Well, I guess there comes a time when you just need to see if all the stuff works on your new ride before the warranty runs out. We had a really good rain yesterday, so I thought I'd take it up the canyon and actually see how VSA and VTM-4 lock work in these slippery muddy conditions.
This was an off-road road. after the rain, parts of it were submerged in water and the rest was mud. This was a bad looking muddy road. This was just not a challenge for the Ridgeline. I'll have to find a road in worse condition obviously. The Ridgeline slid a little in parts, but handled it as easily as driving down a paved road. I stopped in the mud and also stopped in the submerged parts hoping to get some kind of traction problem going, but to no avail. It just drove out easily. I find myself looking for impassable roads just to give the Ridgeline something to do. I did some minor fiording with no trouble.
The next task was to try to challenge the VTM-4 lock. I found a steep muddy hill, turned off the VSA, shifted to first, engaged VTM-4 lock. I slowly approached this steep grade. It would have been insane trying to approach this with any kind of momentom. The Ridgeline walked up this grade with no problem, but there came a point where the driver couldn't really see the road any more because of the steepness of the grade. This is where in this case, the Ridgeline had more ability than the driver had courage. Yep, I backed down the hill. My impression is there was still plenty of torque to make it to the top. I found some other deep rutted muddy hills that the Ridgeline handled quite competently (VTM-4 off, VSA on). The bottom line is: I think this truck will go where any sane person would want to go. I'd like to think of myself as sane anyway...........rather than a chicken.
This was an off-road road. after the rain, parts of it were submerged in water and the rest was mud. This was a bad looking muddy road. This was just not a challenge for the Ridgeline. I'll have to find a road in worse condition obviously. The Ridgeline slid a little in parts, but handled it as easily as driving down a paved road. I stopped in the mud and also stopped in the submerged parts hoping to get some kind of traction problem going, but to no avail. It just drove out easily. I find myself looking for impassable roads just to give the Ridgeline something to do. I did some minor fiording with no trouble.
The next task was to try to challenge the VTM-4 lock. I found a steep muddy hill, turned off the VSA, shifted to first, engaged VTM-4 lock. I slowly approached this steep grade. It would have been insane trying to approach this with any kind of momentom. The Ridgeline walked up this grade with no problem, but there came a point where the driver couldn't really see the road any more because of the steepness of the grade. This is where in this case, the Ridgeline had more ability than the driver had courage. Yep, I backed down the hill. My impression is there was still plenty of torque to make it to the top. I found some other deep rutted muddy hills that the Ridgeline handled quite competently (VTM-4 off, VSA on). The bottom line is: I think this truck will go where any sane person would want to go. I'd like to think of myself as sane anyway...........rather than a chicken.