I’m not sure I agree with the statement that the Ranger was “not that far behind many others”
All of the Ranger engines had been around a LONG time. Not exactly groundbreaking technology
The whole cab, body, frame, interior, etc. hadn’t had any real changes in a LONG time.
That said, I still think the Ranger was a decent little truck.
I agree with @db4690 . The Ranger was hopelessly obsolete by about 2003, Ford really neglected it, by 2009. You could get a V8 F-150 that got better fuel economy than the V6 Ranger and didn’t cost much more either.
IMO, this thread should be about the Titan and not the Ridgeline. Titan sales for the year are exceptionally low for a full size pickup; less than 1% in the segment, and about 200 less YTD than the midsize Ridgeline. No other full size pickup sells less, except the niche Escalade EXT. But when you combine Escalade EXT with Avalanche sales, they are a half percent higher than the Titan YTD. And they are both niche trucks, not mainstream full sized units like the Titan. If I were Carlos Ghosn, I might consider dumping the Titan instead of redesigning it.
I wonder if Nissan’s sticking with the Titan to give credibility to their commercial trucks, like their new work van.
Credibility? From the worst selling full size pickup on the market? The closest competition in segment is the Tundra, and Toyota sells about 6 times as many. Ford and GM sell about 40 times more full size pickups than Nissan. And the frame is not the same for Titan and NV Cargo; no savings there.
This has got to be the best commercial for the Tacoma I’ve seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk
The Frontier sells less than the Tacoma because the Tacoma gets better fuel economy and has more horsepower for the same price. It’s pretty simple.
Toyota Hilux =/= Tacoma
If you need a truck you’re worried about a flood truck from New Jersey, just buy a Tacoma.
didnt think the Tacoma had more HP then the Frontier on the V6,but as good service as I’ve had with Nissans in the past it seems they are too high priced now and the dealers are making no apologies either,seems like a Chevy would be the only truck I would buy now(power.economy and feature wise)you can buy a Nissan without AC,if I was Carlos Ghosen,I would drop the Titan,despite them being a good truck,they just havent broken into the market and I dont foresee it happening some markets are almost set in the culture it seems.I believe Nissan waited to long before they upgraded the Frontier-Kevin
It was always my impression that Honda believed that the Ridgline was their version of a full size truck. I can’t believe they would make anything bigger given their past automotive history, no more then they would make tractors.
http://carsort.com/compare/Ford-F150-SuperCrew-Cab-XL-vs-Honda-Ridgeline
At least by this comparison, they do quite well in this limited arena.
Moon roof
Standard
Badge
Leather
Standard
@dagosa–I copied these reasons to buy a Ridgeline from the link you posted. These are features that I don’t really find necessary in a car and certainly don’t think make for a good truck.
@dagosa, I looked at your reference, and I don’t consider them credible. One of the discriminators is paddle shifters. Paddle shifters? Really? And they did not evaluate equivalent trucks: 2WD for the Ford, when 4WD is available. The Honda only has 4WD.
I really don’t know much about trucks but I’ll comment anyway. That first Honda truck will compete well with the Cushman scooter trucks. Having just seen the Ranger Ford plant shut down, I do believe there was and is a good market for that sized truck. Gee, you have to update every ten years though, huh? They were more interested is selling the F150 for profit than the Ranger. Figured people would buy the F150 instead. I doubt it. Why would you want one of those huge trucks if you don’t need it?? Bad bad decision. I think the only reason Honda would be going after the large truck market is money. There’s more money in them.
The reference was to state that Honda feels it does compare . The capacities when compared to the F150 in 6 cylinder form, compare very well. 5000 lbs tow capacity, 1100 load capacity and better wheel articulation make the Ridgeline better then the f150 off road for most applications with it’s lockable rear differential, all while still giving you a crew cab.
Considering the way most use their trucks, it is indeed comparable to the low end full size trucks. Obviously, you can’t compare it to the diesel powered 10,000 tow weight behemoths found on the upper end, but neither can you compare the ride and handling to the Ridgeline.
All of us like to think when we drive a truck we are after macho characteristics, but in reality, the compromises are right where most truck owners use them, even the full size and just what Honda envisioned when they brought it out; no more no less ! The capacities are greater then those found on the mid size trucks…so it is indeed closer to full size in use. Where it falls down and will never catch up, is flexibility and options.
The Ridgeline was only meant to appeal to the lighter duty customer who tows a 4,000lb or lighter boat/camp-trailer and those who needed a higher tow rating/payload would buy an F150 or Tundra. It met the demands of the target market and wasn’t expected to be a big seller compared to the other brands but to give the people with other Honda products an alternative to the F150 and others.
I looked up the specs on the Ridgeline, Tacoma and F-150. The Ridgeline is similar to the Tacoma in all measurements, except width. There it is more like the F-150. But the F-150 has a much longer wheelbase. F-150 also wins as a work truck. It can tow 9400# and carry 3120#. Ridgeline tows 5000# and carries 1100#. Tacoma tows up to 3400# and carries 1145#. I suppose we could say that Rigdeline is in between full size and midsize. But to me, it is not full size and is more like midsize.
The issue with the Titan is that it’s been unchanged since its inception, It came out in 2005 and at the time it was very competitive, but since then every other make of full sized truck has had at least one redesign. The Titan has seen a minor interior revision along the way, but not much else, these days it’s way behind the Fords, Dodges, Toyotas, and GM trucks.
As for the Ridgeline, it’s a glorified minivan. It’s a truck for people that like the idea of having a truck, but don’t have a need for one. Nothing about it impresses me, You can get a much more capable F-150 that has much more power and gets the same fuel economy, for about the same price.
@jtsanders
You need to look at the f150 6xylinder. Of course you can get the higher tow weights with the 8s and diesel. But, the 6 which Ford likes to tout as their best mileage tows 5500 lbs and has a capacity no greater then the Ridgeline. It’s apples and oranges. The Ridgeline is competitive with COMPARABLE full size trucks.
And no @fodaddy, it is not a glorified minivan as it is actually better off road then most Ford trucks and with it’s load and tow capacity, and locking rear differential qualifies as a real truck. It is not made to impress you but is made to do what most people who buy full size trucks actually use them for. They tow most average boats and rec vehicles, do decently off road, and have a bed with capacity equal to comparable full size trucks. You need to actually look at the under carriage to see that it is nothing like a minivan. Everyone seems hung up on framed vehicles when in everyday, it’s much more capable then the now defuncted Ranger.
The reason they can’t compete in total sales is, they only come in one configuration while the rest of the companies offer more variations and options. But, in the crew cab and motor size comparison, they compete very well, full size included.
My numbers for for the EcoBoost 6 cylinder engine.
The Ridgeline is built on the same platform as the Odyssey minivan, with some added reinforcements, it uses the same engine and transmission as the Odyssey. It’s primarily a front wheel drive vehicle (it doesn’t have a true 4WD system, it has an AWD system with no low range), and bed is pretty short, and it’s engine doesn’t have much low end grunt, Honda tries to mask this shortcoming with short gearing (final drive ratio is 4.53), of course this eats into the fuel economy.
The base V6 F-150 can town up to 6700 pounds (not 5500 pounds) and with Ecoboost V6 that number swells to over 11,000 pounds as you can see here.
http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/towing/
The Ridgeline maxes out at 5000 pounds
http://automobiles.honda.com/ridgeline/towing.aspx
As for hauling capacity, the F-150 trumps the Ridgeline. The Ridgeline has a stated capacity of 1100 pounds, as you can see here
http://automobiles.honda.com/ridgeline/hauling.aspx
For the base V6 F-150 it’s 1500 pounds on the low side and around 1900 pounds on the high side (depending upon cab/bed/drivetrain), For the Ecoboost V6 it can range anywhere from about 1500 pounds on the low side to well over 2700 pounds as you can see here
http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/payload/