I know a secret

BoostedBrandon wrote: It's not a half ton, but bigger than a quarter ton. 5/8ths ton?

Your fraction skills are off. It's a 3/8 ton, otherwise known as "Avalanche Wannabe but did it all wrong"

If its like previous ones anyway, the Avalanche midgate made the whole design work, honda forgot to copy that part

Is the secret that this is a FWD minivan with an Odyssey powertrain and a pickup body?

I might be clairvoyant.

There's a few things: they're available in a form that doesn't come across as very underpowered, manual trans is an option,

Well, since noone else has pointed it out yet, the new Ridgeline is going to do 0-60 in the mid-6-second range, which makes it as quick as a 90s Mustang GT with a v8 AND a manual, and also MUCH quicker than any colorado short of the rare 5.3.

Huckleberry wrote: Is the secret that this is a FWD minivan with an Odyssey powertrain and a pickup body? I might be clairvoyant.

AWD minivan, but yes, you're right. That's why it's cool.

Regarding the location of the spare on the first generation Ridgeline, there is a second option for storage in the manual. You may not like it more, but it does exist:

If I were to own a first generation Ridgeline, and were concerned about the location, I think I'd look into a tailgate bracket or roof basket.

When was the last Time you got a flat in modern times? I had one 4 years ago and that was only because the crew roofing my house was careless with their nails. Flats really don't happen anymore. My rav4, owned since 2007 from new, has never had its spare used.

patgizz wrote: If its like previous ones anyway, the Avalanche midgate made the whole design work, honda forgot to copy that part

This!

Streetwiseguy wrote: In defense of the stupid spare tire location...its not nearly as bad as the Caravan and Oddysey with stow'n'go seating. Who needs a spare these days anyway?

Good point. I know where the spare is in my GC, but I've yet to practice the procedure to access it. I should really do that under more ideal conditions before I'm trying to figure it out for the first time on the side of a highway... in the dark... when it's raining...

I'm interested in seeing the new Ridgeline and reading Tim's reasoning behind ordering one. I've become somewhat "anti-truck" since selling my last one and buying another van. I still like trucks, but what I want one for now is for more of a toy than as a vehicle I'd drive every day. A van just serves my current needs better.

HappyAndy wrote:

BoostedBrandon wrote: It's not a half ton, but bigger than a quarter ton. 5/8ths ton?

That would be 3/8 ton

Well, technically speaking, 5/8 of a ton is not a half ton, and is bigger than a quarter ton...so hes not actually wrong, but neither are you

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: When was the last Time you got a flat in modern times? I had one 4 years ago and that was only because the crew roofing my house was careless with their nails. Flats really don't happen anymore. My rav4, owned since 2007 from new, has never had its spare used.

I've used my spare a bunch of times, but only once has it been unavoidable and unlikely to have been solvable with a source of air.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: When was the last Time you got a flat in modern times? I had one 4 years ago and that was only because the crew roofing my house was careless with their nails. Flats really don't happen anymore. My rav4, owned since 2007 from new, has never had its spare used.

I've had a couple. One on my wife's wrangler which was a puncture, but the spare hangs off the back so easy to get to. The other in my k3500 dually, which was a damaged valve stem. The spare is under the bed, which was great because my truck bed is pretty much always full.

I've never been a fan of any of the car/trucks. The ridgeline is pretty odd to me,at least the brats and rampages of the genre are very small and have a niche, the ridgelines are huge comparatively

I want an open bed in my otherwise unibody crossover. Why the hate? It is what it is. I don't remember everyone slamming 4cyl mini trucks on towing capacity, etc. They are all just tools for different jobs. I don't even care if it's called a "truck". Make a new name for open back unibody SUVs.

Tim's old Ridgeline has 230,000 miles on it. I've put a lot of those on there, so I think I can put my $0.02 in:

It rides nicely. Much, much better than a full-size truck, or Colorados/Tacomas new and old.
It has more space inside. The interior is better than a compact truck, but I'll admit that modern full-size trucks have upped the game here.
It's a minivan underneath. I pick on him endlessly for that. Guess what? It's never let us down, and it's spent a lot of time hitched to a (relatively light) car + trailer.
It's not great off road. There–I said it. It's front biased, and it shows. It doesn't have the clearance to go where a Colorado will go. It doesn't have the driveline strength to make me feel confident flooring it through a mud hole. The VTM-4 system is dumb compared to the electronic wizards on a new Grand Cherokee. Guess what? None of this matters for our use. It can pull a heavy trailer through deep sand for a few minutes, it doesn't get stuck in a muddy paddock, it launches the boat on a mud ramp, and it's even pretty fun to take down the forest roads when camping. Tim's been through somewhat deep water with it, too, and not had any issues (6" above the bottom of the doors). Ridgeline owners aren't hauling 10,000 pounds of water up a muddy hill every week on their farm (though I do have a friend that uses a first-gen Trooper for this job), and they don't need 1-ton running gear.
The spare is under the bed. This annoys me–spares should be on the back door. That said, it's had one flat tire in 230,000 miles. There was something in the bed. We moved it for a few minutes while the tire was changed.
It's annoyingly reliable. Seriously. It's needed consumables and little else, though it started dripping from the rear main a few thousand miles ago. Tim had the transmission rebuilt while it was out just to be careful, because at some point it had to be close to failure, right?
It tows 5,000 pounds just fine. Much better than our E250. As well as the Colorado.

Came here for truck/not a truck argument. (Leaves satisfied. )

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: When was the last Time you got a flat in modern times? I had one 4 years ago and that was only because the crew roofing my house was careless with their nails. Flats really don't happen anymore. My rav4, owned since 2007 from new, has never had its spare used.

In the truck? The wife had 4 flats in 2 years. My car? 3 times in 3 years. The wife's old accent? about a half dozen times. That's what happens when you have an active economy and constant construction.

As for hte FS/RL comparison, it's valid. The wife loves driving it around town. Has no problems parking it. Has never hit anything or anyone while in it in the 10 years we've owned it and are looking at a lifelong fuel economy average (with towing included) at over 19. Carries 6 in comfort, makes long hauls enjoyable, doesn't struggle for power and can haul/tow more. So why WOULDN'T you cross shop it?

Wow. You get a ton of flats.

The wife had one that was self-inflicted (ran into a curb @ speed) a few years ago, but I don't think I've had one since ~January 2002.

The biggest reason I never took the previous Ridgeline seriously was the sloped bed sides - same with the Avalanche. Looks like they've figured that out.

The Big Three are really good at trucks. They've got years and years and years of feedback from guys using them at job sites, and you can tell. Stuff like flat bed sides are only part of it. They're tools made to work hard, and they're at their best when they're working hard. They're getting more car-like, but they still feel like trucks. I'm basing this mostly on the 3/4 and 1 ton sizes, not as much on the smaller ones.

Toyota is trying to get there, but they're still making big cars. Just look at the tire pressure recommendations - it's really low on a Tundra to make the ride comfortable. The interior just isn't as well figured out for work. Heck, it's got sway control but no trailer brake controller. Based on the Pickup, the T100, the first and second generation Tundras.

Honda's building for casual truck users from what I can tell. People who want to do light truck stuff, or occasional truck stuff. You'll never see them on job sites, so they're unfortunately missing out on that feedback.

Bobzilla wrote: So why WOULDN'T you cross shop it?

Cause I live in a city and park in a tiny underground parking garage. The extra width and length is a huge deal here. Plenty of people drive full size trucks in this city and every single one is covered in door dings and parking lot rash. A compact size truck can't fit my family. I really want a 4 door colorado diesel, but they just can't fit the kids. This is about the best compromise. Not that I'll be buying one.. We'll probably stick with a mini van for our towing/hauling needs.

I wish someone would make a small, like 90s Nissan Hardbody or Hilux small - truck with a modern stiff construction, anti-corrosion and powerful engine/trans/brake combination. Why does my truck need to be large? Just give me a regular bed in a nice tidy package.

Even a modern Frontier is huge in comparison. The Ridgeline is a BIG car.

Give me this with the 3.7L out of the 370Z geared appropriately. Maybe hold the chrome too.

Crap. Maybe I should just make my own. Did any of these things not turn to dust yet?

Personally, I live the compact and half size of the ranger over seas, it's super tough and can haul. It still dosen't fit my family though.

ProDarwin wrote: Wow. You get a ton of flats. The wife had one that was self-inflicted (ran into a curb @ speed) a few years ago, but I don't think I've had one since ~January 2002.

The wife's drive to work for a while was through 3 road construction zones and they were building 4 new neighborhoods near her school. So lots of debris in the roads.

Huckleberry wrote: I wish someone would make a small, like 90s Nissan Hardbody or Hilux small - truck with a modern stiff construction, anti-corrosion and powerful engine/trans/brake combination. Why does my truck need to be large? Just give me a regular bed in a nice tidy package. Even a modern Frontier is huge in comparison. The Ridgeline is a BIG car. Give me this with the 3.7L out of the 370Z geared appropriately. Maybe hold the chrome too. Crap. Maybe I should just make my own. Did any of these things not turn to dust yet?

Yup, there are Hardbodies roaming the roads around here. Usually being used for one man lawn service and that kind of thing. One of the FM staff owns one.

In reply to Huckleberry:

About 80% of the dirtbike, and sport bike population would purchase such a truck if reintroduced into the market as well. As it stands now they search for used sprinters as the bed height of modern pickups is abismal for loading bikes.

In reply to Huckleberry:

As a past owner of a truck you describe, they only time I miss it is when I want an expendable snow-vehicle (my '86 Toyota 4x4 was great in the snow). Otherwise, it was a compromise. It sucked as a car and it was small for a truck. It was owning that truck that made me swear off any truck that didn't have an 8' bed. Is it overkill when empty? Sure. But that's why I have cars. I didn't drive the truck when I didn't need it.

Overall I like it. Seems like a great package for a majority of truck buyers.

There are two things that keep nagging at me:

1) Lack of a 4-Lo range and the front wheel drive setup.

2) Must rev high to find torque motor. (Though the Colorado and Tacoma have gone this way as well, caused my interest to drop after a test drive)

Also no stick shift or true off road package kinda sucks.