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"Post-Embargo" Stories and Links

56K views 279 replies 68 participants last post by  Sicamousian 
#1 ·
At this writing, the Ridgeline news "embargo" should be lifted in 2 hours.

I suspect there will be bunch of stories as soon as the embargo is lifted. I'd suggest that we post them (or the links) here so that we have one-stop shopping to get the latest news.
 
#8 ·
From Autoblog:

?2017 Honda Ridgeline First Drive

"...In a nutshell, the Ridgeline is a pickup truck for rational people. Problem is, pickup buyers haven't proven themselves to be rational people. To wit, Honda says that 90 percent of midsize truck owners will never actually tow anything. Yet towing remains a key purchase consideration highlighted by buyers. Another example: You'll notice the 2017 Ridgeline sits a bit higher on its rear haunches than the last model. That's because focus groups said pickups with higher truck beds looked like they could haul more weight…"
 
#9 ·
From R&T:

2017 Honda Ridgeline First Drive - Ridgeline Road Test

"...On the road, the Ridgeline cruises in ultimate smoothness and comfort, cushioning away all road imperfections and cocooning you in a luxuriously quiet ride. Getting out of the Ridgeline and into one of the brand-new Toyota Tacomas or Chevy Colorados that Honda brought along for comparison was like stepping backward 30 years in chassis design. On worn Texas pavement, the Ridgeline absolutely erased the small-amplitude pavement ripples that juddered the Tacoma, and the body-on-frame groans that the two traditional trucks made over larger pavement imperfections were entirely absent in the Honda…"
 
#11 ·
From C&D:

2017 Honda Ridgeline First Drive ? Review ? Car and Driver

"...As before, the interior of the Ridgeline positively embarrasses the competition. It feels enormous and comfortable front and rear. The flip-up rear seat remains, providing yet another yawning, weather-protected storage cavity when raised and hiding up to 2.9 cubic feet—enough for at least one golf bag—beneath seated passengers. The primary storage location, the bed, now is four inches longer than before, at 64 inches, which makes it longer than those of the crew-cab Tacoma and the short-bed Colorado but 10 inches shorter than a long-box Chevy. And the Ridgeline is the only truck in the class that can take a four-by-eight-foot sheet of building material (or a four-by-eight-foot medieval triptych) laying flat between the wheel wells…"
 
#16 · (Edited)
Great info...thanks for posting! There's a lot to like/love about the Gen2, and many things are improved greatly. I'm sure the majority of RL fans will be pleased. But sadly for me, off-road capability appears to be compromised from Gen1.

Joe nailed it on the tire size and ground clearance. The show trucks had phony tires on them (WTF?). The real ones are two sizes smaller like the Pilot (245/60X18) and ground clearance drops to 7.9 inches. But don't count on putting a full size tire in the spare tire tray 'cause apparently it won't fit. The LPL says you can mount that on the front bed wall if you need to. I'm also inclined to believe Joe's intel that lifting the truck even an inch or two will be incompatible with the driveline.

Approach angle is reduced from 24.5 to 20.1 while departure angle is essentially the same at 22.1. Break-over angle is an unimpressive 19.6. One last carp: you have to go all the way up to the RTL-E or Black Edition to get a back window that will slide open. At least that could become standard on lower trims in the future, whereas I doubt Honda will offer anything to improve off-road capability on this generation truck.

Despite all the hype at the press event about off-road competence (crossing a creek, driving through mud, negotiating obstacles, etc.), it looks to me like they delivered a Gen2 that can't go everywhere the Gen1 could. It'll be interesting to see what happens this summer when the testers push the new RL to its limits in a real off-road challenge.
 
#20 ·
"Note that the CarPlay system will not work using the USB port located inside the Ridgeline’s center console."

WHAT? So instead of tucking your iPhone away in the center console and neatly hiding the USB cable, you have to string a cable across the interior to use CarPlay? That's plain stupid. No wireless CarPlay support, either? That's another fail.

"In addition, the LED headlights last up to three times longer than HID headlights and up to six times longer than halogen headlights – contributing to less frequent replacement and the associated cost savings."

WHAT? Fox News must have written that line. While LEDs might last 6 times longer than halogen bulbs, the LEDs themselves are integrated into the headlight housing and are not replaceable as an individual item unlike HID and halogen headlights. Replacement costs for a single LED headlamp assembly currently range between $500-$2,500. Halogen bulbs are $10. HID bulbs are $50.
 
#24 ·
I can tell you. Pay more get more. The only thing the lower models get is push button start
 
#28 ·
From LeftLaneNews:

First drive: 2017 Honda Ridgeline [Review] | LeftLaneNews

"...Despite their tough image, mid-size trucks spend the vast majority of their time of paved roads. In fact, Honda's data finds that just three-percent of mid-size truck owners actually take their trucks off-road.

That means that mid-size trucks are mostly used for mundane tasks like commuting to work or taking the kids to school. The most work a compact truck typically gets is a weekend run to the home improvement store for a load of mulch or a trip to the lake with the family boat. Yet every single mid-size truck on the market uses a separate frame like a full-size pickup. That's like wearing a helmet and shoulder pads in a game of flag football -- it's just unnecessary.

And the notion that a body-on-frame truck is stronger than a unibody truck is simply unfounded. The torsional stiffness of the Ridgeline is nearly double that of the Chevrolet Colorado, and the Honda's bending stiffness is close to double that of the Ford F-150…"
 
#29 ·
AutomobileMag has a review worth reading:

2017 Honda Ridgeline Review

"...Here we see Honda’s strategy with the Ridgeline come full circle: it’s not built like a traditional truck, it doesn’t drive like a truck, its interior doesn’t look or feel like a truck’s, and it’s not really aimed at truck people. Even though it has a bed and does everything a midsize truck should do (and does it all quite well), it’s not a truck. It’s a crossover with a bed—both in theory and in practice, being built largely of upgraded Pilot parts. It’s an un-truck.

If you hold prejudices that dictate what a truck’s nationality should be (this one’s built in Alabama, by the way), or how it should be made, or what it should look like, un-truck yourself. Give the Ridgeline a look. You just might find it’s as fun, capable, and practical as I did…"
 
#53 · (Edited)
AutomobileMag has a review worth reading:

2017 Honda Ridgeline Review

"...Here we see Honda’s strategy with the Ridgeline come full circle: it’s not built like a traditional truck, it doesn’t drive like a truck, its interior doesn’t look or feel like a truck’s, and it’s not really aimed at truck people. Even though it has a bed and does everything a midsize truck should do (and does it all quite well), it’s not a truck. It’s a crossover with a bed—both in theory and in practice, being built largely of upgraded Pilot parts. It’s an un-truck.

If you hold prejudices that dictate what a truck’s nationality should be (this one’s built in Alabama, by the way), or how it should be made, or what it should look like, un-truck yourself. Give the Ridgeline a look. You just might find it’s as fun, capable, and practical as I did…"
I have it...!...I have the perfect Honda Ridgeline tagline/advertisement...!

"The Honda Ridgeline. Why do you just go and Un-Truck Yourself!"

Brilliant! It hits home to the "real truck" people; it's edgy...right on the cusp of good taste. I'm telling you...Just this tag line would sell 10000 RL's!

That's it...I'm running to the copyright office as we speak...I'm gonna be rich I tell ya...RICH...!!!!! :act018:.
 
#30 ·
So basically what we already knew:

1) This is a super truck for those who liked the Gen 1 but want more modern features and safety.

2) It will still not appeal to the macho big truck types. (On a personal note, I don't give a crap what those room temperature IQ guys think)

All the rest is details.

Bottom line for me is I still plan to trade my 06 when I can get a 17 with what I want.
Don't like black so will go for a Blue, Green, or Red E version.

That's about it for me.
 
#31 ·
Honda Looks to Meet, Maintain Ridgeline Sales Record

The brand’s U.S. chief hopes these attributes also someday can lift the unibody midsize truck to the first-gen Ridgeline’s high-water mark of 50,193 in annual sales.

While Honda currently has unspecified “modest (sales) expectations” for the Ridgeline, Jeff Conrad, group vice president-Honda Div., asks, “If we did 50,000 of the old one, could we start to approach that number?

To woo buyers in warm-weather states, Honda for the first time offers a FWD Ridgeline, with an expected 30% take rate.

Conrad expects more consistent marketing will help keep Ridgeline sales from sinking as they did from 2007 through 2014.

Honda is targeting the 175,000 original Ridgeline owners with the new model, while also expecting conquest sales coming from other pickups as well as SUVs and CUVs.

The ’17 Ridgeline goes on sale in June, ranging from $29,475 for a base FWD RT grade to $42,870 for an AWD Black Edition grade. Neither price includes a $900 destination and handling charge.

Honda expects the Ridgeline’s midgrade model, the $33,000-$35,000 RTL, to be most popular, making up a third of total sales.

Honda Ridgeline | Sales Targeted at Record Levels | Technology content from WardsAuto
 
#33 ·
Someone explain the "D4" button that keeps the transmission in 4th gear or below. It's being described as sort of a "tow/haul" mode - obviously if you're towing a lot you'd want to keep the engine in a lower gear. 4th looks like it's about the 1:1 ratio gear which would be hell on efficiency but would keep the car moving for sure.
 
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