axesbowledaslove
07-08-2006, 12:31 PM
2007 Ridgeline, new owners perspective.
One of the earliest things one notices when becoming interested enough in a vehicle to buy one in the first place is that the others on the road suddenly stand out. Every time I see a Ridgeline now I study it, wave howdy to the driver, etc. They still seem pretty rare on the road to me. I spotted two on the way back from San Diego a few days ago on I-15, lovely vehicles both. One, a splendid green, was from Nevada with a plate reading "Ridge". An ROC member, perhaps?
In any case, I have to share my admiration for the group of early adopters who embraced the technical advances that the Ridgeline brings to the truck market. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I did not find the design attractive at first, mostly from the pictures I had seen on the web, TV, magazines, etc. But I had never studied one up close until we found ourselves in the market for a new truck and my wife put the big kibosh on a Nissan Titan, the truck I was thinking I would like to get. (My Son-In-Law bought a Titan a few months back. It is a great truck with a ton of room in the rear of the quad cab.)
Anyway, though I still have issues with the unbroken uniformity of color the profile view of the vehicle presents, overall the utility more than makes up for the oddly sculpted and painted design.
July 4 was my first opportunity to even drive our new truck at freeway speeds. I found it to be rock solid. There is no sensation of disconnection between the cab and the bed of the truck, nor should there be, I suppose, given that the bed is integral with the body. Still, it is quite a different sensation driving the Ridgeline after spending the last 8 years driving Dodge Dakotas. (Don't get me wrong, I had nearly perfect service out of both Dakotas, and not one hour of downtime out of either one I owned.) Still, the Ridgeline is just a whole new ballgame as far as driving one goes. It feels super strong, very responsive and flat handling, and plenty willing to run as fast as I care to drive, which is often pretty fast. One of the things I had to do was pick up a TV for my sick daughter and her husband. I found one they wanted in Victorville and loaded both it (a large, projection model) and a heavy stand into the back of the RL and hauled them both 80 miles. You couldn't even tell they were back there unless you looked in the rearview mirror.
We have also had the opportunity to use the trunk under the bed. A whole grocery cart full of food and supplies disappears into the thing with beaucoup room to spare. It would take quite a shopping trip to fill it up, but then there's always the bed of the truck, and the rear seating area with the benches up. This thing is perfect for homeowners who need to haul stuff all the time. The more I load it, the more I like it.
Comfort: Unparalled in a truck? The leather seats are firm, easily adjustable to suit my 5'2" wife and my 6'2" self. The sliding armrest on top of the console was exceptionally well-thought-out and allows a nice, relaxed, driving position with the seat either full forward or full aft. The heating I have not tried other than on our test drive, and only for a second! (It's hot out here in the Mojave just now!) But the air works well and keeps the interior comfortably cool when it's 108 outside. There is some wind noise, but nothing like what I am accustomed to in either of my old Dakotas or my wife's Jeep Liberty, but I am probably not the best judge of this; I ride a motorcycle most of the time and the wind one encounters in an enclosed vehicle is simply below my threshold of annoyance.
Performance: Definitely adequate. It's fast enough to keep up with traffic. I can't help but wonder what a Honda smallblock V-8 with an extra liter of displacement would do for the vehicle, however. A little more jump would be appreciated in passing situations or while towing heavy loads.
Oddities: The design of the truck is sort of high shouldered. The bed seems to ride higher than that of a traditional pickup design. The beefed up B and C pillars, while contributing to the sturdiness of the structure, also combine to make it a bit difficult when it comes to picking up vehicles at the rear quarters. I had to adjust the outside mirrors pretty carefully in order to get a good feeling about what was coming around me on the expressway, particularly on the left. Also, backing the truck up in a parallel parking situation is not confidence-inspiring. The bed sits so high that the tailgate obstructs the grill of the vehicle behind you in the inside rearview mirror, and the sides of the bed taper back and vanish in the side rear views. It is difficult to back the Ridgeline up in tight quarters. I think the biggest beef is that you cannot see the rear corners of the bed in the outside rear view mirrors. This might explain the goodly number of folks who have installed the backup camera system. I am thinking of doing so myself.
I also think I am beginning to sense at least one reason why the Ridgeline is not as economical on gas as it might be, and that is the vehicle just does not freewheel very well. It does not coast to a stop as smoothly as other automatic transmission vehicles I have owned. This may be due to the fulltime 4wd system,(all of the 4wd systems we have owned have been selectable) but around town in the Dakota, I could take my foot off the gas in Drive and expect the vehicle to coast a good long ways. I could back off the throttle mid-block and coast smoothly most of the way to the stop at the next corner. The Ridgeline seems to grab and engine brake almost as soon as you let off the gas. I asked my wife if she had noticed anything like this and she said no. But she thinks I am crazy. I know a good way to test this, and that is to drive up Walker Pass and see how far I can coast down it in the Ridgeline compared to the old Dodge. Has anyone else noticed this behavior?
I noted that one member here mentioned that his rear exhaust hanger had let the pipe slip, so to speak. Same thing happened to me. I noticed a clanging noise a couple of days ago when starting the vehicle. It came from the rear and sounded like metal banging. Sure enough, the probe that is supposed to fit into the suspended rubber exhaust hanger was instead drooping down and ringing the trailer hitch like a carillon. Easy fix, just lift up the pipe and plug the probe back into the hanger. I have no idea if the pipe worked its way out on its own or if somebody knocked it off when they were installing the hitch. Either way, I am going to keep an eye on that for awhile.
Another odd thing happened on my way home from San Diego. A semi passed me going the opposite direction and blew one of my bra straps clean off! I am sure this is not the first time a trucker has managed to dislodge a bra strap, but I think when that happens there is usually some time spent over cocktails. This blast of wind just up and disconnected the elastic strap that pins the Honda Factory Bra tight at the hood seam. Suddenly I got this flapping buzz going on and had to pull over to reaffix the thing. The wind out here in the high desert is ferocious and if that Bra does not behave in the mild breeze we had going that day, I do not imagine it will fare much better come the fall. We shall see, but there is no way I am going to be pulling over to the side of the road all the time just to fix my truck's underwear.
I might well be the first person in the history of the world to have the following words written on a service ticket at a Honda Dealership: "Bra straps keep coming off truck.":eek:
One of the earliest things one notices when becoming interested enough in a vehicle to buy one in the first place is that the others on the road suddenly stand out. Every time I see a Ridgeline now I study it, wave howdy to the driver, etc. They still seem pretty rare on the road to me. I spotted two on the way back from San Diego a few days ago on I-15, lovely vehicles both. One, a splendid green, was from Nevada with a plate reading "Ridge". An ROC member, perhaps?
In any case, I have to share my admiration for the group of early adopters who embraced the technical advances that the Ridgeline brings to the truck market. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, I did not find the design attractive at first, mostly from the pictures I had seen on the web, TV, magazines, etc. But I had never studied one up close until we found ourselves in the market for a new truck and my wife put the big kibosh on a Nissan Titan, the truck I was thinking I would like to get. (My Son-In-Law bought a Titan a few months back. It is a great truck with a ton of room in the rear of the quad cab.)
Anyway, though I still have issues with the unbroken uniformity of color the profile view of the vehicle presents, overall the utility more than makes up for the oddly sculpted and painted design.
July 4 was my first opportunity to even drive our new truck at freeway speeds. I found it to be rock solid. There is no sensation of disconnection between the cab and the bed of the truck, nor should there be, I suppose, given that the bed is integral with the body. Still, it is quite a different sensation driving the Ridgeline after spending the last 8 years driving Dodge Dakotas. (Don't get me wrong, I had nearly perfect service out of both Dakotas, and not one hour of downtime out of either one I owned.) Still, the Ridgeline is just a whole new ballgame as far as driving one goes. It feels super strong, very responsive and flat handling, and plenty willing to run as fast as I care to drive, which is often pretty fast. One of the things I had to do was pick up a TV for my sick daughter and her husband. I found one they wanted in Victorville and loaded both it (a large, projection model) and a heavy stand into the back of the RL and hauled them both 80 miles. You couldn't even tell they were back there unless you looked in the rearview mirror.
We have also had the opportunity to use the trunk under the bed. A whole grocery cart full of food and supplies disappears into the thing with beaucoup room to spare. It would take quite a shopping trip to fill it up, but then there's always the bed of the truck, and the rear seating area with the benches up. This thing is perfect for homeowners who need to haul stuff all the time. The more I load it, the more I like it.
Comfort: Unparalled in a truck? The leather seats are firm, easily adjustable to suit my 5'2" wife and my 6'2" self. The sliding armrest on top of the console was exceptionally well-thought-out and allows a nice, relaxed, driving position with the seat either full forward or full aft. The heating I have not tried other than on our test drive, and only for a second! (It's hot out here in the Mojave just now!) But the air works well and keeps the interior comfortably cool when it's 108 outside. There is some wind noise, but nothing like what I am accustomed to in either of my old Dakotas or my wife's Jeep Liberty, but I am probably not the best judge of this; I ride a motorcycle most of the time and the wind one encounters in an enclosed vehicle is simply below my threshold of annoyance.
Performance: Definitely adequate. It's fast enough to keep up with traffic. I can't help but wonder what a Honda smallblock V-8 with an extra liter of displacement would do for the vehicle, however. A little more jump would be appreciated in passing situations or while towing heavy loads.
Oddities: The design of the truck is sort of high shouldered. The bed seems to ride higher than that of a traditional pickup design. The beefed up B and C pillars, while contributing to the sturdiness of the structure, also combine to make it a bit difficult when it comes to picking up vehicles at the rear quarters. I had to adjust the outside mirrors pretty carefully in order to get a good feeling about what was coming around me on the expressway, particularly on the left. Also, backing the truck up in a parallel parking situation is not confidence-inspiring. The bed sits so high that the tailgate obstructs the grill of the vehicle behind you in the inside rearview mirror, and the sides of the bed taper back and vanish in the side rear views. It is difficult to back the Ridgeline up in tight quarters. I think the biggest beef is that you cannot see the rear corners of the bed in the outside rear view mirrors. This might explain the goodly number of folks who have installed the backup camera system. I am thinking of doing so myself.
I also think I am beginning to sense at least one reason why the Ridgeline is not as economical on gas as it might be, and that is the vehicle just does not freewheel very well. It does not coast to a stop as smoothly as other automatic transmission vehicles I have owned. This may be due to the fulltime 4wd system,(all of the 4wd systems we have owned have been selectable) but around town in the Dakota, I could take my foot off the gas in Drive and expect the vehicle to coast a good long ways. I could back off the throttle mid-block and coast smoothly most of the way to the stop at the next corner. The Ridgeline seems to grab and engine brake almost as soon as you let off the gas. I asked my wife if she had noticed anything like this and she said no. But she thinks I am crazy. I know a good way to test this, and that is to drive up Walker Pass and see how far I can coast down it in the Ridgeline compared to the old Dodge. Has anyone else noticed this behavior?
I noted that one member here mentioned that his rear exhaust hanger had let the pipe slip, so to speak. Same thing happened to me. I noticed a clanging noise a couple of days ago when starting the vehicle. It came from the rear and sounded like metal banging. Sure enough, the probe that is supposed to fit into the suspended rubber exhaust hanger was instead drooping down and ringing the trailer hitch like a carillon. Easy fix, just lift up the pipe and plug the probe back into the hanger. I have no idea if the pipe worked its way out on its own or if somebody knocked it off when they were installing the hitch. Either way, I am going to keep an eye on that for awhile.
Another odd thing happened on my way home from San Diego. A semi passed me going the opposite direction and blew one of my bra straps clean off! I am sure this is not the first time a trucker has managed to dislodge a bra strap, but I think when that happens there is usually some time spent over cocktails. This blast of wind just up and disconnected the elastic strap that pins the Honda Factory Bra tight at the hood seam. Suddenly I got this flapping buzz going on and had to pull over to reaffix the thing. The wind out here in the high desert is ferocious and if that Bra does not behave in the mild breeze we had going that day, I do not imagine it will fare much better come the fall. We shall see, but there is no way I am going to be pulling over to the side of the road all the time just to fix my truck's underwear.
I might well be the first person in the history of the world to have the following words written on a service ticket at a Honda Dealership: "Bra straps keep coming off truck.":eek: