Thinking about a Ridgeline...

[mayberidgeline]

Pardon a noob

I'm looking into a new "midsize" truck and I've got a Ridgeline, Frontier, and Tacoma on my list. In most every respect the Ridgeline wins for me, but I do have one pretty serious concern - I tend to spend a fair amount of time offroad. Not hardcore, mind you - but some fairly rutty areas with occassional mud and snow. I know the Frontier and Tacoma win hands down in this regard, but if the Ridgeline can handle my needs I'd rather have it because it's easier to live with otherwise. Anyway, onto my specific requests:

1 - Do you think the Ridgeline is adequate for this type of moderate stuff, and

2 - If anybody has any pics offroad showing the type of terrain you've been on, trail shots of a Ridgeline showing flex, etc it would really help me out (I've already seen the Honda video, I was hoping for some real-world user feedback and images).

Thanks!

[DoctorJ]

There are other posts regarding similiar applications. The only thing you might need to do is switch to a good all terrain (AT) tire versus the truck tire that comes stock. But this is typically true of most any 4WD, they come with tires that are mostly suited to the highway with only moderate off-road use implied.

[csimo]

Take a look at this video:
http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...&page_number=1

Also... the Ridgeline suffers from lack of ground clearance. Even deeply rutted dirt roads can cause significant problems. It's a great vehicle, but its roots are a passenger vehicle... yes they've toughened it up but it's not an off road vehicle.

I doubt the suspension could handle very much larger wheels and tires. The unsprung weight would become an issue.

I love the Ridgeline but the off road features are not its strong point.

On the other side of the coin... due to the way VSA and VTM-4 work together you will have better traction in snow and mud conditions than the competition as long as you don't run out of ground clearance.

[mayfielh]

Originally Posted by csimo

Take a look at this video:
http://www.vtec.net/articles/view-ar...&page_number=1

Wouldn't be cool if Honda would put together a "Honda Driving Experience" simialar to what Land Rover, Hummer and Jeep do. Heck I would love to just go and do that course Gary just showed us.

Honda if your out there this could be HUGE for PR. Have a bunch of us average off-road RL owners at a camp some where in the middle of nowhere. Just cameras, a few mechanics, and fun. You can bring the waivers to it will me the lawyers happier.

[Mr Manxter]

If you can deal with the limited ground clearance then the Ridgeline will work for you. The four wheel drive system works very well with a good check on wheel slip. On moderate off-road desert trails here in California the Ridgeline worked out just fine. It would have been nice to have a little extra ground clearance but as you are familiar with going off-road then you also know to keep the wheels going over the high rocks and do not try to straddle them.

I believe your only concern should be with the limited ground clearance.

[the kid]

Put some bigger tires on...this will give you some extra clearence to make it more comparable to the competition

[Ahab]

My Ridge has no problem negotiateing the same moderate trails my Ranger has done here in Arizona. Just alot smoother and effortless!

[RidgelineRob]

It shouldn't be a problem.

My friends beat the hell out of a Honda Pilot at a Honda VIP day a couple winters ago. They had a Honda engineer in the back seat with them and apparently he couldn't stop laughing at the stuff they were doing. I know at one time they were booting down some abandoned rail tracks with several inches of snow on the ground, and they didn't get it stuck.

Overall, the Ridgeline will be fine. Skidplates will be available shortly, and if you go with a 2" lift (at some point, it'll be available) and some 265/70R17 BFGoodrich A/T's, you'll have much more offroad performance than you'd probably ever need.

[shovelhd]

Who is going to offer the skidplates?

[zero]

Who is going to offer the 2" lift?