I had one and the best reason for the dual tailgate is getting to the in bed trunk. Outside of that its a rarely useful oddity.

I like how everybody just wants to believe that nobody who works for Honda might think to design or test for such a thing. If they did then it might end up a sand mode that was tuned in the Middle East, same as the Pilot. Oh that’s right, it does.

That’s what I’m saying, there could very well be a system that uses steer angle to apply proper wheel speeds and guarantee 100% torque. It might only be for a front axle but there is a chance it could still be mechanical based on wheel angle and react just as fast as a locker without providing fun and exciting thumb…

VTM is what it is. It’s a medium duty system that relies a lot on tech to operate well. As far as the clutches go the front wheels of my Silverado are run completely through one set of clutches (Auto Trac) yet it does fine. Sure it’s not the same as the rear, but again it’s fine for the target market.

Ride and handling are WAY better in a RL. Significantly less body roll and way easier to hustle at a near sedan pace.

Has the same payload as a high trim level Crew Cab Silverado or Colorado. 1600lbs. You can spec a brand new Ram 1500 with less than 1000lbs payload. Whoops.

I completely get why they don’t make it better off road. By the time they put the hardware in place to get a sliver of the hardcore offroad market which is itself a sliver of the overall market they will have priced themselves out of the economical everyman range, especially since they don’t have off the shelf…

Last one towed 5k, so unless you’re racing Bentleys you should probably be fine.

Yeah I fucked that part up.

The “others” ended up being a bit cheaper than I remember once I checked. I think I was using long bed numbers since that’s the spec I’d get for a Tacorado. In any case they are close with maybe a slight advantage to the Honda.

Fine I got the viscous part wrong. The end result is that no pickup currently on sale save for maybe the power wagon (if that’s still a thing) can send 100% torque to ANY given wheel but that doesn’t directly translate the way they actually work off road and even then we’re talking extreme conditions. In basically…

Then add the $2980 Premium & Technology package to match the trim level. = $37,610. I’ll reiterate that I don’t see these as direct competitors as much as two sides of a coin in the “midsize” space. The TRD gets you off-road what the Ridgeline gives you on-road.

They never did. It’s always been the “VTM” viscous coupling system. I had one, I know what it’s capable of. Like I said elsewhere unless you’re using 4Lo in a #realtruck then it’s fine, especially with the rear diff “locked” electronically. Sure it’s not a full mechanical lock, but neither is my 03 Z71 Silverado.

The Ridgeline’s system is the distant prison-workout-jacked cousin of the CR-V’s system.

Dafuq is this?

There is no such thing as a FWD Ridgeline. All Ridgelines are 4WD with a FWD standard operating condition.

While it’s not full time, all models are equipped and you can’t engage a 2wd mode which I think was what he meant to say.

I see the trope repeated over and over again but it’s just not true. Sure it’s not a transfer case 4WD system like most people are used to but it is a true 4WD setup that can be set into a “VTM-Lock” that locks up the rear and provides great traction. I know, I had one. It did great snownuts.

I had one as a company lease car and short of a 4Lo situation in a “real truck” the FWD based 4WD was never an issue. Snow, muddy fire roads, and light trails were fine. If anything day-to-day traction was better since the drive wheels actually had weight over them as opposed to an empty bed in a regular truck.

The last one matched the 4WD Pilot pricing almost exactly. If that holds true for the new model that puts a mid-level EX at $34-35k which actually comes in $3-5K less than a 4WD Tacorado Crew Cab.