Car and Driver Long Term Road Test Results are in!

[e_piph_a_ny]

2006 Honda Ridgeline RTL - Long Term Road Tests
Love and the ugly truckling: Forget the t-word. Versatile, reliable, comfortable utility vehicle. And when it comes to styling, well, the ayes have it.

At the conclusion of that test, our take on the car-or-truck issue was this: “Who cares?” And now, after two years and 40,000 miles with a Ridgeline, we heartily endorse the finding of that ’05 comparison-test crew: “Let’s appreciate the Ridgeline for what it is: a new type of utility vehicle.”

The ROCers knew this all along !!

http://www.caranddriver.com/longroad...eline-rtl.html

[Zlash]

Seems they totally missed the boat on a few things in the article.

At 60.0 inches, it’s also short, and even with the two-way tailgate open in the horizontal position, a four-by-eight sheet of building material will overlap the gate’s end by 17 inches. So, not a good choice for someone in the home-building trade.

I guess that last 17 inches is just gonna fall off?

Even though all-wheel drive is standard, there’s no low-range feature for creeping in tough job-site terrain

VTM-4 lock or am i missing something?

Inevitably, there were a few niggling gripes. For example, after creeping blindly through a frog-strangling downpour, one logbook diarist thought the windshield wipers’ fast setting was hard to distinguish from the slow one.

This one boggles me too, high is a lot faster than low on mine and it's not hard to tell the difference. Just to name a few things that jumped out at me.

[meanmachine19]

This was a pretty good article overall. Amazing how some of the times improved (i.e., acceleration) after 2 years and the engine broken in.

But, I don't get the whole 'U' thing There's nothing ugly about the RL!

[Raplon]

Originally Posted by Zlash

VTM-4 lock or am i missing something?

VTM-4 lock is not a low-range feature. Personally, I don't need one. I've had low-range in a couple of my SUVs but never needed to use it.
Overall, they had a very positive impression. Also, I've been C&D subscriber for 14 years and there hasn't been any vehicle road test where they hadn't had any negative comments. They have to write about something!

[FTM1]

Don't forget Motor Trend has a Long -Term Test of the Ridgeline in their July 2007 issue also.