2009 Ridgeline Spy Photos!!

[ToyTruck]

^I think ChrisM has it right......People will always need trucks. The casual user who camps, tows his boat, tailgates, goes to horse shows, Lowe's, Home Depot etc., is not going away due to higher gas costs. They'll do it closer to home.

As this unibody concept gains acceptability, the evolution of these new trucks will possibly produce some really great fuel efficient vehicles.

Judging what I've seen from GM and Toyota truck concepts, the RL is the way many will go. It's too big a market to ignore

[shovelhd]

+1 to everything you've said, ChrisM.

I don't know if you'll see the unibody on frame in the large trucks as the independent rear suspension could be a limiting factor in towing capacity. I would definitely expect more of them in the smaller trucks. No doubt that the IRS is what helps make the ride and handling of the Ridgeline unique, and also the bullseye of contention from the "real truck" owners.

[bandit]

I believe that as gas prices rise, sales of trucks and SUVs will suffer as more and more people re-evaluate their priorities. However, those who continue to buy trucks will look for vehicles that meet their needs vs. making up for their...shortcomings... What they will be looking for is precisely what Honda provides, and IMHO this presents a huge potential for the RL to grab an increasing share over it's competitors.

[k1dude]

Please re-read my post. We are basically agreeing on almost every point you made.

The rumors posted in this thread state the Ridgeline will be discontinued in the next few years. I said if it is discontinued, it will probably be replaced by a smaller/lighter truck with better fuel efficiency. But supposedly it will not be called a Ridgeline.

I never said trucks are going away. I pointed out they will always be needed. And since so many people rely on them for work, there will be many of them. But with gas prices forecasted to be $12/gallon in the next 5 years (some projections by oil analysts), the casual use truck will not be affordable to operate by homeowners if it gets the same economy as work trucks.

I made no reference to unibody vs body-on-frame construction. But since you brought it up, GM, Ford, and Toyota have already put out unibody concept trucks. There is no question the future of most trucks will be unibody.

[ChrisM]

Originally Posted by k1dude

Please re-read my post. We are basically agreeing on almost every point you made.

The rumors posted in this thread state the Ridgeline will be discontinued in the next few years. I said if it is discontinued, it will probably be replaced by a smaller/lighter truck with better fuel efficiency. But supposedly it will not be called a Ridgeline.

I never said trucks are going away. I pointed out they will always be needed. And since so many people rely on them for work, there will be many of them. But with gas prices forecasted to be $12/gallon in the next 5 years (some projections by oil analysts), the casual use truck will not be affordable to operate by homeowners if it gets the same economy as work trucks.

I made no reference to unibody vs body-on-frame construction. But since you brought it up, GM, Ford, and Toyota have already put out unibody concept trucks. There is no question the future of most trucks will be unibody.

I reread your comments and you are correct. I'm pretty much agreeing with what you said in the paragraph that you posted. I was more in disagreement with the last paragraph of your post when you mentioned this.

"But the casual usage truck segment, which the Ridgeline perfectly addressed, will disappear as a result of expensive fuel. There is no way to significantly increase the fuel economy of the Ridgeline because the laws of physics still apply."

I don't think that it will disappear, it will evolve. I also think that there is a way to increase the gas mileage of the Ridgeline. In fact there are several but they would all drive up the cost of the truck too much.

I apologize for the mischaracterization of your post in my first response.

[Mr Moonlight]

Great discussion. For my money, I'd like to see something more the size of the genuine "compact" pickups that existed a decade ago.

Make it small, a tough as hell unibody like the RL so it's reasonably light, give it a four cylinder diesel, and offer it with an off-road package that has good clearance and skid plates in the right spots. Four doors and a small bed with a lockable trunk... man, that would be absolutely friggin perfect.

I don't need to tow much, don't even really need a rear locker for off-roading (too much weight). Just something to haul stuff and good ground clearance to I can make it into the backcountry a ways. Toyota is moving in the right direction with their A-BAT concept from this year's auto show circuit, especially in terms of aerodynamics. The "tough truck" image is gonna have to be revised. Good aerodynamics = free gas mileage.