It's just a car (unibody) with a bed and pickup styling. A bit like the old VW Rabbit pickups from back in the day. I think Dodge also had a unibody El Camino thing back in the 80's. (The El Camino was also car-based but those were body-on-frame no unibody)

For most people who don't haul loads, it'll suit them fine.

If you have any notion of using your truck for heavy-duty use, or towing anything more than a couple of dirt bikes/quads/PWC, then the Ridgeline isn't for you.

 

It's based on the Acura MDX SUV platform. My friend is designing the front suspension on it. It's not meant to be a work horse. It's a sport activity vehicle. I was told handles great and is fun to drive.

 

Unibody can be strong and Honda has integrated the actual frame into the unibody here.

Unibody designs have served Jeep well in the past and unless I am mistaken the IH Scout was unibody as well. For the size bed and cargo capacity of the vehicle unibody was probably the best way for Honda to go with this.

The El Camino was a chevy. I think GMC had the Conquistador as it's car-pickup combo. The Dodge equivalent was more akin to the VW pickup and was called the Rampage (K-car based).

 

RAMPAGE! I couldn't remember that for the life of me.

Yeah, unbodies can be strong, but for heavy-duty applications carmakers are sticking with body-on-frame.

 

Looks like there's a 3000 in there. It's near the bottom.
http://www.fordvehicles.com/trucks/f150/features/specs/

 

I coundn't tell, does anyone know if the coffee can sized exhaust pipe will be standard or will we have to go aftermarket for that?

 

i think rice tips sold seperately.. but i mean come on what kinda company releases their first truck and it doesnt have a V8 in it. not to mention they look like a damn inbred avalanche.

 

Toyota

Their T100 pickup debuted with a 2.7L 4cyl and optional 3.4L 6cyl. In their defense the T100 was a smaller lighter truck when it first reared it's head so these engines weren't *quite* as lame as they sound.

 

i was refering to full size pickups. not the mid sized

 

That *was* Toyota's first crack at a full size (at least in their eyes). Other than that no other manufacturer has introduced a full size truck in the US.

...or was your original question rhetorical?

 

Toyota is full size?

 

The latest Tundra is extremely close to the size of the F150 in size if you look at numbers. A closer look at numbers though shows that while exterior dimensions are extremely close, they seem to lose 4 inches of width in the interior and almost 2 inches of legroom in the rear of their extended cab.

 

'04 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4 Reg Cab Flareside 4.6 Triton
Far more truck than i'll ever need.
Honda doing a truck ? That's as stupid as the Caddie suv thingy

???????????????????? ????????????????? or better yet as stupid as GM thinking they need all the poor excuses for
suv's under all their product lines...
Chevy Bazer GM whatever ? Oldsmobile Whatever..
Pontiac , and especially Buick.... Did they really think they could
get the Buick one to sell ? I've never seen one on the streets
ever ........ etc etc etc etc ..... almost started ranting ( sorry )

 

Wow, Honda just released the base price for this puppy.

$27700.00 That is way to much money for a car based truck.

Good luck Honda..

Sled...

 

Thier Pilot starts at the same price and they seem to sell plenty here in CT. I'm sure a lot of the people buying them would like one with a bed they can get dirty.

In all honesty a lot of vehicles on the market are way overpriced but that doesn't stop them from selling. Of course if it's a vehicle you don't like then the fact it's overpriced will bother you more .

...and for the person who commented on the stupid Caddilac SUV and Avalanche things, they may be ugly and stupid but I'm seeing plenty on the road. You can't really fault GM for exploiting stupid people, can you? They must make a hell of a profit on a Caddilac badged Chevy truck. More power to 'em.