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The RL does not look ugly. It looks different. It looks new and innovative. Not one person who has looked my RL over closely has not been excited and interested and full of questions. That, all by itself is an accomplishment.
So true. People must learn that things that are different aren't bad. That attitude is the result of a narrow aesthetic and possibly the foundation for other rather nasty things in human nature. People pay me for my aesthetic sense, and I think it's a great piece of design. Take it for what it's worth which probably isn't much.
I've also been enthusiastically approached by people in parking lots that love the way it looks and the steel blue color, I give them the whole tour, and they practically flip out when they see some of the features. I now park in the nether regions. That's the one draw back to the RL. It take me longer to get in to the store.
What is the rollover angle for the Ridgeline? I have noticed it has a wide stance relative to height when compared to the Toyota, or any other 4X4 pick up. So where is the center of gravity?
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I don't have an answer for the above question, but let me share an article I saw today.
Safety for drivers and pedestrians had always been Hondas strong selling point. The RL share the wide body stance of the Pilot and this makes this truck a hands down better choice for those who are safety advocates because it's sibling: the Pilot was rated as the most stable and has the least chance of rolling over among SUV's according to CNN money.Check out this link and a portion of the article.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/14/pf/autos/rollover_ratings/index.htm
The stability factor is generally a number between 1.0 and 1.5. The higher the Static Stability Factor, the more stable the vehicle is and the less likely it is to tip over in a crash.
What the stars mean
Star rating Stability factor range Chance of rollover
5 1.44 to 1.55 Less than 10 percent
4 1.18 to 1.44 10 to 20 percent
3 1.08 to 1.17 20 to 30 percent
2 1.02 to 1.07 30 to 40 percent
1 0.95 to 1.02 Greater than 50 percent
* Ranges are for vehicles that do not tip in dynamic test. Chances of rollover are for single-vehicle incidents.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Among SUVs that have been rated so far, the one with the highest stability factor is the Honda Pilot with 1.25. The Pilot got a four-star rollover resistance rating from NHTSA.
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This truck may not smoke anyone in the stoplight wars, outhaul the Tacoma or is as gorgeous, as the overpriced SSR but behind all this sheet metal is Hondas commitment to safety. :shades:
In what might well be the most shamefully predictable vehicle (TRUCK) comparison test EVER
A ‘Certain Publication’ rates the following trucks in the following order
1. HONDA RIDGELINE
2. NISSAN FRONTIER
3. TOYOTA TACOMA
4. DODGE DAKOTA
5. CHEVROLET COLORADO
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An ugly truck truck, just rolled over the MT truck of the year Toyota, and all the pretty looking domestics.Aint bad at all for a rookie truck.Not surprise at all coz the RL's sibling Honda Pilot got CD's top honors for years 03,04 and 05.Let me add that the Oddy is top dog in the minivan too. For small SUV CRV aint bad at all.
I'll Just have to take your word for it, on your trail rides , I my self have only driven a ridgeline for a very short time in compared to your self. And with the contact I've had with past Honda's off road they were not great off the pavement :confuse: . Except dirt bikes and and quad runners!!!! Go Honda!!!! :shades: But we really are comparing Apple's and oranges in this forum, They are two very different trucks. Hell, I love both Honda and Toyota, but it comes down to the fact you got a choice of two great trucks, which fits your physical and personal needs better, most importantly which one of the two can you afford. Honda dose'nt offer a cheaper base line pickup then Toyota or Nissan or ford or Dodge....Yet! If they did, It might be a major market shaker!
But they don't right now and not every one can float a high 20's low 30's truck.
So for that I think You should give an award to a truck line that offers a good product to MORE income bracket's As for the guy talking about a big bad Corp. Like Toyota beating up on a Little Corp. like Honda; Where do you get your drugs from, and why must you insist on smoking it while on line!!!!! Honda has more divisions than the math team at M.I.T, and makes every thing from Ice breaker ship motors to a fully functional robot that can walk like a human and even play the guitar, can you say TERMINATOR! :surprise:
Maybe we should all get bumper stickers that read, "If you do not find my automobile aesthetically pleasing, why do you keep looking at it?"
came out in 1995 1/2 and the previous 4x2 and 4x4 before that.
This is truly one of the great mysteries about the Ridgeline. It's also one small reason I enjoy owning one so much. The RL certainly brings out the trolls on the internet, but everyone that I meet in the real world loves it. Face it, real people just don't spend that much time on the net or really care that much about a truck or whether it's actually called a "truck". It's too funny.
thanks, Tiger
it just doesnt make sense and to gd113 Ridgeline does not have much of power
What!???? Power has been excellent from my direct experience with this truck, and was one reason I bought it.
i think the Taco would serve your needs even better. The 05 Taco is a good truck and was going to buy one myself until I bought a Ridgeline. There just wasn't a comparison. 10 minutes with the RL convinced me Toyota was behind the game, and I'm a Toyota loyalist that owned a great Toy truck for the last 14 years. I still love it, but RL was the clear no brainer choice for me.
remember those Honda Passports they used to make. those things always had some kind of problem or another, my neighbors have one of those and i have seen them really struggling with it everyday, jumpstart, transission problems, smoke from exhaust and really bad and big noise from the hood, I thought Honda didn't make the passport, but commissioned Isuzu to do it. I'm not sure. Mabey someone can clear this up for me.
and the CRVs had their engines burn up and catch flames, This was a simple avoidable problem that was due to incompetent mechanics. When you take an oil filter off, make sure the old gasket comes off with it people !!! This was not a mechanical deficiency of any kind by Honda.
the element looks too "SQUAREY" Your opinion. I love it.
Honda trucks just dont suit the needs of people, Honda did extensive market research, and the RL is a direct result of it, and probably why everthing I've read demonstrates the exact opposite of your statement. It suits the needs of exactly 80+% of the people, but it's good to know you speak for everybody.
and of course i am a big fan of Honda cars. Really? Your post is puzzling.
"Honda is in another league according to one test driver"
"Were not talking sports car feel here, but its head and shoulders above its comepetitors"
Out of 250 points.
1,. Ridgeline= 211 points
2.Nissan Frontier= 197
3.Toyota Tacoma= 192
4.Dodge Dakota= 188
5. Chevy colorado= 168
Before anyone here claims that C&D always makes Honda top dog in any comparo, remember that the Pilot was rated 2nd to the Mitsubishi Endeavor by the same C&D, a year or two ago.
Have YOU ever noticed how many Honda Adds are in Car and Driver, Well it's about as many Toyota Adds are in Motor Trend. kind of makes you wonder why things stack up the the way they do in the world of WHO PAYS THE BILLS!!!
For those who use the lame argument that it's all about who helps pay the bills. These are the adds on this June issue of C&D. I've look thru the adds in the May issue and it's almost the same story.
1.BMW= 5 whole page adds / pages 0-4
2.Jeep= 2 whole pages / pages 16-17
3.Pontiac GM=4 whole pages./ pages 23-26
4.Mercedes Benz= 2 whole pages / pages 28-29
5.Onstar GM=1 whole page / page 30
6. Audi=2 whole pages / pages 34-35
7.Hyundai=2 whole pages/ pages 46-47
8.Cadillac GM=1 whole page/ page 61
9.Saab GM=2 whole pages/ pages 66-67
10.Infiniti=2 whole pages/ pages 74-75
11.Land Rover=1 whole page/ page 78
12.Jaguar= 1 whole page/ page 84
13.Mazda=2 whole pages/ page89-90
14.Ford=1 whole page/ page 93
15.Kia=2 whole pages / page 94-95
16.Subaru=1 whole page / page 111
17.ACURA=1 whole page/ page 115
18.Chyrsler=2 whole pages / pages 120-121
19.HONDA= 2 WHOLE PAGES/ page 126-127
20.Mazda=1 whole page / page 134
21.Dodge=2 whole pages / pages 136-137
22.VW=1 whole page/ page 138
23.GM hydrogen vehicles=1 whole page/ pages143
24.Nissan=2 whole pages/ pages 146-147
25.Lexus=2 whole pages/ pages 150-151
26.Chevrolet GM=1 whole page / page 210
Whew, I never paid attention to those adds, but looks to me like GM paid C&D
3. 4 pages
5. 1 page
8. 1 page
9. 2 pages
23. 1 page
26. 1 page
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10 pages of GM advertisement vs 3 pages of adds for Honda and Acura. Looks to me that GM is the one paying C&D's bills and not Honda. GM should pull out their adds from ungrateful C&D for ranking the Colorado dead last.Hmm maybe C&D put Toyota Tacoma on third because Lexus adds were only 2 pages.I can only speculate.
Toyota's losing sales to the Ridgeline...that's a fact!
BTW, I haven't seen any Ridgeline owners who wish they had bought the Tacoma instead, only jealous Tacoma owners with shallow comments about the truck they obviously missed out on because they bought too soon.
I was almost one of them. I'm glad I had the patience to wait. We were going to pull the trigger on an 05 Taco, but then I decided to wait 2 months for the RL to hit the lots to give it a serious look after reading about it (you can even find posts of me dissing the RL early on on the RL threads). My wife almost flipped when I told her "just wait 2 more months" She was ready then. She was very reluctant but willing to spend 27,000 on the 05 Taco, but it took her 10 minutes to plop down 33,000 on the RL. She's very glad I made her wait.
Remember this ladies, sometimes you need the firm but gentle guidance of your husband. :P :shades:
"what i meant is that i dont get why would anyone want to buy a truck from a company that is not good at it or has not been in the market for too long." - Tiger10
That's one of my favorite logical fallacies.
Honda had never built an American style minivan before the 1999 Odyssey. Honda had never designed their own mid-size SUV before the MDX. It had been something like 40 years since Honda had made a roadster, yet they made the S2000. Honda's first luxury car was the Acura Legend.
I guess experience isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Each of those vehicles dominated or ranked very highly within their segments.
And it's not just Honda. Ford had never built a cross-over SUV before the Escape. Toyota's first cross-over was the RX300. Chrysler's first minivan was the Caravan.
I don't see why experience or time in the market is such a big deal. Let's not forget... Honda and Toyota didn't assume control over the car markets by building versions of exactly the same stuff offered by the domestics. They built little, reliable, fuel efficient cars while the domestics were building what they had experience with (big, V8-powered gas guzzlers).
Also, my wife was never thrilled about my decision to buy the Tacoma. She always thought it was too small. She's used to the bigger trucks, especially the Silverado. She also fell in love with the Ridgeline during that test drive and told me to buy it! The price didn't really matter at that point!
Now we're going to take the Ridge on trips instead of her Camry, which has been a great car (160k miles in 8 yrs). That wouldn't have happened if I had bought the Tacoma.
ps. I also considered the Tundra (wouldn't fit in my garage), and the Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra, which were nice but just too big and unreliable.
That, to me, goes to show that there is very much the demand for a vehicle like the Ridgeline and it fills a niche all its own. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Honda once again built a winner.
Oh yeah, that's one other big reason we bought it. This is our main luxury touring car as well (she's a muscian so it really is a "tour" car.) I swear it rides as good as a Camry as well. Nothing will beat this on long trips. Dual climate control, heated leather seats and XM Radio. It's like a well appointed waiting room until you get to your destination. We usually get to our destination and we still wish we could drive further. It's too funny. The trunk is huge. I don't know if you tried yet, but it swallows a whole cart load of groceries with room to spare. We didn't really need groceries, but I bought a cart load just to see.
ps. I also considered the Tundra (wouldn't fit in my garage).
Hey, my garage is small too. Mabey, we are the same person. Is your wife 5"3 with long blond hair?
That, to me, goes to show that there is very much the demand for a vehicle like the Ridgeline and it fills a niche all its own. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Honda once again built a winner."
Right on! The Ridgline is a great vehicle, Honda thinks things out very well. So is the Tacoma, Toyota has similar corporate culture. The vehicles ARE very DIFFERENT! Both are right for someone, just like a Ford Super Duty, Volvo wagon, or Sprinter dualie van might be right for someone else.
Some of the comments coming from two of the busier RL owners here remind me of what I've heard from Subaru Baja owners about my pickup. The look on the face is hilarious when they learn that I've also got nearly the same Subie, only with a rear roof. "Jealous Tacoma Owners"? Who are they trying to convince, us or themselves?
Anyone who bought a Tacoma OR a Ridgeline because it won a marketing award has my sympathies.
I've built a fitted shelf for my trunk so I can keep the road gear underneath and my softball equipment on top...EZ access! It's been perfect! Plenty of room.
I noticed the honda has the same c/r (10:1) and the web site states "regular" unlike the note on the toyota website. I have looked at many articles and still unsure on the issue. Is the regular/premium (knock)issue the same?? Or am I lost?
C&D is full of crap and unreliable. Just because Toyota doesn't advertise with them, and Hondas 3 page adds pays their bills they kowtow to Honda in every way.What I can't figure out is why GM's 10 pages plus one for Subaru=(is that 11 now?) cant get C&D to rate their products as no 1?. Maybe the pages where Honda advertisements are found are 3 ply paper and GM's adds are placed in single ply.Maybe the ink in Honda adds are first rate while others have crappy ink, thus Honda pays C&D more for their adds. Let me hunt for my old microscope and find out. :P I'll update the forum on my findings.
As an aside I think both vehicles are great. I traded an 04 tacoma TRD for a ridgeline. The vehicles are not designed to target the same type of buyer. The only common characteristic of the buyers is trust in Toyota/Honda reliability. I very much like Toyota and it had been my favorite car brand, but the tacoma was really not a good fit for my famiy. If off road driving is important, the tacoma is better by far. However, for practical purposes, the ridgeline is much better for a family. It serves the purpose of a truck well. It can tow more than the basic tacoma at 5000# compared to 3500#, but less if the tacoma has the towing package which raises the tacoma limit to 6500. It can carry a payload of 1554 compared to 1415 on the tacoma. ,but it can also be used with the kids/family. There is more interior space, a trunk for carrying things like strollers, and the ride is much more comfortable than the tacoma. Also it has more standard sfety features than any truck on the market.
I think any owner of a tacoma or ridgeline are going to be happy with their purchase. They both have their strongpoints and tacoma owners can speak more to the strongpoints of the tacoma, but the ridgeline is great if you need a truck that can also do the job of a car too.
kcram - Pickups Host
http://car.kak.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4247
Bob
Interesting observation, and I think to a large degree, correct.
Tacoma = Red = conservative
Ridgeline = Blue = liberal
Now before anyone says: "Yeah, but look who won the election!" the long-term jury is still out. I expect the Ridgeline to get off to a slow start, much like the Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra, but will pick up momentum as time passes (again much like the Titan & Tundra).
Bob
Ridgeline will get good sales eventually because the concept is sound. I just expect it will take away more people from the car market rather than the truck market.
Bob
Pleeeeeeeeeease let's not get into politics!!
kcram - Pickups Host
Bob"
What the hell is that suppoed to mean? The way I use trucks the Ridgeline just dosn't fit the bill.
http://www.zippyvideos.com/169722105254865.html
http://www.zippyvideos.com/138553744254775.html
http://www.zippyvideos.com/15988032254665.html
Plus it has independant suspention, a weak motor, bad clearance, and its too expencive.
http://www.aiada.org/article.asp?id=36723
The new Tacoma is a very evolutionary redesign. There is nothing really new and unique here. All the changes, while good, are uterly predictable. It didn't break any really new ground—hence "conservative."
How you use the truck, or your political leanings, have absolutely nothing to do with what I was commenting on.
Bob