New Ridgeline
09-26-2019, 08:39 PM
#12
Registered User
Congrats on the new ride! I was in the market earlier this month for a midsize and went with a 3rd gen Tacoma. I test drove the Ridgeline right after the Tacoma to make sure I wasn't making a mistake, and as much as I wanted to like the Ridgline, I came away unimpressed. I couldn't look past the very shallow truck bed and the looks (although the black edition does looks pretty decent). On paper it is the clear winner for a primary city driven truck, better ride, AWD, better MPG, luxury-ish interior. One thing I didn't like is that you need to get the RTL-E to get all the safety features which pushes the price to close to 40k. The Honda sales guy was pretty surprised I came to test drive the Ridgeline. I guess they haven't sold many this year and the closest one to the spec I would have gotten was up in LA (100 miles). I'm glad Honda makes them but they need win over the midsize market in order to survive in the market. I hope you continue to enjoy it!
09-30-2019, 03:23 AM
#13
Strongly considering a Ridgeline to replace our 2016 Mazda CX-5 at the end of the year when our lease is up. Had been waiting to see what features/improvements the 2020 model bring, was hoping they would update the styling slightly like they did with the 2019 Pilot (which I like better). Also considering the Honda Passport which is on the same chassis, and has the same drivertrain and capabilities. Would love to hear more about how good the truck is with your K9, a big factor for our car will be that it will be used frequently for our dogs, both of which are 80+ bully breeds.... I like the fold up feature of the rear seats on the Ridgeline and wondered if this worked good for your dog.
09-30-2019, 06:56 AM
#14
Strongly considering a Ridgeline to replace our 2016 Mazda CX-5 at the end of the year when our lease is up. Had been waiting to see what features/improvements the 2020 model bring, was hoping they would update the styling slightly like they did with the 2019 Pilot (which I like better). Also considering the Honda Passport which is on the same chassis, and has the same drivertrain and capabilities. Would love to hear more about how good the truck is with your K9, a big factor for our car will be that it will be used frequently for our dogs, both of which are 80+ bully breeds.... I like the fold up feature of the rear seats on the Ridgeline and wondered if this worked good for your dog.
As far as the k9. I have a Mal, had a working line GSD I imported prior to my Mal. So we train extensively (Schutzhund and some SAR) and often. Due to the magic rear seats, like in the Honda Fit, there is plenty of room in the back cab with a virtual flat floor. So my crate goes in easily and it's easy to strap down. And the good thing for the k9's, there are not only heat vents under the seats, there is also 2 rear A/C vents that can be controlled independently from the front. Honda calls it Tri-Zone climate control. It's good for here where it can be mid 90's to 100 degrees in the summer, and after a session, and while I wait my turn among 20 dogs you can keep the dog frosted out in the back. Most people there use steel crates sitting in the bed of their trucks and I won't do that. Honda also makes rear seat covers if you want to keep the dog hair off the rear seats at least.
Lastly the rear door openings have always been an issue. They figured out on the Ridgeline forum that you can install the front door checkers on the rear doors and gain 5 inches of ingress, like it should have been from the factory. Same for the Pilot. I put them on this weekend and massive difference and so much easier to slide my crate in the back cab now. Very pleased with this thing but nothing new as I had driven 6-7 times since it came out in late '16. I also threw it through some turns, pretty hard, over the weekend, and the torque vectoring is excellent. Sans some slight body rolls it handles like a mofo and better than any truck I have ever driven.
09-30-2019, 10:18 AM
#15
Congrats on the new ride, Tommy! They definitely have their own niche as far as capabilities relative to other truck offerings.
10-01-2019, 08:40 AM
#16
Community Organizer
10-02-2019, 09:22 AM
#17
Yep, real or excellent pavement handling. You can feel it in the turns. For a truck (or pilot with a bed) it handled pavement better than any truck. For some reason most think they need to be able to pull a 10k lb tractor. Or they need their truck to jump sand dunes, or rock crawl. Most use it suburban style.
10-03-2019, 09:13 AM
#18
Community Organizer
Yep, real or excellent pavement handling. You can feel it in the turns. For a truck (or pilot with a bed) it handled pavement better than any truck. For some reason most think they need to be able to pull a 10k lb tractor. Or they need their truck to jump sand dunes, or rock crawl. Most use it suburban style.
10-03-2019, 11:51 AM
#19
Yep, real or excellent pavement handling. You can feel it in the turns. For a truck (or pilot with a bed) it handled pavement better than any truck. For some reason most think they need to be able to pull a 10k lb tractor. Or they need their truck to jump sand dunes, or rock crawl. Most use it suburban style.
10-03-2019, 04:49 PM
#20
Function. I buy vehicles for the function I need. 5000 lb towing is more than I need. I don’t live on a farm with the need to pull John Deere tractors, and no desire to buy an Airstream. I see those lift kitted 33 trucks and well it’s like buying a Ferrari and you sit in bumper to bumper traffic commuting in it and never open it up at the track or hit the twisties. Off road, I’ve done off-road driving when I lived in Washington state. It tears your vehicle up bad. I owned a Tundra 4X4 back then and had to fix damage and get some panels repainted from going off road. I learned that off road driving is best done in a Wrangler. Full size trucks are just too wide. And here, this is what people do with their offroad vehicles. These were taken by me at my local grocery store. So f’in lame. I’m pleased with the size of my dick thanks.
