Car and Driver Comparo

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Newsflash!

I just received my June copy of Car and Driver, and was excited to see that they did a comparison test on "Do-it-all Compact Pickups." The trucks tested were the Chevrolet Colorado LS, Dodge Dakota SLT, Honda Ridgeline RTS, Nissan Frontier LE, and the Toyota Tacoma SR5. Of course the American brands were rated the lowest, even the Dakota with a V8. Surprisingly, the Taco was third. And of corurse, the winner was :D the Ridgeline!!! :!: :!: :!:

The articles in the magazine do not come out on the website right away, but you will be able to pick it up at www.caranddriver.com by the time the next issue comes out. Or, if you don't subscribe, you can pick it up at the newsstand.

Anyway, although they had a few nitpicks about the Ridge, the outcome on the was really good. I may excerpt the review later. I wouldn't be too surprised if the ridge becomes the 2006 Motor Trend Truck of the Year. It was the Tacoma for 2005. I think this is going to be a good year for Honda in the magazines....

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

nice, I was waiting to hear what car and driver would say of the ridge.
Now i really cant wait

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Great. I am going to be looking in my mailbox today to see if my copy arrives. Thanks for the info. :lol:

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Doesn't take long for the word to get around!!!! News of this same article has all ready been posted on the Honda Pilot forum as well. There are a lot of Pilot owners (and I'm sure MDX) that are really following the intro of the RidgeLine.

8)

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Goodbye.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Los Angeles Daily News


Honda's first pickup truck offers novel features



By Ann M. Job
Associated Press




Sunday, May 08, 2005 - With pickup trucks accounting for some 20 percent of sales in the U.S. market, it's no wonder that Honda finally joined in.

The Japan-based car brand this spring began selling its first pickup, the Ridgeline.

An early-for-2006 model, the mid-size Ridgeline boasts novel features such as a hidden trunk in the pickup bed floor that can double as a cooler, complete with drain plug.

The trunk is near the new, dual-purpose tailgate that can open downward like a regular tailgate or swing on side hinges over to one side to make it easier to reach items inside the bed.

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $28,215, which is high for a base pickup.

But the Ridgeline comes only as a four-door, five-passenger crew cab with V6, five-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. Standard features on every model include keyless remote entry, power windows and door locks, air conditioning, three interior power outlets, cruise control, heavy-duty floor mats and towing package with heavy-duty brakes and transmission and power steering coolers.

The Ridgeline also has the most comprehensive group of standard safety features in a mainstream pickup. This includes curtain airbags, seat-mounted side airbags, stability control, antilock brakes, tire pressure monitor and traction control that's standard on every model.

Competitors include other crew cab, five-passenger, mid-size pickups such as the 2005 Nissan Frontier, which starts at $22,180 for a two-wheel-drive crew cab with automatic transmission and $24,880 for a model with four-wheel-drive and automatic.

The 2005 Ford Explorer Sport Trac starts at $24,940 for a two-wheel-drive model. A four-wheel-drive Sport Trac starts at $27,745.

Consumers can't really tell from looking, but the structure of the Ridgeline is different from that of a typical pickup.

To be sure, the Ridgeline uses a truck frame _ a sturdy, fully-boxed, ladder frame with seven high-strength steel cross members _ to provide a rigid platform.

But the body on top is unibody construction, like that used for cars.

And unlike other pickups, the Ridgeline has a four-wheel, fully independent suspension system with struts in front and a multi-link configuration with trailing arms in back.

So, while passengers feel occasional bounciness while riding over bumps in the Ridgeline, the sensation is not as exaggerated and rough as it can be in old-style trucks. And the Ridgeline ride overall feels rather cushioned and accommodating, not rough and stiff.

Yet, this is no sissy truck. Nearly 6 inches longer than Honda's Odyssey minivan, the Ridgeline is the biggest passenger vehicle that Honda has ever sold here.

The hood on the test Ridgeline came up to chest level on me when I stood next to this truck, and as I drove the Ridgeline, I looked down on the roofs of minivans.

Towing capacity is 5,000 pounds, which is just short of the 5,080-pound towing capacity for the four-wheel-drive Explorer Sport Trac. This is enough for some weekend camping equipment.

The Ridgeline can haul a half ton of rock, wood or other items _ say, a full-size All-Terrain Vehicle or Honda motorcycles _ in its 5-foot-long pickup bed.

With standard four-wheel drive and ground clearance of 8.2 inches, the Ridgeline also skims across fields and moves along dusty trails with ease.

For snowy or muddy conditions, the Ridgeline's Variable Torque Management four-wheel-drive system can adjust up to 70 percent of the torque from the front wheels to the rear. It's not meant for really rugged off-roading, however.

There's no V8 for the Ridgeline, which will undoubtedly turn off some truck buyers.

The only engine is a 255-horsepower, 3.5-liter, VTEC V6 that can generate 252 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 rpm. It gets the Ridgeline moving in a sprightly manner and doesn't make noisy fusses during passing maneuvers.

Indeed, this engine isn't as throaty-sounding or as loud as those in Nissan's trucks, but the Ridgeline responds readily to driver demands with a confident sound.

I especially liked that the truck would begin to slow _ not coast _ after I lifted off the accelerator in city traffic. This helped me modulate my speed among other vehicles without having to use the brakes every time.

There's a 265-horsepower, 4-liter V6 available in Nissan's Frontier that can develop 284 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm, while the Explorer Sport Trac's 4-liter V6 tops out at 205 horses and 242 foot-pounds at 3,000 rpm.

But the Ridgeline has a higher fuel economy rating than either of the competitors' V6s.

Specifically, the Ridgeline is rated at 16 miles a gallon in city driving and 21 mpg on the highway.

It's the worst of all Honda vehicles, but it beats the 15/20-mpg of a comparable four-wheel-drive Frontier with automatic and the 12/16-mpg of a four-wheel-drive Explorer Sport Trac.

The Ridgeline's automatic transmission shifts gears quite smoothly.

The gearshifter inside the vehicle looks old-style, though, because it's mounted on the steering column.

But this arrangement provides room between the two front seats of the Ridgeline for a nifty and large front center console. Big enough to hold a woman's purse, the console has a moveable front end that slides forward for variable positioning.

At 5-foot-4, I didn't have to grab a handle and swing my body up into the Ridgeline. There's not a grab handle by the driver doorway, anyhow. Nor does the Ridgeline come with side rails.

I sort of scooted my rear up onto the seat and then grabbed the steering wheel to help me settle in.

The view is commanding, down on this truck's broad hood and over as many as six cars ahead in traffic, I discovered.

Inside, the Ridgeline is spacious, with ample headroom of 40.7 inches in front and more than 39 inches in back. This tops Nissan's Frontier and Ford's Explorer Sport Trac.

Rear-seat legroom of 36.4 inches in the Ridgeline is less than the 37.8 inches in the Explorer Sport Trac but more than the 33.6 inches in the back seat of the Frontier.

I could extend my legs and ride comfortably in back, even with the front seat back on its track quite a ways.

The Ridgeline's rear floor is flat, and the middle person in back has a soft resting spot. I liked that the fold-down center armrest in back sat up some from the seat cushion, and that the large, rear windows open all the way.

All five passengers have adjustable head restraints and shoulder belts.

There are big, matte silver-colored accents around the front door handles in the Ridgeline, but fingers seemed to leave filmy streaks on them in the test truck. I also could use more lumbar in the driver's seat.

There was noticeable wind noise coming off the windshield when I drove at highway speeds, but road noise only intruded when I was on rough road surfaces.

The Ridgeline looks something like a downsized Chevrolet Avalanche on the outside, thanks to a sizable pillar where the back of the passenger compartment meets the pickup bed.

But there's no fold-down rear passenger compartment wall as the Avalanche has, and Honda keeps plastic cladding to a minimum.

Company officials look for some 50,000 Ridgeline sales in the first full year, with many early buyers forecast to be owners of other Honda products _ not just cars or sport utility vehicles but Honda lawn mowers, motorcycles and generators.

The majority of buyers are likely to be married men in their late 30s to early 40s, Honda said. Household income is expected to be between $75,000 and $95,000 a year.

Just introduced, the 2006 Ridgeline has not been the subject of a safety recall. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not have crash test results for the new Ridgeline, and Consumer Reports does not provide reliability data.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

(Goes with the picture above)
BASE PRICE: $27,700 for RT; $30,075 for RTS.
AS TESTED: $30,590.
TYPE: Front-engine, four-wheel-drive, five-passenger, mid-size pickup truck.
ENGINE: 3.5-liter, single overhead cam, 60-degree V6 with VTEC.
MILEAGE: 16 (city), 21 (highway).
TOP SPEED: NA.
LENGTH: 206.8 inches.
WHEELBASE: 122 inches.
CURB WEIGHT: 4,494 pounds.
BUILT AT: Alliston, Ontario, Canada.
OPTIONS: None.
DESTINATION CHARGE:

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Los Angeles Daily News


2006 Ridgeline, a can’t miss truck from Honda


By Jim Meachen
Special to Motorway




Friday, May 06, 2005 - SAN DIEGO, Calif. --- We steered the pickup through the cones in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot. The truck was loaded with 1,100 pounds of material representing rocks and bricks that a weekend do-it-yourselfer might pick up at Home Depot.

There was no drama at speeds that would be foolish and perhaps illegal on public roads.

As we accomplished simulated emergency lane shifts, the rear end followed the front in a predictable manner. We performed a panic stop in a squall of tires cementing valuable rubber to the parking lot asphalt.

Once again there was no drama to the exercise; even with the near-maximum payload on board.

Then we hauled a 5,000-pound trailer with little effort through another cone-marked course, designed to emulate highway speeds and lane change maneuvers. In fact, it was hard to detect we were pulling anything without an occasional look in the rearview mirror.

These chores were not performed in a Ford F-150 or a Chevy Silverado. These feats were accomplished in a Honda. That would be a Honda truck to be more specific.

Honda devotees will no longer have to shop in another store for a light-duty truck. Honda has developed a crew cab sport utility truck with a five-foot bed that is capable of hauling, pulling and running off road with the best in the mid-sized pickup class.

Now the loyal Honda family can park a Honda Ridgeline in the garage next to their Accord sedan with the confidence that it can perform the same weekend pickup truck chores as the mid-sized crew cabs from Toyota, Nissan, Chevy and Ford.

To its credit, Honda did not go half way in building its first pickup truck. The Ridgeline is not a car with truck pretensions. Perhaps the designers knew that they had to present a full-fledged entry in the mid-sized truck segment if they hoped to gain the instant credibility needed to be successful.

The Ridgeline has the credentials.

It rides on a new platform noting that some pieces were picked up from the Pilot and MDX sport utilities, with a unique combination of a unibody frame integrated with a fully boxed ladder structure.

This gives the Ridgeline the structural rigidity of a car and the strength of a body-on-frame truck. In fact, Honda says the Ridgeline is more than 2.5-times stiffer than the best performing compact three-box-design body-on-frame truck, and rear torsion rigidity is more than 20-times stiffer.

The end result is a vehicle that is more impervious to squeaks and rattles, has the responsive handling of a car and a more solid feel overall.

Hundreds of miles of driving displayed the vehicle’s car-like traits. It felt, in fact, as if we were driving an Accord.

The truck’s fully independent suspension and the absence of the traditional body-on-frame construction has lead to another remarkable innovation allowing Honda engineers to design the first-ever in-bed trunk.

The lockable storage area located just forward of the tailgate will accommodate a large 72-quart cooler or three sets of golf clubs or a couple of suitcases and duffel bags. It also has a drain plug which means it can be hosed out. Or fill it with ice and drinks and have a tailgate party.

This so-called trunk solves the main problem of a crew cab as to where to put items out of sight and out of the weather when you have passengers using the back seat.

This feature alone should sell the Ridgeline to people in the market for a mid-sized crew cab. The competition doesn’t have anything to match it.

The small spare tire is stored in a sliding tray inside the trunk. A Honda spokesperson says a full-sized spare will fit in the space and can be ordered as an option.

In addition, Honda has designed a tailgate that folds down in conventional style or can be opened from the side. Honda engineers pointed out that this feature makes it a snap to clean dirt and debris from the gap between the tailgate and the bed.

The drivetrain too adds to the allure of the Ridgeline.

Honda has used the 3.5-liter V-6 from the Pilot/MDX, but tuned it to 255 horsepower and 257 pound-feet of torque directed through a 5-speed automatic transmission.

This gives the Ridgeline good, if not sterling, performance. Considering the truck’s 4,500-pound curb weight, it moves out quite adequately. Our seat-of-the-pants estimate is about 8.5 seconds from 0 to 60.

All Ridgelines come with an all-wheel drive system that moves torque from front to back as needed. There is no low-range, but a button on the dashboard will lock in rear-wheel torque for tough situations.

We discovered the benefit of this system on a 28-degree muddy off-road course. We locked in the torque to help climb the steep grade and the Ridgeline walked to the top of the hill without any sign of slippage.

The interior is comfortable and controls are well thought out and intuitive as you would expect from the Honda folks. The back seat rake, unlike many mid-sized crew cabs, is on a par with a typical sedan and comfortable for a long journey. Leg room is adequate.

The Ridgeline will be offered in three trim levels, but even in base RT form it will have considerable standard equipment including ABS with Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Assist with traction control, two-row side-curtain airbags with rollover sensor, air conditioning, power windows including a power rear window, cruise control, keyless entry and a 100-watt stereo system with CD player.

Perhaps the one real downside is the styling. We would say the Ridgeline has a rugged look. It’s not handsome, but it’s not homely either. Perhaps you can get a mental image by thinking of a scaled-down Chevrolet Avalanche from the side. Squared off wheel wells and big fender bulges give it that Avalanche look.

Pricing range from $27,700 for the base RT to $31,490 for a top-of-the-line RTL. Honda hopes to sell 50,000 copies over the next 12 months. We think that’s a conservative number. Like most of Honda’s creations in recent years, this is a "can't miss" in our book.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Thanks bigdave!

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

www.caranddriver.com

Link to the article: http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?article_id=9470&section_id=15&page_number=7

Do-It-All Compact Pickups

First Place
Honda Ridgeline RTS

So, is the Honda a car or a truck? Not to sound like Bill Clinton, but that depends on what you mean by "truck." In fact, it's neither, and who cares anyway, because those hard distinctions are no longer useful. Let's appreciate the Ridgeline for what it is: a new type of utility vehicle.

On the shakedown run to Mansonville, the Ridgeline scurried up and down the same rock-ridden trail as the others, but it was the least comfortable in this outdoor role. It was the only truck in the test with full-time four-wheel drive, but without a low-range transfer case, so it couldn't creep downhill in the effortless manner you get with engine braking. Rather, we had to ride the brakes. We heard more nasty scraping noises than we did in the others, although a visual inspection didn't reveal any damage.

If you're part of the minute subset of pickup owners who enjoy hard-core off-roading, the Ridgeline is not the truck for you.

The rest of us will appreciate some clever ideas. For starters, there's the dent-and-corrosion-resistant bed. It's not oversized, but the wheelhouses barely intrude into the cargo floor. It has a unique trunk that is recessed below the bed floor, providing nine cubic feet of lockable space. You access the trunk via a handy dual-action tailgate that swings open from right to left and opens downward like a traditional tailgate. The trunk is watertight and has a drain, turning it into a very large beverage cooler. The only thing we found to complain about were those sloping bed sides. The top edge of the bed is 53.5 inches off the ground at its lowest point, and it's next to impossible to reach into the bed without leaning against the sheetmetal.

The interior is a combination of handy touches and spacious accommodations. The large center console expands like an accordion and has numerous dividers. The rear seat was the roomiest and most comfortable of the bunch. It feels like a couch, with a high bottom cushion, plenty of shoulder room, and a relaxed backrest angle. The Ridgeline was the only vehicle fit to accommodate three adults in back. All the seats are covered in a nylon fabric that feels grippy and durable. The radio, on the other hand, is a far reach from the driver's seat, and the front interior door handles look like chrome shovel handles, but the ergonomics are otherwise first-rate.

And so is the driving experience. Although the Nissan was considered pretty good in this group, the Honda "is in another league," according to one test driver. The ride is on the firm side, but the payoff is a clear communications line between the road and driver. We're not talking sports-car feel here, but it's head and shoulders above its competitors. The Honda topped the chart in every subjective handling category.

Combine the chassis, bed, and large interior with the smooth, quiet, and adequately powerful engine, and you have, well, a winner. The bar has been raised.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Here are a couple more photos from the Car and Driver article...

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Honda Ridgeline RTS

Highs: Innovative trunk and useful tailgate, roomy rear seat, carlike handling.

Lows: A face no trucker could love.

The Verdict: The new guy shakes up the playground—and wins.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

www.autoweek.com

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102565

News
Crafting a pickup: Ex-GM engineer designed Ridgeline the Honda way
RICHARD TRUETT | Automotive News
Posted Date: 6/14/05

DETROIT -- When Gary Flint approached his bosses at Honda Motor Co. with a plan for a pickup, they were all for it.

But they told Flint he couldn't have the traditional mainstays of many Big 3 pickups: a V-8 engine, a separate body-on-frame platform or a Detroit-sized budget.

No problem, said Flint, 48, a former GM engineer.

The Ridgeline pickup that Flint guided to production shows how Honda uses creative engineering to enter new segments.

The truck, which went on sale March 1, is an upscale four-door pickup. It's the only pickup that has unibody construction reinforced by a steel frame.

For now, the Ridgeline poses little threat to the mighty Ford F series or Chevrolet Silverado. But it adds another profitable vehicle to Honda's lineup. And it's one more import-brand nameplate chipping away at the Big 3's market share.

Early demand has been solid. The pickup is on track to hit its annual production target of 50,000 units. Honda's factory in Alliston, Ontario, can produce as many as 60,000 Ridgelines if demand is high.

The Ridgeline is powered by Honda's 3.5-liter 255-hp V-6 combined with a five-speed automatic transmission. It offers about the same fuel economy and towing capability as a V-6 Ford F-150 or Dodge Dakota.

But the Ridgeline is expensive, and it's complex to assemble. The unibody has many braces, brackets and reinforced areas that require more welding than traditional pickups.The base model starts at $28,215 including freight. Add some popular options - such as a high-end stereo, alloy wheels, heated seats and a sunroof - and the sticker can rise to $35,000, a high price for a V-6 pickup. Similar V-6 trucks from the Big 3 sell for about $7,000 less.

Despite the high price, one analyst says Honda's first pickup could be influential.

"Ridgeline sets a new a paradigm in terms of body structure" for a pickup, says Lindsay Brooke, a senior analyst with CSM Worldwide, in Farmington Hills, Mich.

Unibody light-duty pickups allow automakers to build the vehicles on the same lines as sedans and some SUVs, saving vast tooling and production costs, Brooke says.

Thrifty Honda

Flint, an 11-year Honda veteran, would not say precisely how much the company spent to bring the Ridgeline to market.

But he did say that Honda approved a budget of about $40 million to modify the old Odyssey minivan assembly line in Alliston. That money also paid for tooling to stamp Ridgeline body panels. The project's total cost came in well under $250 million, Flint says.

A core team of 37 engineers, led by Flint, did the engineering design work on the truck over about four years. In one of his assignments at GM, Flint helped engineer the Chevrolet S10 pickup.

"Compared to General Motors, (the Ridgeline's cost) is peanuts," Flint says. "But that's why we make money. We are very, very frugal and very, very careful. I don't even throw out used pencils. It's an extremely different mind-set between Honda and General Motors."

Honda typically creates vehicles very efficiently, Brooke says.

"For decades, they've mastered the art of developing new vehicles without creating all-new ones, using many carryover parts and common assembly processes," says Brooke.

GM roots

In his 15 years at GM, Flint became an expert in composite materials for body panels, such as sheet-molded compound. Flint's projects at GM included the Pontiac Fiero, Chevrolet S10 and 1984 Chevrolet Corvette.

Ironically, it was a secret project at GM in 1980 that sowed the seeds for the Ridgeline's unibody chassis.

Flint and a team of GM research engineers built a car that used a steel space frame and a fiberglass body.

"That's where the core of my unibody knowledge comes from," he says. "We micro-analyzed body construction. I know in detail what the best way to build a body and a structure is. And it is not a frame. A frame is the worst way to build a car. That is why we don't build cars that way anymore. It was done because it was cheap."

In a regular pickup, the cab and bed are bolted to a steel frame. But Flint says that method adds very little to the stiffness and rigidity of the vehicle. That's why you can see the bed move when a truck goes over bumps. Also, he says, the cab and bed in a regular truck bear only a small portion of the load when a truck is towing and hauling.

Using the platform of the Odyssey minivan and Pilot SUV as a starting point, Flint and his engineers developed a frame that attaches under the welded unibody. The frame - substantially less bulky than a standard pickup frame - runs the length of the vehicle and has seven structural cross-members. No other pickup has a similar design. Hauling and towing loads are spread across the unibody chassis and the steel frame.

The Ridgeline can tow a payload of up to 5,000 pounds, which is close to the Dodge Dakota and Ford F-150 V-6.

Flint says he started with no preconceived notions about the Ridgeline.

"We didn't look at what people were buying," he says. "We listened to what they wanted."

Since the mid-1990s, pickups have become bigger and more luxurious. They also have become the primary vehicle for many families. How trucks are used have changed, but the way they are built has not.

From focus groups, Flint learned that buyers liked some traits of pickups and SUVs but couldn't find one vehicle that addressed all their needs.

His goal with the Ridgeline: a comfortable interior for front and rear passengers, a large cargo bed and lockable storage space. The interior especially has been singled out by reviewers. Washington Post auto writer Warren Brown says the Ridgeline "has the comfort and seating space of a luxury sedan designed for five people; an array of cleverly located storage bins, nooks and crannies reminiscent of a well-executed minivan or station wagon; and, of course, it has Honda's legendary high-quality fit and finish."

And its in-between size gives it a shot at luring customers from both full-sized pickups and their smaller cousins. For example, the Ridgeline is only 11 inches shorter than an F-150 SuperCab. But it's almost 5 inches wider - for a spacious interior - than the Dakota Quad Cab.

But Flint did more than listen to focus groups. He did his own research using a Japanese concept called sangen-shugi, which means "go to the spot."

Honda engineers can't just show their bosses diagrams and drawings. They have to design parts that solve problems.

Parking lot research

"During the Ridgeline's development I spent an hour every Saturday morning at Home Depot with my tasty beverage, and I watched people load things in the parking lot," Flint says.

He took notes as he watched people struggling to load their purchases. Making the vehicle easier to use and blending the best attributes of trucks and SUVs became two core goals of the Ridgeline.

The Ridgeline, the result of Flint's research, is not aimed at buyers looking for a traditional pickup. Instead, it is aimed at Honda's upscale customers who occasionally need to tow and haul heavy loads.

These customers, he says, want the usefulness of a pickup in a package that offers the quietness and comfort of a sedan.

"If you look at the growth in the truck segment, it isn't the hard-core truck user," Flint says. "It's consumers who want passenger-comfort features that they are used to in their previous vehicles."

Flint's team added innovative features, some of which are bound to be copied. Perhaps the most talked-about item is the locking storage space built into the bed of the truck.

Because Flint added an independent rear suspension - a first for a pickup - the Ridgeline has no long beam axle or leaf springs under the bed. That freed up room for the concealed storage trunk. The spare tire also is stored under the bed.

Other innovations include: the tailgate, which opens out or down and requires much less energy to open and close; a built-in towing package; and secure storage space under the rear seat.

If the Ridgeline carves out a niche in the market, other automakers could well copy some aspects of it. For now, it gives Honda a much-needed pickup at a reasonable cost.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Thanks bigdave.

The link to the article is also here.

:)

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Maybe I need to get another one! 8)

Boy are Ridgeline owners smart!

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

I'm curious about the caranddriver article. It seems they didn't use the variable torque management when going/creeping up and down extreme hills. That's what it is for, including brake managment and proper power application. They also didn't mention that if you are towing a heavy load down hill, you can push the 'D3' button in the shift arm to keep the vehicle from going abouve 3rd gear to save your brakes. Something very important if you are towing in the mountains. While it's nice they give it an all around thumbs up, they left out a lot of important info.

From what I'm learning about my Ridgeline, within limits, it's a very capable off road vehicle. Not a go anywhere climb over boulders type, but river beds, bad dirt roads and fire trails shouldn't be a problem at all.

just my humble .02

Joe C.

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Moved thread from General to Reviews

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

The sport trac gets more than 12/16 mpg. I believe officially it has the same rating as the Ridgeline :shock:

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

The Honda site has an easy to use side by side comparison. It says the Ridgeline is rated at 16/21 and the Sport Trac is rated at 15/20...I guess that's virtually the same. The two trucks compare quite closely on many features. The Ridgeline is wider and has a longer bed, as well as having more horsepower. The price is surprisingly similar and the towing and hauling capacities are almost identical. The powertrain warranty on the Ridgeline is 60 months/60,000 miles while the on the Sport Trac it's 36/36,000. Take a look at the honda site and run a few comparisons, it's fun! 8)

[Ridgeline4wd_Archive]

Indeed, both these vehicles are very similar (the RL is wider, the ST is longer WB..etc) and both owners should be proud, I think we're all very picky consumers and this class of vehicle is very practical. I like a lot of things from both trucks. I also haul a 25' RV (http://www.zjstech.net/~library/16251/DSCF0710.JPG), and I loved the post about the 19' Airstream. The trac is now 4 years old and the 2007 model is going to be even better. So lookout RL!

I'm not so sure about the AWD thing, I really like the 4WD switch in mine, and I am a prior Subaru driver and that was a mean AWD system.

I got the trac because of the towing options (4.10 rear-end, Tranny cooler) and it just fits so dang nicely in my garage! Not to mention the after-market options (I installed cone-air filter system, Gibson bolt-on exhaust, and the XCAL2 performance programmer which has 3 programms, one of which is for towing, it's awesome...changes the gear changes..etc). It's a lot of fun though to swipe at each other because we're all so defensive about our choices. We have a site too, www.mysporttrac.com and it's a blast. Looks good here guys and gals!