I'll ask again...

With a bed full of mulch, how are Ridgeline owners supposed to access the spare tire, which is temporary spare only, assuming they got a flat?

 

If you're feeling that unlucky, you have the option of mounting it inside the bed, upright against the side. Yes, I too can see where it could be inconvenient at times, but not any worse than lowering one from underneath a truck along the side of the road, especially in bad weather.
Truthfully, I'll use the in-bed trunk more than I'll use the spare, so I'd rather have it than sacrifice it for a spare mounted under the truck.

 

The only place I can recall offhand reading it was Honda's own website. I read it a couple other places, but they might have cited Honda's claims as well. So I guess it just depends if you think Honda is 'bending the truth' or not? I don't doubt it... though. Body on frame as a whole just isn't nearly as rigid of a platform as unibody. So adding a unibody architecture to compete with a bunch of body on frame trucks seems like it'd almost be gaurenteed to be stiffer. And yes I wish manufacturers would more freely post numbers as well.

200% is a nice increase, but in this day and age that's almost to be expected between two vehicles that are seperated but many years and years of technology and design. I know the new Ram when it came out claimed somethinglike 400-and-something percent increase in torsional rigidity.

 

If you have a bed full of mulch.... how exactly is it no worse to have the spare trapped under 4 cubic yards of mulch vs simply lowering from underneath the truck which takes all of 15 seconds.... bad weather or no bad weather?

 

This is getting old.


For a lot of people, it makes a lot of sense. You get a good amount of truck capability very little of the harshness and most of the benefits of a car. There are a lot of people who may fill the bed up twice a summer and tow once, and for them this "vehicle" makes sense. Its greatest failing other than being ugly as all hell, is that its price catapults into fullsize territory which it cant compete in. Even still though, the people who would buy this sort of SUV like thing will pay a premium for one, the fact its a honda, and two the usability they think they are getting, honda knows this and figures they can sell enough to make a case for it.

Of course I'm sure this isn't the end of their attempts to weasel their way into the truck market.

You want to know what its real use is? Getting a whole generation of buyers to believe Honda and truck aren't oxymoronic.

 

Like I said, you have the option of putting the spare in the bed.
I don't remember the last time I had to change a flat, so this one item wasn't enough to ruin the truck for me.

Sorry, I have been around this board for awhile, but since I've changed my opinions about brand loyalty, I need to realize it's only for Camaro fans who only like GM products and hate everything else. I hope you have better luck than I did with your newer GM products. From my point of view, once GM and the dealership f'd me over, I decided to spend my hard earned money elsewhere. Arguing about all this is truly stupid.

 

Not so.

 

I don't see how brand loyalty has anything to do with having your spare tire trapped under your payload...

I suppose you could remove it, but boy, that sure is a royal PITA to do whenever you are carrying something substantial in the bed of your truck.... not to mention that is would hog up some of your payload space.

 

Flats are a valid concern but ok, you can write that off.

How did GM screw you over? I am curious to hear this story since you are in the same neck of the woods I am obviously, and what dealership was it?

 

I would have thought the Ford F150 is "the strongest pickup frame" on the market right now, but who knows.

A Ridgeline that stickers for $30,000+, or a Silverado 1500 Heavy Duty 4x4 for $28,000 with the Employee Discount....hmmm TOUGH decision.

 

No, it has to do with shock absorbtion in cornering mode. Motorcycle suspension operates in a vertical plane which is fine when you are going straight, but when you are leaned over, suspension loads come at an angle to the operation of the suspension. They are using frame flex to absorb shock at extreme lean angles where the bike's suspension is less effective.

 

Ford sold more F-series trucks in one day than Honda sold Ridgelines in the whole month of July, so I think we've got a pretty good idea where the average consumer sits. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ridgeline was outsold by just the F-350.

 

You know damn well that no brand new truck 1st gen truck from a company who's generally thought of as the antonym for the words "Truck" and "V8" is going to be a huge hit right away. The Ridgeline could have been the best truck since the truck was ever invented and it would have taken years to ever make a blip on the sales radar screen. Truck buyers, especially, are habitual and brand loyal. Does that mean I EVER expect Honda truck sales to overtake domestics? I strongly doubt it, because trucks are the one things that our country has always known how to do right and has been perfecting for decades upon decades.

Anyhow... the real point here is that consumers want trucks to be more car like in terms of comfort, ride, fuel economy, handling, interior features, quality, materials used, and so on.

If you really don't believe this then why do you think we've seen the F150, for example (since you brought it up) move so drastically in just the last 10 years over the last 2 generations go from an extremely utilitarian work vehicle that wouldn't look right much of anywhere but parked on a gravel driveway on a farm out in the country, to today's F150 with plush leather, rear seat DVD, climate control, obsessive sound deadening measures, ride quality that would make some luxury cars from 10 years ago unimpressive, etc, etc? Because that's what people want. Honda just took it one step further for those who are willing to come to terms or grips with the fact that they really want a car that sits up high and has a bed in the back but don't care how long it would last trail-running or towing 4 ton boats on a road trip.

Somebody, I think, earlier mentioned that people don't want car-like trucks and the El Camino was proof? The Elcamino was more of something that looked like a car but was built like a truck, and had a bed to match.

That's a totally different class of car and the closest thing I can think of today in that regard is the SSR, which I don't think many people in their right mind would try and compare to a Ridgline. That'd be very apples to oranges.

 

Who wants a car like Truck? Ask anyone who owns a truck if they wish it was more car like.(El Camino and Rancharo owners need not apply)

 

Thank you, Mr. Harden.....once again, you prove that you are, indeed, a wise man.

facts, people, not opinions or what you think are facts.