john storie

my V-rod and my Night Train put the tire on the tailgate in my Quad Cab short box Diesel, but none of the bike extended past the tailgate lip. you need a 8 ft box to haul bikes, and not have crap sliding out. i have to Tupperware Tub everything if I tote a bike. for no more than i do it, i don't want to park & drive a 8ft box.

i was thinking CYCLE WORLD did not seem real impressed with it.
i remember the flying bulwark/buttress (forgot what word they used) rising up was hard for them to reach over to get to the front tie downs.

i priced one to replace our Rubicon, and was amazed that it cost more.

IRT honda cheaping out on a new car line, remember the Isuzu Amigo/Passport debacle?

when Isuzu's were re-badged as Honda's, and sold like hotcakes...till the word got out that they were POS, and amazingly, the poor build quality numbers exactly matched Isuzu's...but you felt better, because you paid more, right?

my pops just bought an Explorer Sport trac, and that what's i would consider a ridgeline to complete against, a "metro truck" if you will

a short box S-10 will do some real work, but it will squat, and it may not be happy.

i don't think we are bashing the Ridgeline, so much as people who see a TV ad, and run out to buy a new vehicle based on the hype.

you would think Honda; with such owner loyalty, would have better sense and counter loyalty; but see above IRT Isuzu and beancounters.

FWIW, if it sells, our opinions are moot. if it gets traded in, and it's resell is pathetic, our opinions were right

Threxx

Look at the dimensions and weight of the Ridgeline. Now compare that to comparable (4 door, AWD/4WD) compact and full size truck models and tell me which it is more comparable to.

Care to explain why the body on frame is magically 'invalidated' by the presense of a unibody structure? If it works, it works. If it doesn't, show me why.

Oh, and why does it having roots in a FWD architecture matter if it's AWD? What performance advantage is lost? I'd rather have AWD in my vehicle than 4x4 under most circumstances, especially on road (because let's be honest, 95% of the 4x4 trucks out there never go more off road than a gravel driveway, especially most ridgeline owners), due to its inherent ability to send an independent amount of power to each wheel based on the inputs from the stability system.

Threxx

Again, if you compare it to the compact trucks for which its specs would suggest it's closest to, the only V8 available is in the Dodge Dakota... and it's pretty weak for a V8, really.

I'd love to know why you believe it can't pull 5k pounds if that's what it's rated at? Care to give any refrence to what it is about the Ridgeline's design that makes it incapable of towing that much? The VW Toureg (sp?) is entirely unibody IIRC and tows something like 7500 pounds w/ its optional diesel motor.

I've never claimed that the Ridgeline is the ultimate solution for a real truck - but it's certainly not just a pilot with a bed, either.

So, um, where is the fully boxed ladder frame on that Pilot, again?

Threxx

I guess you missed it... I already said it. Despite whatever marketing departments try and depict the Ridgeline as, by size and weight it's firmly in the compact truck category. And by price, if you equip most compact trucks with the same set of options as the Ridgeline comes with standard you'll get a price pretty damn close to the Ridgeline, as well. Only difference is there really is no 'stripper' version of the Ridgeline.

As I already said, yes you can get a half ton silverado 4x4 crew cab decently equipped for the same price, but then again the Caddy EXT starts at 55k and gets over 60k, yet it's only a 1/2 ton. By your logic there's absolutely no reason anyone should buy one of those instead of a 1 ton F350 diesel, right?

Maybe... just maybe, it's because all they NEED is the 1/2 ton or the compact truck, but they want some extra features such as navigation, a smoother/quieter ride, etc, etc.

Threxx

Oh, and lastly, if y'all haven't forgotten... the original discussion I got into this with was the bed size. Came in and showed the Ridgeline actually has a larger bed than the Colorado. Haven't heard much about it since then.

Granted the Silverado crew does have 9.2 inches more length than the Ridgeline, and a whopping half an inch more bed space at the wheel wells (because the Honda has no wheel wells protruding), oh, and the Silverado bed is 1.2 inches shallower.

Does any of that really matter to me or impress me or disimpress me? No not really. Seems pretty trivial to me. But that's exactly the point. The very bed y'all were laughing at for cargo capacity is larger than GM's compact truck and not too awfully far behind GM's full size truck. So why was it so funny again?

formula79

Still...the Honda V6 is not the most elegant solution for a truck. What Honda engine has ever been known for it's TQ?

Toureg is an SUV, many SUV's are Unibody...

Either way, just because it says it can tow 5,000lbs does not mean it can practically. Judging by what I saw and heard (that V6 was chugging away) regarding the original Ridgeline carrying a ATV I mentioned in the first post..towing anything more than 3,000lbs, I have pictures in my head of a Ridgeline screaming along at 6,000 rpms on the highway with the rear sagging and the wheels at a 35 degree angle in.

You sound like you have been brainwashed by some Honda marketing exec. I would love to see the frame of a Pilot compared to a Ridgeline. I am willing to bet the Ridgeline frame looks alot more like a fortified Pilot than a traditional truck. Plus it is still FWD with an improper AWD system.


Anyway...and this is my point...Say GM never made the Colorado...

Instead they took the Equinox, over engineered the unibody, added a bed and the 3900 V6..maybe a few inovations and called it a compact pickup...people would be at the gates of the Ren Center in Detroit crying for peoples heads.

Let Honda gets away with it because people like you think they are being inovative and not cheap.

3SuperSports

Considering what the Colorado turned out to be, they should be crying for peoples heads anyway. It's less capable that the old compact S-10 it replaced.

From Honda's website; Integrated Closed-Box Frame with Unibody Construction

The 2006 Honda Ridgeline uses a new generation of truck platform with a ladder frame and a unibody for enhanced levels of safety with class leading rigidity and performance. The Integrated Closed-Box Frame with Unibody Construction is engineered to balance the rugged traits of a dedicated truck frame with high levels of safety, handling and fuel economy of a unibody design. Underneath the unibody frame sits a fully integrated ladder frame comprised of seven crossmembers with high-strength steel reinforcements that create six fully boxed zones with the lower portion of the unibody. The benefit of the unibody construction (compared to traditional body on frame construction) is better space utilization and vehicle packaging, better handling, and enhanced energy absorption capabilities. MacPherson struts are used for the front suspension and a space saving multi-link with trailing arm suspension is used in the rear. (More detailed information regarding the integrated closed-box frame with unibody construction is available in the Body section.) Not as wimpy as you would like to think it is.

formula79

Thats a quote from the Honda site. I would get flamed if I posted an article from the Chevy site saying how capable the I5 is.

Basically, what I got from that is that they integrated some steel bars along the bottom of the unibody to create something the looks like a ladder frame. Or basically...it is a beefed up Pilot platform.

Like I said...I would like to see an actual diagram of the Pilot's frame, and the Ridgeline's. Also, just because their are unidbody SUV's out there does not mean it's the best solution for a pickup truck.

The Colorado's main issue is the I5 IMO. That seems like it will be changing soon since they announced that the H3 will be getting a V8 and a diesel. Since the H3 shares the platform, those engines almost certainly would trickle down.

3SuperSports

This should give you a better idea of how the Ridgeline's constructed. I really don't know how it compares to a pilot, but if it's the same.....that makes the pilot more capable than the Colorado.

http://www.ridgelineforums.com/forum...0e67fecc2593aa

WERM

I saw a cutaway at the NY auto show last year. The frame under the unibody did look pretty beefy. That's about all I can say, though. Other than the under bed storage (which was a great idea), it doesn't seem to have that much going for it.

turbo96z28

first off.....

Threxx, i didn't knock the "bed" size. i have a Ford Ranger and the tires on my bikes hang off the back of that. i was knockin the fact there was a BLOCK OF WOOD holding the truck upright to keep it from looking like the one formula79 saw.

i saw one just tonight on the way home that had the "bed" loaded up and trust me, it didn't look to healthy. a Friend of mine has a Caddy EXT which he uses to tow his Civic hatch to and from the track and even HE doesn't like the Ridgeline. they tried to use his cousins Ridgeline to move his car on the trailer one day and he said the truck looked like it was trying to pull the front wheels off the ground. and if i remember correctly, that car on the trailer doesn't weigh anything near 5000 pounds. doesn't matter what Honda's site says, this is REAL WORLD PERFORMANCE we are talking about!

unvc92camarors

I don't see how the Caddy came into it. You can't compare the two because really, one is desireable and one isn't.
Just kidding obviously, but seriously.

Like Formula79 said though, it might be able to tow 5000# or whatever, but it would be struggling the whole time doing it. Like I said, one of the guys on my local board had a buddy who got one. It had to stay in the upper rpms (VTEC or whatever) the WHOLE time when he got a load of mulch. Don't ask me how much mulch but...that says atleast something.
In the end, anything with some weight will be a better match for a full size truck, not a compact/midsize. I always figured compact trucks to be those who occasionally needed room for getting things and light towing and who didn't want to drive a huge truck.

PacerX

No confusion.

Honda, like the rest of the world, realized that the Tundra isn't a truck either... but decided that they wanted to do something even less like a truck, so then they built the Ridgerunt.

It is rather humorous to see this effete, not-even-a-pseudo-truck, "trucklet" compared with a Colorado, of all things. At transaction price, you can get a whole lot of full-size Sierra, Silverado or an Avalanche with ease.

cmutt

Well, if bed-size if you really want to compare, why would you limit yourself to one cab size of the Colorado? The regular Coloraro offers a length of 72.8 in (43.9 cu ft.), the Extended is 72. in. long (43.9 cu ft.), and the crew size is 61.1 (36.7 cu ft.). I guess the Colorado has options for those that wish for a larger bed size. The Ridgeline(inserts crickets chirping)?

Does that answer your question? As for price, I just spent the last half-hour comparing prices through www.chevrolet and through www.hondacars.com. The closest I could come in price was the Ridgeline RT vs the Colorado Crew Cab 3LT. They match up pretty equally option-wise. The Ridgeline RT starts @ $28,250 and needs to have a $288 compass/auto-dimming mirror to match the 3LT's option-set.. which brings the Ridgeline to $28,538. The Colorado? $27,990. The '06 Colorado also has a $1500 cash allowance, bringing the price down to $26,490 -- and that's if you pay sticker for each vehicle (which you are unlikely to do on a GM vehicle). A $2048 spread? That's not even comparable, IMO.

Threxx

Compare crew cab to crew cab... that's the only way the Ridgeline comes, and as I said, if you don't want the 'maxed out' models then the Ridgeline wouldn't be worth considering anyway. That's where I got the bed specs.

Do a search for Colorado and Ridgeline with my name... I did some pretty extensive price comparison in one of the threads and came up with pricing closer than that, plus I mentioned all the things that the Colorado was still missing and the one thing Honda was missing IIRC (onstar).