallery/dat...dgelne-med.JPG |
finally, i went to auto show today, and this was a huge disappointment.
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Originally Posted by cusdaddy
Looks worse in real life than the pics:
:agree: X 142567889 All I heard were negative comments. BTW you knew there were 2 more on the floor right? |
:rofl: :rofl:
Originally Posted by servo
Saw the concept Ridgeline at the San Francisco auto show. Never saw a person standing within 15 feet of it while we were looking at the other Hondas. It seems to exude the power to repel all people within sight of it.
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Honda hoping composite bed on new Ridgeline pickup will help increase vehicle's U.S. appeal - - By LINDSAY CHAPPELL | Automotive News - - Source: Autoweek
Honda Motor Co. knows that breaking into the U.S. pickup market this year will be tough. That's why the Ridgeline pickup sports a different technology for its cargo bed. Instead of the standard steel-panel cargo bed, the Ridgeline features a standard rock-hard molded composite box that sits on top of three steel crossbeams. Gary Flint, chief engineer at Honda R&D Americas Inc., says the bed allows Honda to boast a workhorse cargo area that gives customers features the Big 3 don't have. Among them: corrosion resistance, a nonslip surface, a lockable storage area under the bed and a concealed spare tire. "If anything, maybe we went a little overboard in overengineering it," Flint admits. The project was a case of marketing issues driving design, which in turn drove technology. No steel To build a pickup with a trunk beneath the bed, Honda's engineers knew they shouldn't work in steel. A standard pickup bed requires hundreds of steel parts welded together. Adding to that the complexity of an attached steel trunk with moving panels, locks and hinges would have been too expensive with too great a risk for malfunction. Honda's composite bed - with all of its associated parts - consists of fewer than 10 pieces, Flint says. Ironically, the seeds of Honda's technological solution came from General Motors. Honda R&D spent five years tearing down and examining all the competing trucks sold in the United States. The one that caught engineers' fancy was the Chevrolet Silverado/GMC Sierra. Their model came with an optional factory-installed molded composite cargo bed of the type that the Ridgeline now uses. GM gave its dealers the option of marketing that bed or selling their truck customers a less expensive aftermarket cargo liner as an attempt to add aftermarket profits. But dealers ordered few of the factory-installed composite beds, and GM dropped the program two years ago. That left GM's bed supplier, Meridian Automotive Systems Inc. of Dearborn, Mich., with a creative but essentially unwanted technology. Honda has signed Meridian as a supplier. Auto lasagna The material comes together like an automotive lasagna. It starts with a polyethylene film. On that is dispersed a layer of mixed polyester and vinyl resin. On top of that goes chopped fiberglass to a thickness of 40 percent by weight. And on top of that is another layer of plastic film with another later of resin. The material is then flattened and baked at 280 degrees Fahrenheit and extruded into a bed. "This isn't the most cost-efficient way to make a bed," Flint admits. "If you're knocking out 900,000 trucks a year, steel would be cheaper. But that's not our volume target." He estimates that, pound-for-pound, the composite material probably is three times more expensive than steel. The Ridgeline goes on sale in March. It will be built in Alliston, Ontario. |
Hmm...interesting about the bed, but the Ridgeline will likely get redesigned soon since it's not exactly attractive...
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i wonder if its like the new Tacoma's composite bed... a couple of people on tundrasolutions have already cracked their "dent-free" but not crack-free composite bed.
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Originally Posted by CGTSX2004
Hmm...interesting about the bed, but the Ridgeline will likely get redesigned soon since it's not exactly attractive...
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Originally Posted by CGTSX2004
, but the Ridgeline will likely get redesigned soon since it's not exactly attractive...
Maybe in 5-6 or years,......... look at the Pilot, not the best looking but a great seller :2cents: |
Yep. Also this new trucks bed-box will be hard to copy for the bigger domestic trucks. They would have to re-design the drive-train in order to have a big box under the bed.
Originally Posted by jts1207
Maybe in 5-6 or years,......... look at the Pilot, not the best looking but a great seller :2cents:
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I don't know, most pickups have the spare tire mounted under the truck in the same location as hondas trunk so all they would have to do is enclose that whole area in the same way honda has done and put the spare in the enclosed area.
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Edmunds full test.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...icleId=103924# Overall, a very positive review. The part about the towing really surprised me, I'm glad they pointed out that Honda believed in their product enough to compare it to an F-150 with the bigger V8 engine. I didn't know about the heated windshield wiper rest...pretty neat. |
Originally Posted by jts1207
Maybe in 5-6 or years,......... look at the Pilot, not the best looking but a great seller :2cents:
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1st gen acura TL was only 3 yrs long i think 96-98
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Originally Posted by Infamous425
1st gen acura TL was only 3 yrs long i think 96-98
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You know...technically, it's a cool ass pick-up truck. If the Edmund's review is right, it's leading edge. There are, however, three problems:
- It's ugly. I don't find it that ugly personally, but it's definitely not as attractive as a Ram or Silverado. - It doesn't have a V8 or solid axle. With the SUV crowd, you could pull it off. The truck crowd is more like the "I wish I had a Mustang, but needed a truck". - It's foreign. Toyota has been in the truck market for years, and Mazdas have been rebadged Fords. Everything else is an SUV. Honda will have to REALLY win the hearts of buyers for it to take off. All in all, I look for this truck to appeal to the suburban warrior-men that passes the wife-approval-test. Also look for some with dubs. I think it will sell, but in small numbers. I predict in the first year...10-15,000 vehicles total (full year). Still...cool truck. Hell, if the price was right, I'd get one instead of an SUV. |
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so, when is this thing coming out?
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great reviews and it looks good....it's a truck....functionality >*
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Originally Posted by Zapata
....functionality >*
I'll have to check up on the interior volume of both trucks to make sure the writer got that part right. |
2006 Honda Ridgeline - - A revolutionary truck move for a standalone carmaker. - - By Marc K. Stengel - - Source: The Car Connection
So I walked up and said, “I hope you know CPR, baby, ’cause you just took my breath away.” I meant it. At first sight, this was a class act, and I was eager to strike up a relationship. “I like the approach,” came the reply; “now let’s see your departure.” Suddenly, I was yanked out of my reverie and back into reality as R&D engineer Kevin Thelen waxed poetic about the approach and departure angles of the new Honda Ridgeline pickup truck being introduced to auto writers last week inLa Jolla, Calif. There’s a lot of sensory overload bound up in the idea of a pickup from Honda. Yet there it is. With its squared-off front end and wedgy, high-shouldered side panels, it is patently clear that the Ridgeline owes little to the 100-year tradition of pickup trucks in America. Heretofore, building a pickup truck has been a simple matter of constructing a ladder frame at the four corners of which wheels are attached. Then a small, bolted-on box hides the engine up front; a larger box serves as the cabin; and a third, open-topped box in back handles cargo. Trucks are basic, utilitarian, brawny. They’re characterized by gutsy engines and abominable handling. Time for a change The pickup hasn’t changed in decades, and it’s the iconic, quintessentially American vehicle. Europeans eschew ’em; don’t even make ’em. When the Japanese powerhouses Toyota and Nissan decided to confront the Ford/Chevy/Dodge pickup cartel, they opted for the same boxes-on-frame formula. True to its whipper-snapper reputation, Honda eyed the ever-growing North American infatuation with trucks and said, “We want a piece of that.” Upon which declaration Honda promptly threw away the century-old design paradigm and started from scratch with a blank sheet of paper. Ridgeline is the iconoclastic result. Ridgeline more or less dispenses with the three-box/ladder-frame concept. Instead, there’s a rigid, base platform into which a monocoque or unibody engine-bay/cabin/cargo-bed structure has been integrally welded. This renders the Ridgeline an incredibly rigid vehicle — some 20 times stiffer than traditional trucks in “torsion” terms (i.e., twisting forces) and 250 percent stiffer in bending terms. Myriad payoffs result from this novel approach. Ridgeline can afford to be smaller in certain dimensions without sacrificing essential capabilities. The Ridgeline is a full 18 inches shorter than a Ford F-150, for example; yet its five-passenger cabin space is virtually identical. And whereas traditional pickups typically depend on large-displacement V-8s for their towing and payload chores, Ridgeline makes do with a 3.5-liter V-6 enhanced by Honda’s now legendary VTEC variable valve timing. The proof is in the driving. For medium-duty towing — up to 5000 pounds — Honda’s Ridgeline was as gutsy and sure-footed during its media debut as the 5.4-liter Ford F-150 pulling an identical load nearby. And with a full payload of 1100 lb in addition to occupants on board, it is every bit the “half-ton” pickup that represents the benchmark for American imaginations. Thanks to impressive stiffness, moreover, the Ridgeline sets benchmarks of its own. In slalom runs with and without maximum payload, the Ridgeline’s handling was razor sharp and scarcely different in either condition. Meantime, rivals like Ford’s Explorer Sport Trac and Toyota’s Tacoma impersonated wallowing whales toting identical loads through identical twists and turns on the slalom course. Close enough? This is not to say the Ridgeline perfectly impersonates a full-size pickup. Its bed is shorter, for one thing—only five feet long. But without encroaching wheel wells, the cargo space is truly a flat-sided box, and it swallows four-by-eight-foot plywood sheets when the tailgate is lowered. There, Honda’s concession to traditional chore lore ends and new versatilities begin. That tailgate, for example, will either open downward or to the side, unlike any other in the biz. And when it’s lying flat, the tailgate is strong enough to support the heavy, bouncing loads that often have to extend beyond the short cargo box. Then, just because it can, Honda has specifically configured the steel-reinforced, composite-molded and dent-proof bed surfaces to nest a full array of Honda products like motorcycles, ATVs, lawn mowers and power generators. Cheeky, eh? Under the cargo bed lies another surprise. The Ridgeline solves the age-old problem of cargo security with an 8.5 cubic-foot lockable trunk at the rear of the bed. That’s enough waterproof space for three golf-bags’ worth of valuable tools or toys. There’s even a plug for draining ice water from the impromptu “tailgater” beverage cooler into which this space so invitingly converts. Even cheekier, no? Inside, the folding 60/40 rear bench affords additional cargo storage. With the three-person seat in use, there’s a 2.6-cubic-foot tool trough molded into the floor under the seat bottom. But if the bench is folded flat, 41.4 cubes reveal themselves. All told, the Ridgeline puts more than 52 cubic feet of storage under lock and key, in addition to the 35-plus cubic feet of open-air cargo-bed capacity on hand. Four-wheel independent suspension and anti-lock disc brakes ensure sports-car manners unlike any traditional pickup’s. The Ridgeline marries this handling precision to a full-time “VTM-4” all-wheel-drive powertrain with locking rear differential and computerized “VSM” stability control. In foothills northeast of Southern California’s Torrey Pines National Forest , the Ridgeline scaled 23-degree ridgeline slopes, crossed calf-deep streams and negotiated obstructive rocks and berms. For all of the infelicities of the trail, however, nary a squeak nor groan emanated from the Ridgeline’s innovative unibody cockpit. This and its many other novelties, on the other hand, are likely to represent the Ridgeline’s severest challenge. In a world long accustomed to traditional trucks with their dated-but-familiar charms, Honda will not only have to educate customers about its truck’s unprecedented capabilities. It will also have to seduce folks into an unfamiliar paradigm with a better pickup line than merely, “Hey, wanna see my Ridgeline?” 2006 Honda Ridgeline Base price: $28,000-$32,000 (estimated) Engine: 3.5-liter V-6, 255 hp/252 lb-ft Transmission: Five-speed automatic, all-wheel drive Length x width x height: 206.8 x 76.3 x 70.3 inches Wheelbase: 122.0 inches Curb weight: 4498 lb Fuel economy (EPA city/hwy): 16/21 mpg Safety equipment: Dual front airbags, side airbags and side curtain airbags; anti-lock brakes; stability control Major standard equipment: AM/FM/CD player; power locks/windows/mirrors; air conditioning; tire-pressure monitor Warranty: Three years/36,000 miles |
Sometimes being "too good" hurts sales. I hope that wont be the case with the Ridgeline.
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I just watched the videos of the Ridgeline hosted on vtec. I do find one problem...when the guy opened up the trunk, the spare tire that's also hidden there is visible. There should be a sliding cover, only for aesthetic reason. It's fairly deep so I wouldn't worry about groceries rubbing against the spare tire, but still a slight oversight from Honda IMO.
The center console is deep and there's even more room than you thought when looking at the pics. When he slid the cover to reveal yet another well underneath the top compartment, I was pretty surprised. |
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Wow...TCC really liked the Ridgeline. If Honda can convince non-traditional truck buyers and maybe a small portion of traditional truck buyers to buy into the Ridgeline, this truck could be a winner.
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i need to see one with 24's before making full judgement.
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Originally Posted by Infamous425
i need to see one with 24's before making full judgement.
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This truck will sell b/c its a Honda and loyal fans will buy. Hell, I think the ugly, useless Element sells 100k a year in volume. But it will become the joke truck to the public (it already has) and that will hurt its image tons.
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But it will become the joke truck to the public (it already has) and that will hurt its image tons. It's obviously not a joke to the industry, it's got nothing but rave reviews so far... :toocool: |
Honda RidgeLine Pricing Announced
2006 Honda Ridgeline Truck Pricing Starts at $27,700 Well-Equipped
Innovative four-door truck with In-Bed Trunk(TM) delivers class-leading safety features and four-wheel drive as standard equipment on all models Torrance, Calif. 02/03/2005 -- American Honda Motor Co., Inc. today announced pricing for the all-new Honda Ridgeline truck, scheduled to make its debut at Honda dealerships nationwide on March 1. The 2006 Ridgeline will be available in three trim levels starting with the well equipped RT, the fully featured RTS and the luxury-oriented RTL. Prices will range from $27,700 for the RT up to $31,490 for the RTL. RTL models may also be equipped with a Moonroof, XM Satellite Radio and Honda's satellite-linked Navigation System with Advanced Voice Recognition. "Honda is entering the truck market with a product that delivers a combination of performance, features, value and refinement unique in the truck segment," said Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda. "The Ridgeline has all the utility of a half-ton truck while maintaining the fundamental Honda qualities of being fun-to-drive, environmentally responsible and safe, with characteristic Honda dependability, quality and reliability." All Ridgeline models will come with a long list of standard comfort and convenience features including the most comprehensive list of standard safety equipment in its class. In keeping with Honda's industry-leading 'Safety for Everyone' initiative, all Ridgeline trucks are equipped with standard anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Assist with Traction Control, advanced dual-stage, dual-threshold driver's and front passenger's Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) airbags, driver's and front passenger's side airbags (passenger side with Occupant Detection System), two-row side curtain airbags with rollover sensor and a tire pressure monitoring system. Additional standard features on all Ridgeline models include a 255-horsepower VTEC V-6 engine; 5-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission; advanced Variable Torque Management four-wheel drive system; air conditioning; tilt steering wheel; power side windows, power sliding rear window and door locks; cruise control; keyless entry; automatic heated wiper zone; 6-speaker 100-watt audio system with CD player; 60/40 split lift-up rear seat with underseat storage; all-weather floor mats; 5-foot cargo bed with six heavy duty tie down cleats and 4 bed lights; an 8.5 cubic foot secure, lockable In-Bed Trunk(TM); and dual-action tailgate. All models also come equipped ready to tow with standard transmission and oil coolers, heavy duty brakes, dual radiator fans, an exclusive fresh air intake system for improved towing performance in hot weather conditions, and pre-wiring for 4- and 7-pin trailer hook up. The Ridgeline RTS adds alloy wheels, a seven-speaker 160-watt audio system with subwoofer and six-disc, in-dash audio system with steering wheel controls, dual zone automatic climate control and an eight-way power driver's seat. The Ridgeline RTL adds leather seating surfaces, HomeLink(R) remote system, an interior compass in the rearview mirror and heated front seats and an available power moonroof. Models with the power moonroof are equipped with standard XM(R) Satellite Radio and are available with the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System. The mid-size Ridgeline introduces a number of innovative and exclusive new features to the half-ton truck segment including a secure, lockable In-Bed Trunk with room enough to store a 72-quart cooler, three sets of golf bags or other bulky items under the pickup bed; a dual action tailgate that allows for easy loading and unloading of the In-Bed Trunk and truck bed; and the segment's first fully independent four-wheel suspension. Its unique body architecture, featuring two fully-boxed longitudinal frame rails and seven high strength steel cross members in a unitized body construction, delivers vastly superior body rigidity and provides the foundation for the Ridgeline's spacious interior cabin and bed, outstanding safety performance and class-leading ride and handling performance. 2006 Honda Ridgeline Highlights * Four-Door Cab Design with spacious 5-passenger seating and re-configurable second row seating for people and/or cargo * 5-foot Steel Reinforced Composite (SRC) bed with six integrated heavy duty-tie down cleats and 1100-pound (1/2-ton) bed payload capacity, with minimal wheel well intrusion and dual action tailgate * Secure, lockable In-Bed Trunk * 255-horsepower, 3.5-liter SOHC VTEC V-6 engine with 252 lb.-ft. of torque * EPA fuel economy ratings of 16/21* for city/highway driving with a 22-gallon fuel tank and a maximum driving range of 462 miles * Integrated closed-box frame with unibody construction offers up to 20 times the torsional rigidity of traditional body-on-frame truck designs * Best-in-class 1,550-pound total vehicle payload capacity * Independent front and rear suspension for improved ride and handling * True 5,000 lb. towing capability with standard transmission and steering coolers with trailer pre-wiring factory installed * Advanced VTM-4 four-wheel-drive with lock mode and medium duty off-road capability 2006 Honda Ridgeline Pricing Trim Level Ridgeline RT - $27,700 Ridgeline RTS - $30,075 Ridgeline RTL - $31,490 $32,640 with Moonroof and XM Satellite Radio $34,640 with Moonroof, XM Satellite Radio and Navigation System |
Impressive in every way except the price... I thought trucks were ridiculously cheap. Can this thing compete?
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The specs are good but the styling is bad, it could use a V8, and the price is high. All in all I can't see it being a big seller.
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Originally Posted by goldmemberer
Impressive in every way except the price... I thought trucks were ridiculously cheap. Can this thing compete?
It can compete pricewise with comparably equipped trucks. In fact, I think its cheaper than a tacoma v6 with similar options. You guys cant compare a 4 banger, single cab, no options base truck to the ridgeline which already comes with tons of options included. |
If I were in the truck market, I'd have a hard time choosing anything other than an F-150. After seeing the daily abuse our F-150 takes at work and how well it holds up I'm seriously impressed. The range goes from $21,900 for a 4.2L v6 to $36,800 for a fully pimped out King Ranch edition.
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http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...rive/intro.jpg First Drive: 2006 Honda Ridgeline
By: Mike Magda, Editor Posted: 02-02-05 00:05 PT © 2005 PickupTruck.com Page: [1] [2] [3] [Interview] There’s a story of a pharmaceutical company in the ‘30s or ‘40s that developed an antiseptic cream that didn’t sting when applied to a cut. The manufacturer thought this medical marvel would be welcomed in every household. No more iodine or other inflaming ingredients that made children cry and adults cringe. But consumers didn’t buy the new antiseptic. They had been brought up by their mothers’ sage-like wisdom that explained: “The stinging means the medicine is working.” The message was simple, effective and deeply entrenched in young minds. So later in life, no one believed the state-of-the-art antiseptic was killing germs and preventing deadly infections. Legend says the company added a dab of alcohol to the formula. When customers started feeling a little burning, the trust returned. I wonder if Honda will have to inject a little “sting” into the new 2006 Ridgeline because customers will find the ride so pleasant that they won’t think the truck is really “working.” Who will believe that a unibody pickup with 4-wheel independent suspension, transverse-mounted V6 and all-wheel-drive that runs in front-wheel-drive most of the time can work like a truck? We’ve all been conditioned from early childhood that trucks have body-on-frame construction, separate cab and cargo box, live rear axles, north/south V8 engines and part-time 4-wheel-drive that runs mostly in rear-wheel-drive. http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...ive/ridge7.jpg What’s more telling, every generation of truck engineers for the past 100 years has been instructed that’s the only way to build a pickup. It’s an inexpensive, easy-to-assemble vehicle that is highly profitable, and manufacturers are not willing to change that cash-generating strategy. They point to past failures, like the ’61-’63 integral cab-box Styleside pickups from Ford. Honda wasn’t bound by tradition when it assembled a small, tightly-knit group of engineers in Ohio and assigned them to build a pickup. There were cost considerations and the truck had to conform to certain Honda guidelines in safety, performance and durability. But these engineers had an open mind and clean sheet of paper when they decided to design a personal-use pickup with enough truck-like ability to meet the majority of tasks required by families. This isn’t a hardcore work truck numbed down with plush leather seats and booming stereos that is marketed to urban warriors. It was designed to first meet the needs of commuters and soccer dads, then toughened up to handle towing and payload demands of mainstream recreational owners. Bottom line: the design and execution works. This truck doesn’t “sting” but preliminary indications are it “works” better than promised. http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...ve/ridge17.jpg I drove the Ridgeline—and some competitive vehicles—along twisty roads and over semi-rugged hills in Southern California. I towed 5000 pounds through a lane-change course and hauled 1100 pounds through a sweeping autocross course. There’s no doubt in my mind that driving impressions alone will sell this vehicle to shoppers looking for refinement, utility, handling and ride comfort, especially if they’ve owned a pickup before or are in the process of cross shopping. The Ridgeline is very quiet, reasonably responsive and undeniably smoother than any other pickup on the market. But there are tradeoffs with the Ridgeline, as any experienced truck customer will discover. The first problem is finding a direct competitor. The Ridgeline is unlike any other truck. It is in a class by itself. But Honda is clearly targeting owners of the Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Chevy Avalanche in addition to 4-door models from Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Dakota, Nissan Frontier and Chevy Colorado. Honda also mentions the Ford F-150, if only to acknowledge the sales leader and to show how it can measure up in certain categories to a fullsize half-ton pickup. At just under 4500 pounds, the Ridgeline is much more nimble than a Ford F-150 SuperCrew 4x4 that weighs in at over 5500 pounds. But the SuperCrew is rated to tow up to 9200 pounds with its V8 engine. The Ridgeline is not as spirited and off-road capable as a Tacoma DoubleCab 4x4, but it has more interior volume and extra storage options. The Dodge Dakota is much more stylish than Ridgeline, but the Honda offers a brilliant navigation system and standard side-curtain airbags. The Ridgeline will fit the exact needs of many pickup customers and meet the demands of most others who don’t require severe-duty capability. Yet there is no pickup equal on the market when it comes to on-road manners and expanded utility in the bed. Key to this remarkable balancing act is a solid frame and body structure. Honda starts with a closed-box, ladder frame, and then integrates into a reinforced unibody. The rear cabin panel is beefed for two reasons: protecting occupants from sliding cargo in the bed and adding stiffness and rigidity to the overall chassis. Honda claims the Ridgeline chassis is 20 times stiffer in torsional rigidity than the “best performing body-on-frame compact truck” and has bending rigidity that is 2.5 times stiffer. Early reports on the Ridgeline speculated the truck would be a Honda Pilot with a bed. Not true. The Ridgeline shares only a handful of parts with the Pilot. The frame channels alone are 70 percent taller than the Pilot. The suspension design is based on the Pilot, but the components are beefed up considerably and altered as necessary to handle the extra payload and towing stress. The front suspension is a MacPherson strut arrangement while the rear is a multi-link with trailing arm. Teamed with the stiffer chassis/body, this suspension offers a quiet, controlled ride that beats any competitive claim that their truck rides like a car. For an extra measure of safety and performance, Honda offers most of its high-tech innovations: 4-channel ABS, electronic brake distribution, brake assist, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) and Traction Control System (TCS). Currently the only pickups that offer an electronic stability control are Toyota with its Vehicle Stability Control (VSA+ TRAC) and Nissan with its Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC). These systems are designed to manage the throttle and apply brake pressure to selective wheels to assist the driver in regaining control during certain situations. http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...ve/ridge13.jpg As you can see, cross-shopping the Ridgeline will require some education into Honda’s technology and vernacular. Like the VTM-4 all-wheel-drive. This is a fully automatic system that distributes torque to the wheels as needed. For the most part, the truck is driven in front-wheel-drive for fuel economy. The prop shaft to the rear turns as does the ring and pinion, but there’s no open differential in the rear housing. Instead, there is a clutch on each side of the ring gear connecting to a half shaft that turns the respective rear wheel. A computer can engage the clutches when needed to vary the torque distribution front and rear or left to right side. During hard acceleration, torque is sent to the rear wheels to help keep the front from breaking loose. The computer also senses front wheel slip and adjusts the power distribution to the rear as needed. The driver can put the VTM-4 in a lock mode for medium-duty off-roading. At low speed, the maximum amount of rear torque is locked in. The Ridgeline is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 rated at 255 horsepower at 5750 rpm and 252 lb-ft of torque at 4500 rpm. The engine has numerous high-tech features such as variable valve timing and dual-stage intake manifold. It’s certainly one of the cleanest pickup engines with a ULEV rating (ultra-low emissions vehicle). Underneath is a 5-speed automatic transmission. Inside the cab, the Ridgeline’s interior is one degree of separation from a Honda Odyssey. There are few if any traditional pickup cues on the dash. Even the center console looks as if it was lifted from a minivan. The cab is extremely functional, spacious and comfortable. There are plenty of storage options, and the rear 60/40 seat folds up to support cargo as large as a mountain bike. Sound options are not impressive but certainly accommodating with available XM satellite and available 160-watt, 7-speaker audio system. Honda also offers a satellite-linked navigation system with voice recognition on a large 8-inch display. Truck owners, however, want to know about cargo hauling and towing when it comes to trucks. The Ridgeline features a 5-foot-long composite bed that is supported with three steel crossmembers. The inside of the bed is covered with a non-slip surface. The bed was certainly designed to make motorcycle owners feel special. There are guides for the front wheels in the front of the bed, and the six tie downs are positioned to secure motorcycles. The bed is just over 48 inches wide, so it passes the obligatory 4x8 plywood test. Total payload rating for the Ridgeline is just over 1500 pounds. The bed doesn’t have provisions for 2-tier loading or cargo dividers. In the minds of Honda engineers, those are stop-gap measures. They used the extra space under the bed that was opened up with the unique chassis and suspension design to incorporate a deep 8.5 cubic foot secured storage area. The locking lid can be opened with the handle or electronically from inside the cab. The storage area holds three sets of golf clubs or a few cases of soft drinks. A drain makes cleanup easy. The spare tire is also located in the cargo compartment and is mounted on a sliding tray for easy access. http://www.pickuptruck.com/IMAGES/20...ve/ridge14.jpg The Ridgeline’s bed is also distinguished by a dual-action tailgate that will be a dream come true for busy moms who load plants at the nursery or dads who need to wash out debris from the bed. In addition to folding down in a conventional manner, the tailgate can also swing out. The bed’s four courtesy lights illuminate whenever the swing mode is used (the lights can be turned on from inside the cab as well). The tailgate will support 300 pounds while the vehicle is driving. The dynamic rating is to compensate for extra forces that be magnified by hitting bumps. The Ridgeline’s bed is unequaled in utility and convenience. The competition is already going back to the drawing board to develop similar features. Honda put considerable effort into building in necessary tow features. The radiator is bigger with dual high-power fans. The Ridgeline already comes with necessary oil coolers and 7-pin wiring for a trailer brake. All the customer needs is a receiver hitch. Honda rates the Ridgeline towing capacity at 5000 pounds, but that rating also includes two vehicle occupants and 175 pounds of cargo. In the fine print of most other pickups, the maximum tow rating is restricted to certain configurations, engine/transmission/rear axle ratio choices and with just the driver in the vehicle. But Honda’s research showed that 84 percent of truck owners tow less than 5000 pounds. Honda’s strategy was to meet that mark in a real-world manner. One of the keys to testing trucks is to analyze the intent of the manufacturer and see if the company delivered on its mission. Not every truck can be as fun off-road as a Tacoma with the TRD package, as fast a Dodge Ram SRT-10 or as stylish as an F-150 King Ranch. Honda has definite customer in mind with the Ridgeline, and he’s not just someone who’s outgrown a CRV. We’ll take a closer look at the Ridgeline trim levels, options and features in an upcoming road test. (Some information was already discussed in the Detroit Auto Show story.) I intend to test the truck the same way Honda’s targeted owner might. I’m asking for a Honda ATV to take up to an off-road area, and I’ll be arranging to tow a boat to the lake. I know how the Ridgeline drives. Let’s just see how it works. |
PUTC Interview with Honda Ridgeline Chief Engineer, Gary Flint
Page: [1] [2] [3] [Interview] A bunch of car guys designing and building a pickup for the first time? It was quite a challenge but the inexperience may have been a blessing for the Honda engineers since they weren’t bound by traditional rules or honoring a current model. For a closer insight into the development of the new Honda Ridgeline—including the decision to build a unibody structure—PickupTruck.com sat down with the truck’s chief engineer, Gary Flint. Also joining editor Mike Magda were Kevin Thelen, who was in charge of testing, and Jim Keller, in charge of design. PickupTruck.com: Talk about the early steps in the timeline when you reviewed the competition. Gary Flint: We started looking into trucks many years ago, just started tearing them down. Really, the essence of the original project was: How are trucks put together? What is their cost structure? What’s the supplier matrix? Kevin Thelen: What’s the level of their technology? Flint: Yeah, where should we fall in this array? The initial investigation was really not focused on anything other than truck construction. PUTC: How long ago were the basics of the Ridgeline’s configuration set? Flint: Leading up to the actual full development we had identified a lot of the marketing information, started to put together the business case and where we wanted to be with the package. That was about a year out in front of the development. PUTC: When you started tearing down the competitive vehicles, I understand you found some surprises. Flint: Surprises? I guess it’s that they were remarkably simple; really not a lot of technology implemented on any truck. PUTC: I heard there were some surprises out of your static tow test. Thelen: We did test some of the competitors to what we internally set as a benchmark. The interesting thing there is one of the competitors didn’t meet the internal spec at that time. But the thing we found in the next model year was that vehicle had counter measured the same problem. So it was a surprise that it made it into production with that problem but it also affirmed to us that our tests and approach to quality were probably similar to what the competitors were running. PUTC: Regarding the unibody construction, explain your approach to addressing bending and torsion dynamics. Flint: Bending lends itself to customers’ general impression of ride quality where torsion tends to manifest itself in handling. You want to keep the body stable and let all the work be done by the suspension. Jim Keller: If the body structure is moving—of course, the suspension is attached to the body structure—and the alignment of the axles is all related to the alignment of the body relative to the axles. So if the body flexes, that means the [suspension] mounting points are moving. And when the mounting points are moving, the axle is moving. So the control of the vehicle is being affected by flex. Flint: You may get steering or some other strange things happening in the axle because the body is moving so much. PUTC: Talk about the analysis and computer modeling you did before you came up with the final direction of the truck. Flint: One of the things we first started with was an optimization program to give us more of an empirical recommendation of where’s the best place to put structure. It doesn’t design the car for you. It tells you what direction should you go with and what could be the optimal, most weight-efficient way to achieve a bending or stiffness target. That really led us into the architecture you see executed on the vehicle. We did, in fact, have the most complete model ever put together that early in a development. But we did have an advantage in that we were springing off from other model developments—both Pilot and MDX—where we had some of the structure modeled. We used that as a base to start building what we targeted as additional truck structure back into the vehicle. We actually did three complete iterations of the body model before we were finished. We did a lot of full validation work with them. Keller: That was even after we did the initial unibody versus body-on-frame comparisons. We did full modeling. We had a competitive vehicle that we used for a total vehicle test. Then we took that vehicle apart and measured it and created a computer model. We kind of reversed-engineered that vehicle into a computer simulation model that allowed us to do a comparison. PUTC: Forty-four percent of the structure is made from high-strength steel. Did that number come from the computer modeling? Flint:You try to get a balance between weight and performance. That’s another level of optimization. You start looking at gauge (thickness of the steel) reduction. You’ve got the basic geometry of the components identified. If we allow some of these materials to go to a higher stress-level material, what can we do by reducing gauge and not causing failure? PUTC: You claim the Ridgeline is 20 times stiffer than a body-on-frame pickup. Where are traditional pickups losing it? Thelen: First you start with their frame structure; it’s a flat-plane frame. That frame structure, honestly speaking, is not conducive to torsional restraint. But our frame is integrated with the upper structure. The rear panel in our cab is all integrated with that section to create not only a box section, but a reinforced box section. Keller: If I can demonstrate. (The engineers then used small, empty milk cartons to show how a box structure is stiff and resists twisting. But when the carton is crushed flat; what essentially is the same amount of material or mass can easily be twisted. They also show how the traditional pickup body is based on three separate sections—front clip, cab and cargo bed—that follow the movement of the frame while the unibody design acts as one unit and is a stronger piece.) Flint: If I take a box, like a truck frame, and put a torsional load into it. Now I take that same piece and slit it. Now it’s a C-channel. It’s 15 times stiffer as a closed section. So we’ve got that going for us because they’re all closed-box sections. Plus we’ve got the additional benefit that it becomes a bridge structure. It’s more like a truss. It’s a more efficient way to handle loads because I’m forcing loads into the upper superstructure of the vehicle. If I’m trying to make the lightest possible structure in a space-constraint, stiffness-critical application; any computer optimization program is going to immediately explode a cross-section area to the maximum possible space that you’ll let it go to and the thinnest possible wall stock. That’s the most efficient way to make a structure. If you want to do a whole lot of work in a small area, which is what a truck frame is, it gets real heavy and real inefficient. We’ve made use of all those elements that a normal truck construction doesn’t do because they aren’t connected. PUTC: You carried over the basic design of the suspension from other models but what adjustments did you make to handle the extra loads? Flint: We knew we were going to have a significant difference between the laden and unladen condition but we didn’t want a Jekyll and Hyde characteristic of the vehicle. So in the loaded condition, we needed to get some pretty significant damping forces back to the damper, so we needed an efficient lever ratio. In the previous suspension design, the damper is more horizontal. It’s very difficult to increase the damping force and get any kind of effective utilization of that damper output because the lever ratio is so poor. With an upright damper, it has a huge benefit because everything is going right into it, plus it has a better layout for the torsion bar. It’s just a much better suspension package to handle this significant swing in loads and maintain a stable, flat ride. PUTC: The Ridgeline tow rating is set with two occupants in the vehicle and 175 pounds of cargo. The footnotes for most other trucks say the rating is based with only a driver in the vehicle. Keller: We decided rather than having a numbers game, we wanted a real world rating. We thought if we were towing something it would be a guy and his buddy. PUTC: Let’s talk about the body design. Thelen: The first goal is Cd (coefficient of drag). Flint: Let’s go back further than that. The major goal is fuel economy. In order to have fuel economy targets, it affects a lot of attributes in the vehicle. So it goes back to predicting and maintaining aerodynamic drag. It was a very high target for us. Thelen: The question everybody asks is what’s better: the tailgate up or down? If you engineer the truck correctly, by far the best aerodynamics will be with the tailgate up. You design it so the airflow comes off and misses the tailgate. We actually tested on competitor where the air came off the roof and hit the tailgate. But for the most part they are designed so air comes off, misses the tailgate but then reattaches as soon as possible behind the vehicle to keep the slipstream as long as possible. Flint: All the gains we made were on the back of the truck. Very little if anything we did up front. Keller: For the fuel economy, it was important we set the basic body shape, especially before the styling was fixed. Once that was done, we used the wind tunnel to tune for NVH (noise, vibration and harshness). Details like the mirrors and A-pillar shape. It was more refining at that point. PUTC: Did you design the angle of the bed rails to make it distinctive for Honda? Keller: Early on we had two competing designs for the exterior and they were different in that regard. One was more horizontal and didn’t have the buttress shape. This one (pointing to the Ridgeline) won. We could’ve executed either one but the styling drove the shape of that C-pillar and the bed. As it turns out, this is a pretty efficient structural shape but it wasn’t the driving factor. |
Originally Posted by phile
You psychic or something? Cause the 2nd gen Pilot is indeed coming out this fall! That must be the shortest life cycle of any Honda in recent years.
The 2nd Gen Pilot is NOT coming out this fall. Im sure the headlights/taillights and wheels might change but thats about it. Yes they are adding VCM but its not a redesign. :thumbsup: The 2nd Gen MDX will be out before the 2nd Gen Pilot. |
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