Honda Ridgeline shamed by more efficient full-size Chevy pickup

[niky]

All you need is a six speed transmission (a true six speed... not a four speed with an extra final drive like some "six speed" boxes) with two final drives.

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But as gears get smaller, durability suffers. And then you have to consider how thin transmission fluids are getting, just to eke out a few percentage points of efficiency...

[elhigh]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Friend John Gilkison has just purchased a 2014 Ford F-150,crew cab,with 6.5-ft bed,5,700-lbs,V-6,3.5-liter,turbo EcoBoost,with 6-speed auto trans.,Cd 0.404,38-sq-ft frontal area.
He's seeing 25-mpg at 55-mph.
He's made a deal with bondo for an 'Aerolid' bed cover and later,one of bondo's foldable tailgate boat tails.
John thinks he might see 28-mpg on regular unleaded gas.This would equal the RAM 1500 Diesel.
It could get better from there.Depending.
Honda's got some catching up to do,but if they ever do a 1st-gen CRX HF,or 1st-gen Insight-like pickup,the truck industry will be wallowing in their own tears.Honda has the technical chops.It's not about technological feasibility.

Tell him to start a page here! I very much want to see real world numbers for Bondo's lid. A 12% improvement over stock would be awesome.

[elhigh]

"Honda has the technical chops."

That's the thing: they ALL have the technical chops. Ford built the Probe IV back in the 80s, Chevy rolled out the Citation IV shortly after. GM pulled out every stop to build the ridiculously featherweight Ultralite.

Any car company worth its stamping dies has the technical chops to build on preexisting art. They just DON'T because they've been training us, the buyers, to want the stuff that's so much easier to build, the stuff that has bigger profit margins.

If VW rolled out another minimalist truck like the Caddy / Rabbit Sportruck, I'd seriously consider retiring my old Toyota. Just enough capacity, no extra geegaws. That's really all I want. I know I'm not a buyer to make much money on, but that's all I want.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by elhigh

Tell him to start a page here! I very much want to see real world numbers for Bondo's lid. A 12% improvement over stock would be awesome.

I may have to be his proxy on that one.It's really hard to get him over here.He's got a full nest at home and the National Public Observatory to wrangle,as well as keep on top of regular home/yard/driveway maintenance.
He'll be coming by my place on the way to Bondo's next month and also on the way back.
John has been doing various speed runs while resetting the computer to document a 'naked' data-base.
He'll be able to drive 700-miles nonstop to my house and nonstop to Brett's.
Also,Brett had a 'secret',larger,receiver hitch-style boat tail and John's going to buy that too.
His return trip should be interesting.
If he won't do his own thread,I'll cover it for him.
For a truck as large (frontal area) and heavy as the F-150,it's going to be interesting to see where it ends up.
I don't see why trucks won't be getting routinely in the 30-mpg range by 2025.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by elhigh

"Honda has the technical chops."

That's the thing: they ALL have the technical chops. Ford built the Probe IV back in the 80s, Chevy rolled out the Citation IV shortly after. GM pulled out every stop to build the ridiculously featherweight Ultralite.

Any car company worth its stamping dies has the technical chops to build on preexisting art. They just DON'T because they've been training us, the buyers, to want the stuff that's so much easier to build, the stuff that has bigger profit margins.

If VW rolled out another minimalist truck like the Caddy / Rabbit Sportruck, I'd seriously consider retiring my old Toyota. Just enough capacity, no extra geegaws. That's really all I want. I know I'm not a buyer to make much money on, but that's all I want.

Perhaps there's something in their Asian product line that can be tweaked for the US market.Maybe a new 'Courrier',LUV,HILUX,RAMPAGE,BRAT,etc..

[Xist]

Aerohead,

Are you sure that you can report for yourself and someone else? You seem really busy!

[Cobb]

Sounds like the cvt or ecvt maybe a better option. The ecvt has no belts to break.

Plan B is like what they use in locomotives. Gas engine to generator, then speed controller to electric motor to drive wheels.

The newer locos use a VCM like so the engine comes to life as MORE POWER is needed and when it isnt it shuts down the unused parts.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Xist

Aerohead,

Are you sure that you can report for yourself and someone else? You seem really busy!

Whatever it requires will be worth it.John has supported my insanity for decades and it's good to be able to reciprocate.
And we'll have a comparison to the 2015 aluminum-bodied F-150,crew-cab with 6.5' bed which so far,their saying 25-mpg HWY.
I've seen as high as 39.96 mpg at 60-mph.With a more modern engine she might push into 40-mpg range.With a turbo-diesel maybe mid-40s.
The modern,larger,heavier full-size pickups are showing really interesting numbers.It's going to be a hoot to see what they'll do!

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

You'd sure think so but a friend has a GMC V6 5m/t 1/2Ton and it gets no better mpg than the small V8s.

But the engines you're quoting have different displacements, while I was considering just the cylinders layout. Anyway, I still see a V6 in the same displacement range of a comparable V8 as a more sensible option regarding engine efficiency.