Honda Ridgeline, Part Deux

[Gavin Allan]

OK, since we have a new union thread, I thought I'd tell you a bit about Dad's new Ridgeline. I still haven't driven it, but I did go over to his place tonight and looked at it out in the garage. The first think I noticed was the very small body gaps aound the doors, locking gas filler door, fenders, hood, etc. I grabbed a rule and measured and could not find a gap larger than 3/16", and they were all very uniform all the way around.



The interior is nice. He's got the leather in black. There is a huge storage compartment under the rear seat, a couple of storage compartments in the console, and it all looks pretty nice. The leather seats were very firm with pretty supportive bolsters, and they seemed to sit lower than the Trac's seats. The back seat seems to have as much room as the Trac, and maybe more.



I need to drive it a bit to see how it does, and see it during the daylight. (You don't see much with a couple of 60-watt bulbs in the garage, and with the black interior.)



I also want to check the size of the tires. They were huge massive Michelin meats, that seemed to have over a foot width of pretty aggressive tread.



He says it is very quiet inside, and it drives even better than the Tundra he traded. I did note a considerable-looking class III hitch on the back.

 

[Tom Schindler]

From the USA Today from Friday Feb. 10, 2005

Ridgeline won North American Truck of the Year honors from a jury of 49 journalists who work for a variety of outlets. It also won a truck of the year trophy from Motor Trend magazine.



Sales don't reflect that respect. Honda sold just 46,407 Ridgelines its first 12 months on the market, a period that ended Jan. 31, according to industry sales tracker Autodata.

Tom

 

[TrainTrac]

Yeah, it would seem that despite the heavy advertising campaign, the Ridgeline isn't selling as well as expected... Only 46,407 sold? The ST consistently sells 50-60K units with little to no advertising.

Easy-riding Ridgeline gaining awards, acceptance



By Rob Douthit

Cox News Service



Printed on 27 January, 2006 in the Norfolk, VA based Virgininan-Pilot





It should suprise no one who has driven a 2006 Honda Ridgeline that the vehicle was honored recently as Motor Trend's Truck of the Year.



The Ridgeline's venerable sibling, the Civic won the Car of the Year award, marking the first time that one automaker has claimed both prizes in the same year.



Whatever you want in a light-duty truck, the Ridgeline has it.



You want a nice, smooth ride?



Ridgeline handles like a car, thanks in part to its unibody frame.



You want a powerful engine?



The Ridgeline's 3.5 liter V6 fits the build, pumping out 255 horsepower, which is better than some of its competitors.



Is it a roomy cab you're after? Five passengers fit quite comfortably in the Ridgeline, with pretty good legroom and very good headroom.



Dou you need towing capacity? Got it; Ridgeline can tug a pretty impressive 5,000 pounds, which again beats some competitors.*



The Ridgeline is no slouch when it comes to hauling capacity, either, with a cargo bed large enough to haul bicycles, some furniture or other sizable items.



One of the truck's niftiest** features is its lockable trunk in the cargo bed. That area offers another 8.5 cubic feet of storage space.



Side curtain air bags with a rollover sensor and stability assist with traction control are standard safety features.



In fact, speaking of safety, the Ridgeline got a five star safety rating, the highest, for front and side-impact crash performance from the NHSTA. It was the first four-door pickup so honored.



Fuel economy isn't bad, at 16 mpg city and 21 highway, according to EPA figures.



Honday aims the Ridgeline at what it sees as the growing market of consumers who are active, many of whom are into outdoor sports. Other automakers have taken aim at this market as well, with varying degrees of success.



But sales of the Ridgeline, which was introduced in March, have been slower than expected. In response, Honday recently announced that it would cut production of the truck by 3,000 units, after having to build 50,000 units for the full year. Through September, Ridgeline sales had totald 25,787 in the US, according to Autoweek.



So for such and awesome truck, why the disappointing sales? One factor could be its price.



The Ridgeline comes in three trim levels: the RT, RTS, and RTL.



The test drive model, an RTL, had a sticker price of $35,155, which included the only options available: Moonroof, XM satellite radio, and a navigation system.



Could be that the buyer who has this kind of money to spend on a truck is more likely looking at a larger model with some attached goodies, such as a Ford F-150, Dodge Ram, or Toyota Tundra.



On its Web site, Honda says a base trim level RT has a MSRP of $27,000, which is a bit more reasonable, but still not cheap.



But once you drive the Ridgeline, it's very difficult not to at least think for a moment of opening your wallet as wide as it will go to pour out the bucks for this truck.

* I'm a bit skeptical about this... Most of it's comparably equipped competitors can tow more than 500 pounds



** "niftiest"??? OK, I just check the rulebook, and that right there disqualifies the RL from being a real truck. The word "nifty" should never, ever be used to describe a truck!:lol:

 

[Tom Schindler]

Fuel economy isn't bad, at 16 mpg city and 21 highway, according to EPA figures.

Isn't that what the Trac is rated at?





Tom

 

[Gypsy me]

I think Toyo pays for there reviews and news And the award plaques and trophys, probably made in Japan :lol:

 

[Bob McDonald]

When I checked out the Ridgeline at the auto show recently, I was impressed with the center console storage and the cargo bed storage compartment. Even the two way tail gate was pretty cool. On the other hand, I thought the look of the dash was ugly and I still don't care for the look of the whole vehicle side profile.



Even if it was the best make truck ever, If I couldn't stand the look of it, I wouldn't buy one.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Sales don't reflect that respect. Honda sold just 46,407 Ridgelines its first 12 months on the market, a period that ended Jan. 31, according to industry sales tracker Autodata.

Yeah, it would seem that despite the heavy advertising campaign, the Ridgeline isn't selling as well as expected... Only 46,407 sold? The ST consistently sells 50-60K units with little to no advertising.

That seems pretty good that a company can enter a whole new market (Honda/Trucks) and in the first year can almost match a competitor's model sales (Ford), even though the competitor has been a major player in trucks for over 80 years.



If I were Ford, I would be very worried right now.

 

[Derek Hale]

Winning truck of the year and all that isnt that big of a thing in the end, because as I understand it, its just trucks released for that year. Meaning any truck that has had a major redesign for that model year, not a comparison of the Ridgeline vs. every other truck currently available.



I think its Ugly, I think its terrible how the tailgate does not flow with the side of the bed, it looks like it should be a soccer mom vehicle, not to insult soccer moms. Even my girlfriend thought the looks were girly.



As for the in-bed storage space, sure its nice and all, but I think that it would get used rarely by most, and often by about 1%. I have the same thing in my 2005 Explorer, and I never use it, not exactly a brand new idea.



If the interior and fit and finish is nice, good for them, but comparing a 2005/2006 design to a 2001 design doesnt work, lets wait for the new ST to come out and see what Ford can do with it, then compare that to the Ridgeline, and see who is left in the mud.

 

[TrainTrac]

Even my girlfriend thought the looks were girly.

Funny, the first thing my wife also said when she saw the RL was "It's girly".:lol: