I know a secret

Kreb wrote: There are words I don't want to read on this site: Trump, Clinton, Cruz and Bernie or any of the verbage associated with them. Clear enough?

How about star wars themed?

There are words I don't want to read on this site: Trump, Clinton, Cruz and Bernie or any of the verbage associated with them. Clear enough?

Well, there's one vote out of the hundreds of people who are active here.

But if we're sticking our heads in the sand of the internet anyway, what better distraction than the NEW HONDA RIDGELINE!

I dont know why people keep saying it's a FWD minivan like that's a bad thing. It has optional AWD, but forget about that for a second... Doesn't anyone here realize how much better FWD is than RWD when you actually have traction problems? Noone here has seen a RWD pickup with 400lb ft reduced to the power of a pedal car just by putting it on wet grass? I've personally pulled long-dormant dead cars out of holes in the ground (it's a hobby, a stupid hobby) with FWD cars after a RWD pickup couldn't move them. If i'm only going to have 2 drive wheels, i'd prefer for them to be the ones with 70% of the vehicle weight on them.

Unless you just don't need traction in which case you would have no real opinion on the matter other than propping up a general air of RWD snobbery which is meaningless in your real life.

How much weight is on the front wheels once you put significant tongue weight on the back of the truck?

I was moving a trailer filled with mulch around our yard behind my wifes FWD VUE with a 5spd. Doing the clutch dance to try and get traction but not spin the wheels on a grassy hill was very annoying. If it had been RWD I'd probably have been slightly better off - but not sure though.

I hate FWD.

Rwd is better.

Hillary, trump, Cruz, Bernie.

Ridgeline is a Honda.

These are all the things I learned from this thread.

In reply to Nick (LUCAS) Comstock:

my work here is done.

ProDarwin wrote: How much weight is on the front wheels once you put significant tongue weight on the back of the truck? I was moving a trailer filled with mulch around our yard behind my wifes FWD VUE with a 5spd. Doing the clutch dance to try and get traction but not spin the wheels on a grassy hill was very annoying. If it had been RWD I'd probably have been slightly better off - but not sure though.

This is the key. The FWD truck will have better traction when empty, but once you load it up, the RWD truck gains an advantage as the added weight is on the drive wheels. FWD loses even worse when you point it up a hill, as weight transfers back (and even more when you start to apply power).

In reply to rslifkin:

Isn't the RL AWD?

ultraclyde wrote:

Keith Tanner wrote:

Tim Suddard wrote: Wow, when I said pile on, I wasn't expecting all this. The spare under the bed is often mentioned. In eleven years of ownership, I never got a flat tire, so that has been a non issue. More than 100 times, I have towed a race car with the Ridgeline and I just out the cruise on at 78 miles per hour and get there in complete comfort. With the new one I won't have to watch the gas gauge go down as quickly.

Does having the spare under the bed make it more difficult to steal? Because having them under the truck is basically "free tires!".

Have you ever dropped the spare from under your HD truck? I mean, I know they're larger than the RL tires, but moving the spare on my TooFiddy to get to the pumpkin has easily been the hardest thing I've done on that truck - and I've done the balljoints!

I have, actually. Well, I've replaced the stolen spare. So I've never dropped one, only lifted a new one into its place. I'm really happy I noticed that during a pre-trip inspection and did not discover it at the side of the road.

rslifkin wrote:

ProDarwin wrote: How much weight is on the front wheels once you put significant tongue weight on the back of the truck? I was moving a trailer filled with mulch around our yard behind my wifes FWD VUE with a 5spd. Doing the clutch dance to try and get traction but not spin the wheels on a grassy hill was very annoying. If it had been RWD I'd probably have been slightly better off - but not sure though.

This is the key. The FWD truck will have better traction when empty, but once you load it up, the RWD truck gains an advantage as the added weight is on the drive wheels. FWD loses even worse when you point it up a hill, as weight transfers back (and even more when you start to apply power).

No. You just suffer from RWD snobbery. Facts and reality mean nothing.

Huckleberry wrote: In reply to rslifkin: Isn't the RL AWD?

Yes, but it's FWD until slip, so it can harder to get a smooth application of power to the wheels that have traction (and that can sometimes be the difference between just barely getting moving and not at all). It's also open diff at both ends, while a lot of other pickups have an optional LSD or locker for the rear. I think there's a mode where you can make it lock the center diff, but only under limited conditions.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: In reply to ultraclyde: Last time, I had to change a tire on a pickup. I called AAA. I ain't climbing under there in my work clothes. I pay my $50/yr for exactlty that service.

When I'm driving my truck, my "work clothes" are exactly the sort of thing I wear when climbing under a truck I also keep a jumpsuit in the trailer just in case.

Huckleberry wrote: In reply to rslifkin: Isn't the RL AWD?

-ish

I dont know why people keep saying it's a FWD minivan like that's a bad thing.

Tell 'em brother!

In reply to Keith Tanner:

That experience is from way back, when the truck was my only form of transport.

With my job, I only dress up on weekends Even though I work behind a desk, I know I'm gonna be installing some tires and digging around in a suspension at some point.

Kreb wrote: There are words I don't want to read on this site: Trump, Clinton, Cruz and Bernie or any of the verbage associated with them. Clear enough?

I wholeheartedly agree. I belong to another forum that is currently rife with this crap. No one came to GRM.com to discuss the absurd media hype. You wanna talk about that? Take it elsewhere. We came here to talk cars, and trucks that behave like cars. Lol.

rslifkin wrote: Yes, but it's FWD until slip, so it can harder to get a smooth application of power to the wheels that have traction (and that can sometimes be the difference between just barely getting moving and not at all). It's also open diff at both ends, while a lot of other pickups have an optional LSD or locker for the rear. I think there's a mode where you can make it lock the center diff, but only under limited conditions.

That's all true, but also probably not significant for most people most of the time. A Ridgeline isn't about balancing on a cliff edge in Moab or mud bogging, it's about getting up a wet grassy hill without trouble. Really, that's all most people need most of the time.

foxtrapper wrote: A Ridgeline isn't about balancing on a cliff edge in Moab or mud bogging, it's about getting up a wet grassy hill without trouble. Really, that's all most people need most of the time.

But, but.... Raptor!!

In California I've heard people say "but vehicle X cant handle the Rubicon Trail!" Methinks that if you take a brand new factory- stock vehicle of any sort on the Rubicon you have to be rich and/or stupid.

Didn't a "ridgeline" win baja.

Also. Didn't that engine effectively win Sebring?

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Didn't a "ridgeline" win baja. Also. Didn't that engine effectively win Sebring?

Lol that's like saying didn't a Camry win Daytona?

Cotton wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Didn't a "ridgeline" win baja. Also. Didn't that engine effectively win Sebring?

Lol that's like saying didn't a Camry win Daytona?

Yes, and no.

The engine.. same block, heads and crank is the sebring engine. It's effectively a mini van motor with some turbos on it and a good tune. But it's very close to a stock motor and it comes from a friend who worked on the heads of that motor for Honda R&D.

The truck well.. yeah.. hence the quotes.

So the engine is a real deal awesomeness and you're only partially right about the camry reference. There is nothing remotely production in the camry NASCAR engine.

Tim Suddard wrote: Wow, when I said pile on, I wasn't expecting all this. The spare under the bed is often mentioned. In eleven years of ownership, I never got a flat tire, so that has been a non issue. More than 100 times, I have towed a race car with the Ridgeline and I just out the cruise on at 78 miles per hour and get there in complete comfort. With the new one I won't have to watch the gas gauge go down as quickly.

Then you need to spend more time on the board. This is pretty much SOP lately. Though as the weather warms, its getting better.

Waldorf and Statler are funny because there are only two of them and they are on camera only brieflyand they often get their comeuppance fairly quickly.

An entire forum seemingly made up of those characters gets old quick, especially when there is very little reason for them to stop.

foxtrapper wrote: That's all true, but also probably not significant for most people most of the time. A Ridgeline isn't about balancing on a cliff edge in Moab or mud bogging, it's about getting up a wet grassy hill without trouble. Really, that's all most people need most of the time.

Says the guy riding a Road King in the wilderness.

foxtrapper wrote: Really, that's all most people need ever.

FTFY.

Funny, the most "it's not a true truck" comments I've read are coming from the people defending the RL. The rest of the people (myself included) that the RL doesn't work well for aren't saying that at all.

All I've ever said is there are other options that are just as good or better for less money. Honda's require a premium, and if you're going to pay a premium you should get something more. I just don't think the RL does that. If it suits your needs and you want to pay the Honda tax, good on you. I don't and it doesn't, so I won't.

I don't know when or how having a different opinion suddenly became such a terrible thing. Different strokes for different folks and all that.