What would Honda have to do to Snag Tacoma Buyers

The bed won't be fully separate. Seems as if they will give it that appearance, however it's all unibody construction so they can't. But those things are a nice ride and if you don't do a ton of hauling, towing or off-roading then its definitely a decent truck to consider. Honda has been know like Toyota for years of dependability, reliability and quality. Expect no different from this new gen ridgeline.

 

Unless you were unfortunate enough to own an Accord,Civic or (05)Pilot during their years of figuring out how to build their own transmission. Honda quality is a myth that is mostly unfounded.

 

We have a Toyota and a Honda so I'm not biased. When I was looking for a truck a few years back I drove the Ridgeline and previous Tacoma. I liked the Ridgeline way more as an every day vehicle. It drove way smoother, had much more room inside and nicer interior. The bed was small and price was too high tough. Looking forward to seeing the new one.

 

Not 300 HP. 280 HP, same as the Pilot. Torque is almost exactly the same as the Tacoma at 262 ft lbs. Honda's truck will drive much like the Colorado and Tacoma for power. Separate bed not guaranteed either, just rumor. I doubt there will be a gap like people are hoping. Maybe a joint of some sort with a sub frame to appease Americans, tha'ts about it. AWD for some will be better. Others not. The biggest thing I have against "AWD" is the extensive uses of electronic and mechanical clutch packs which add complexity and wear components to the drive train.

 

They will price the Ridgeline against the F150, not the Tacoma, like they did when the first gen came out. Honda chose to do that because they try to sell it as a half ton replacement and not a small truck.

 

Towing power and ground clearance....

The Honda 3.5 and trans are a little better than the Toyota.... About 1 second faster 0-60 with the same HP...

We know it will have more interior room, be more comfortable, be faster and get the same MPG....

So can it do truck work will be the key...

Can it tow????

Can it go up north in the woods? over sand????

Will it have truck tires or car tires???

And it needs some ground clearance so it can be used off road....

I think Honda also needs power and toughness, they already beat the market in comfort....

For me it's a no go, because I need to able to lift it and add some real tires and have aftermarket support....

 

Thanks-
Her 1st new car in 10 years. She was overdue for a fresh ride.
We traded the '06 Accord and got the RDX.
Good little negotiator my gal is...she tells me what one she wants and I buy it.

 

Yeah if your going to go to Honda just go to acura. The price spread between the two seems to be getting narrower and narrower these days.

 

"trans are a little better than the Toyota.." Didn't they have some rather nasty/epic recall and class action lawsuits due to their early 2000 - 2006 era trannys? I haven't touched a honda since 06 when pretty much everything moved to CVT. If they are basing this off the pilot I'd assume they would put a CVT in it also. Yuck.

 

Just the performance is better, Toyota has better durability...

They have a 6 and 9 speed trans in the pilot, eco mode, normal and sport mode.... 0-60 in 6.1....

So on the street the new Ridgeline may be nicer than the Tacoma, but it still won't be a truck....

I question it's toughness not it's comfort....

I work at Honda and used to work at Toyota so I know how the 2 compare......

The ridgeline will be out in a few weeks in Detroit....

There is a rumor of a turbo V6 but I doubt it...... I hope the V6 has some higher HP to put more pressure on Toyota to have another engine option....

 

Honda would need to design a truck and not a mini van with a bed in the back

 

280 HP. You heard it here first.

Honda is looking for the Ridgeline to make a few bucks by reusing everything off the Pilot they can. I really doubt anything underneath is different...

 

Still can't stand timing belts. Honda might get me back if they knock that crap off and go w a proper chain. They seem to have a few models with chains but isn't the new pilot still using a belt?

 

I'm a Honda technician and all I've got to say about the ridgeline is that it's junk and o would never own one. First off Honda's v6's leak oil after 100k most of the time. And BTW the ridgeline isn't true awd, it's front wheel drive and goes into awd when the front loses traction. Another point, the engine and drivetrain is the same exact thing as the pilot, also shares the engine with the Odyssey and basically the accord v6. As for the ridgeline I've seen and worked on it seems like a bunch of them have electrical issues after some mileage and we've had about 6 of the 2016 pilots that weren't even sold yet have e to have complete wiring harnesses replaced cause of malfunctioning. If it were me, I'd definitely go for a Tacoma or even a 4runner if you don't necessarily need bed space. Toyota has much better reliability than Honda these days

 

All of Honda's v6's have belts. Only their 4 cylinder after around 04 have chains and even still their chains are tiny and stretch pretty easy

 

As a former Ridgeline owner I have to say I liked their truck. There are features of the Ridgeline I wish the Tacoma offered. For example, a rear window remote (open and close the thing with a switch), awesome in bed storage (you can put a full size adult in the thing...two golf bags, etc.), remote all windows down from the key fob, a better stereo (standard) and a refined interior. Having said that my 2012 Tacoma is a much better truck where it counts; towing, off road, handling and MPG. Not to mention the ability to customize the truck to your hearts desire. When I test drove the Tacoma I was impressed with the ride quality and how quiet the truck was. Long road trips are much more enjoyable because of the ride quality. I wanted a topper and the Ridgeline has very limited options and it just looks funky.

In the future I would to see the Tacoma with the 4.0 liter engine, better in-cab and bed storage...but that's down the road a long ways yet.

12Tac

 

You nailed it on a couple points IMO. Honda is slipping...down (and I'd say the same about Toyota if they slipped too). The latest Consumer Reports (and others...flame if you must) show even the great Accord is now only about average in reliability. And gen 9 for the Civic and its chassis mate the Acura ILX...WTF? I'd still consider buying one but, it's not where it used to be compared to other manufactures. Additionally, and I like (own and have owned) a lot of Honda/Acura products but, if they really want to capture the premium market they've got to move to RWD instead of FWD with AWD as a back up and improve the interiors (cheap plastic "wood" in a "premium" product?). Same in the light truck segment (if they want a larger part of Tacoma and company) they need body on frame and true 4x4. That said, they use much the same chassis and hard points (and other commonality) to drive unit cost down (increasing profit) so purely as a for profit company they do ok. What scares me is Toyota. Toyota is very much going to move to modular platforms in the near future. I'd hate to see a Tacoma based on the RX, Highlander platform.

 

If Toyota goes that way with the Tacoma and 4Runner right as Ford is coming out with a body on frame Ranger and Bronco... Well that's the end of Toyota in the offroad world as we know it.

 

Agree...if the either of those go away from body on frame, I'll have no incentive to buy Toyota (other than usually steller reliability).

 

Yeah IMO there's literally no comparison between Honda and Toyota in terms of reliability and how much you get in a vehicle. Honda awd systems suck period. With Toyota's crawl Control and locking differential they're hard to beat. Also, Toyota's got a contract with commons for the 2017 tundra so not only will they have the Tacoma and 4runner options for people wanting a vehicle capable of on and off road use, they will also have a diesel tundra for those needing a more powerful truck and of course the v8 sequoia for a good family car. Shoot I can't see why Honda won't follow Toyota's foot steps and make the Odyssey awd like the Sienna. And as far as luxury goes an acura is just a glorified Honda in my opinion. They are almost the same mechanically and reliability is the same...terrible. Meanwhile Lexus is starting to pump out some pretty nice, high performance cars like the rcf. I think Toyota is getting better and Honda's getting worse with what I currently know