Honda Ridgeline: Tough Truck or Lame Duck?

  • Thread starter Thread starter JohnBM01
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It depends on where the truck is built. It has to have x% made in the USA to be considered from the truck series.
 
That would make sense. Oh, God, think about this: people rapping they have the Ridgeine on 24'' DUBs. :sick:
 
Jetboys427
With Toyota entering Tundras in the Nascar Craftsmen Truck, do you think Honda will follow?
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I wouldn't be surprised if the regs required the trucks to be RWD and V8 in production form.
They made the S2K RWD, why couldn't they do it for a truck? What is this bizzare mental illness they have that prevents them from seeing that FWD is sometimes a really stupid thing to do?
 
Who in their right mind would give a midsize truck with a V6 Fwd? That defeats the entire vehicle's purpose.

Honda's lacking of the V8 option may present a unique situation in the Truck series, but I dunno if the production vehicle has to have a V8. For example, does the Monte Carlo have a V8 (yet)?
 
Honda in NASCAR? Personally... hell no. If I want to see some bigtime competition among Japanese competition, I'd love to see Nissan bring their Titan to Craftsman Trucks. That truck seems more likely to be a NASCAR contender, pending that the Titan wanted to bring their rivalry from Japan to America. Think about it. Wouldn't you want to see two bitter Japanese rivals take their fight to America... and not to mention having a Japan vs. America rivalry... all while playing America's game of NASCAR. Sounds cool?

The Honda Ridgeline just LOOKS more like a crossover. I think it would be good with 4WD and competiting in CORR, SCORE, or anything like that. Or since America has a lot of Honda tuners and those who just want sporty and even flashy Hondas, I wonder how people can work their magic with the Ridgeline. Besides, if a Honda car is going to be released in America, it would be a big surprise not to see a tuner work on a Honda or an Acura. I wonder how this truck would compare with the Pilot and the Acura MDX.
 
BlazinXtreme
It depends on where the truck is built. It has to have x% made in the USA to be considered from the truck series.
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I believe it will be 100%, which is more than I can say for most "domestic" brands. They will not be participating in NASCAR though.
 
Huh? I know that some of the Silverados are built right here in Michigan at the Pontiac Assembly and Flint Assembly, they are also built in Wisconsin too.
 
BlazinXtreme
Huh? I know that some of the Silverados are built right here in Michigan at the Pontiac Assembly and Flint Assembly, they are also built in Wisconsin too.
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Most Silverado Crew Cab and all Silverado SS models are built in Canada, my man, as are many extended cab models. In fact, I believe Chevrolet is the worst offender - though the others do it too. Except of course Toyota and Nissan, the "Japanese" companies.
 
BlazinXtreme
Ok now if they made the truck like this then I would buy it.

hondatruck8rr.gif
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Dude!! You forgot the type-r sticker :dopey:
 
Steeda
Dude!! You forgot the type-r sticker :dopey:
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Yeah really, that and the 42 sponsors to parts you don't even use. :lol:
 
I must admit, I love the look of this truck. The Chevrolet Avalanche is poo compared to this, atleast in looks.
 
I don't think you'll see too many modded-out Ridgelines. Show me a good modification of the Honda Pilot. I'll tell you this. The Toyota Tacoma X-Runner is more like a sports car than a truck. If the Honda Ridgeline is going to compete with the X-Runner in terms of a sporty truck, I think the truck would have to kind of lose the XUT look (I'm sorry. I don't follow the truck market very well, so I don't know as much as I want to). If Honda wants to keep that look, then at least make it more angular or something.

I wouldn't say this is a heavy duty truck, though. If you're making your first ever pickup and want to make a name for yourself in America, you have to beat America's Big Three- General Motors, Ford Motor Corporation, and DaimlerChrysler. Honda has yet to make progress with the Ridgeline, but the Pilot and CR-V have kind of proven themselves through their respective runs. But I think Honda can pull this off. Because as I say, I've always seem to have admired Honda. Now before you think that I'm saying this because I'm big on tuning Civics and Accords, that's not the reason (with all due respect to the tuner crowd). I've always admired Honda's practicality in their road cars and not to mention how smartly designed they are. Perhaps the most recent example was the Accord Hybrid. It may be more expensive, but it was more practical, provided better gas mileage, and oh yeah, 255 hp (the last offering had 240 hp). So regardless, I think the Ridgeline just needs some time to shine. And what goes with that time to shine? A collection of drivers looking to drive and own one. Then maybe, the Ridgeline may be a bit of a sleeper hit.
 
As I stated earlier, I don't expect this car to maul and maim the Silverado, F-150, and the Ram (along with Honda's other Japanese competition)... in its first year. I would probably see it as a unique truck from a company that isn't really known for bigtime trucks. The Pilot is rugged, though. I wouldn't really call it soft. But I'm sure Honda's thinking ahead will pay off with a more unique than dull truck.

Here in Texas, trucks are like, staple automobiles here. Almost any street you go down like here in Houston, you'd be surprised not to see one pickup or one SUV along a certain street or in a driveway. You can say that we sure like our trucks here in the Lone Star State. Hell, we even have Texas Edition trucks out here, like the latest Texas Edition F-150 with all sort of features available at no cost, or the bigtime Ram trucks with great payload and all that. Would like to see how the Ridgeline would do here around these parts.
 
The more I look at it I think it will compete more with the Colorado (that won't be hard to be that), the Ranger, the Dakota, the Taco, and other small trucks. This by no means a full size.
 
BlazinXtreme
The more I look at it I think it will compete more with the Colorado (that won't be hard to be that), the Ranger, the Dakota, the Taco, and other small trucks. This by no means a full size.
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Alot of truth there...
 
I don't know if I mentioned if it was a midsize model. With the headlights and the grill, it looks more like an Acura than a Honda. Acura does have that MDX SUV, but I think the Ridgeline would probably be more capable and tougher than the MDX. I may be inclined to say it's Honda/Acura's toughest truck. And all I say is, take down the Japanese competition first. I stated this because... okay. You're just starting in a new market to you, a pickup truck. Trucks are about as tough of a segment as you can ask for here in America. Whether you're mudslinging a Dodge Ram 1500, having some fun in a Toyota Tundra, or doing some leisurely off-roading in a Land Rover, trucks are hot stuff in America. The Ridgeline is pretty unique, and I'm sure its competition will be pretty big to take down. If Honda wanted to boost the Ridgeline's horsepower to 300 and made the body and chassis tougher, it will have to face off with the Titan and Tundra. And if Honda wants to take the pickup market all by itself by upsetting America, they'll need everything they can get to take down the bigtime trucks. That is, IF they want to go that far with their new Ridgeline.
 
Before I get on with the Honda Ridgeline, here are some facts I've overheard on Speed's Auto Show coverage of the Dallas Motor Show:

5,000 lbs Tow
V6-powered
16/21 highway
9 cu. ft. trunk
186K trucks sold Dallas-Fort Worth in 2004 by "Big Three," many more Japanese being sold in Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area

While watching coverage of Speed Channel's "The World's Greatest Auto Shows: Dallas," I had a chance to see all the Honda Ridgeline has to offer. Now sure, the engine is a V6 and can tow 5,000 lbs. As I've stated in the past, no Honda ever leaves the factory without some sort of interesting innovation. The way the Ridgeline is seen by some people, it's a truck that kind of changes the definition of truck. I guess it's looked on like a practical truck. Here in Texas, we have our big trucks, even Texas exclusives. We got King Ranch models, Lone Star Models, Texas Edition models... not trying to brag, but if you love trucks, come on down to Texas. Since many Texans own ranches or do some real heavy work someplace, about 30 to even 40 percent of most vehicles you see (especially here in Houston), are trucks.

Being a Texas native, here's a weird idea- would Honda make a Texas Edition Ridgeline for most of us Lone Star folks? Personally, many of us would sure have a lot to sound off about if Honda decided to undergo this deal. The key addition would have to be at least a V8. Then too, I cannot recall Honda making a V8 or higher in a street car. The company is more concerned with practicality and safety than being high-HP, big displacement beasts. So would it happen? I don't know. Would be interesting, however.
 
Since the Ridgeline is basically a 75%-sized copy of the Avalanche, where exactly is the innovation?
 
Duke
Since the Ridgeline is basically a 75%-sized copy of the Avalanche, where exactly is the innovation?
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Firebird pretty much summed it up. Honda can do no wrong in the eyes of the American consumer. My favorite example is when they started selling the Passport, a clone of the Isuzu Rodeo. While the press criticized the Rodeo's interior as outdated, the Passport's interior - which was EXACTLY THE SAME - was "robust."

The Honda Civic is among the worst economy cars, too - it's overpriced and underspecced. You can't fault reliability though, and those things are reliable like nothing else. Accord is the best midsize.
 
The Ridgeline's interior is similar. Had the it been in any other make's truck, especially an American make or Nissan, it would have been called "cheap", while the Honda's is "rugged and durable".

:irked:
 
M5Power
Firebird pretty much summed it up. Honda can do no wrong in the eyes of the American consumer. My favorite example is when they started selling the Passport, a clone of the Isuzu Rodeo. While the press criticized the Rodeo's interior as outdated, the Passport's interior - which was EXACTLY THE SAME - was "robust."
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True...

Firebird
The Ridgeline's interior is similar. Had the it been in any other make's truck, especially an American make or Nissan, it would have been called "cheap", while the Honda's is "rugged and durable".

:irked:
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True again...
 
Emohawk
I wouldn't be surprised if the regs required the trucks to be RWD and V8 in production form.
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I would. How many Nextel cup cars do you see that are RWD and V8 stock? I don't exactly recall seeing any RWD Tauruses lately...
 
Takumi Fujiwara
I would. How many Nextel cup cars do you see that are RWD and V8 stock? I don't exactly recall seeing any RWD Tauruses lately...
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At the end of the day, why the hell do they even pretend the cars are even vaguely related to anything made by the manufacturer? If I'm not mistaken, Dodge uses the Stratus - give me a break.

I have it on good authority Ford is keeping the Taurus around simply for race season and next year's NASCARs will be Five Hundreds. Of course, the body will remain the same - the difference will be that it's going to say "FIVE HUNDRED" on the front.
 
Dodge uses the Charger for the Winston.....errr Nextel cup cars right now.
 
You know, on the subject of the Five Hundred.... why is Ford making such a big deal about FWD? Are they so behind the times that they view it as a big new thing? Or is it just that the car is such a piece that they're scraping to find ANYTHING they can say good about it?
 
They're not making a big deal about front-drive. It's the all-wheel-drive they're pushing.

And Five Hundred is a great car.
 
Firebird
And Five Hundred is a great car.
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How the hell did you reach that conclusion?

I don't get it - you're spot-on 98% of the time, then you throw curveballs like calling an overhyped, underspecced, underpowered piece of trash like the Five Hundred "great." :p
 
BlazinXtreme
Lame duck! A unibody truck won't ever do well. No true truck enthusist will buy it due to lack of frame rails. There is no way thing thing can haul more then a box on frame can. Also front wheel drive is stupid to put on a truck, its going to be just like a car. Also the engine is pretty weak

It's more of a Honda Piolet with the ass end chopped off. Even though I was expecting much from Honda on this one, I think they really screwed up. This takes the place of the Colorado as one of the worst trucks on the road.

Wow that was a great post to use :rolleyes:. That really had nothing to due with that truck what so ever. I posted in the already on going thread about the Ridgeline.
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It's ugly has no power for its weight. Front wheel drive in a truck. 👎
 
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