Thursday, May 19, 2016
Suzuki admits to improper (gas) mileage tests; Mitsubishi president stepping down
Suzuki Motor Corp said it had used improper fuel economy
tests for its cars in Japan but that proper testing subsequently had
shown the mileage data did not need amending, in a widening of a scandal
that has already engulfed Mitsubishi Motors.
Mitsubishi, which admitted last month that it had manipulated fuel economy for four minivehicle models, said on Wednesday its President Tetsuro Aikawa will step down to take responsibility for the scandal.
The admission prompted the automaker to agree to sell a one-third controlling stake to Nissan Motor, and Japan's transport ministry to ask domestic automakers to re-submit fuel economy readings on all their vehicles by Wednesday.
Suzuki, Japan's No.4 automaker, said 2.1 million vehicles were affected but Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki told reporters that his workers did not intentionally use improper data.
"The company apologizes for the fact that we did not follow rules set by the country," he said.
Shares in Suzuki ended down 9.4 per cent after the company said it had used improper tests but before it briefed media. At one point, they fell as much as 15 percent to their lowest level since November 2013.
Suzuki specializes in minivehicles, which have engines of up to 660cc and get preferential tax treatment under Japanese law. It commands roughly one-third of the country's minivehicle market.
The automaker said it plans to continue sales of its cars given that new readings had not deviated much from those previously submitted, adding that it did not see much impact on earnings for now.
The impact has been much greater on Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi said on Wednesday that "shortening of time spent on R&D, and expectations that high fuel-efficiency be achieved" led to data manipulation.
"There was no direct order from top management in this incident," Mitsubishi Chief Executive Osamu Masuko told reporters.
"But top management did not have a firm grasp on the proceedings at the R&D department," he said, adding there were several chances to stop its workers from using improper testing methods but that they did not stop.
Emissions and fuel economy have come under increasing scrutiny from regulators globally after Germany's Volkswagen admitted last year that it used "defeat devices" on 11 million diesel vehicles to lower emissions during tests.
France, which ordered tests on a random sample of about 100 diesel cars last year, said last month some vehicles made by Renault, Fiat, Mercedes, VW, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Nissan, Opel and Ford failed to comply fully with its emissions regulations.
South Korea, which has tested 20 diesel vehicle models, said on Monday it would punish Nissan with a fine and a recall of its Qashqai diesel sport utility vehicles, accusing it of manipulating emissions. Nissan denied the allegation.
In the United States, the Justice Department is investigating Daimler, the maker of Mercedes vehicles, over emissions testing.
Source;
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2016/5/18/Suzuki-admits-to-improper-mileage-tests-Mitsubishi-president-stepping-down.aspx
Mitsubishi, which admitted last month that it had manipulated fuel economy for four minivehicle models, said on Wednesday its President Tetsuro Aikawa will step down to take responsibility for the scandal.
The admission prompted the automaker to agree to sell a one-third controlling stake to Nissan Motor, and Japan's transport ministry to ask domestic automakers to re-submit fuel economy readings on all their vehicles by Wednesday.
Suzuki, Japan's No.4 automaker, said 2.1 million vehicles were affected but Chief Executive Osamu Suzuki told reporters that his workers did not intentionally use improper data.
"The company apologizes for the fact that we did not follow rules set by the country," he said.
Shares in Suzuki ended down 9.4 per cent after the company said it had used improper tests but before it briefed media. At one point, they fell as much as 15 percent to their lowest level since November 2013.
Suzuki specializes in minivehicles, which have engines of up to 660cc and get preferential tax treatment under Japanese law. It commands roughly one-third of the country's minivehicle market.
The automaker said it plans to continue sales of its cars given that new readings had not deviated much from those previously submitted, adding that it did not see much impact on earnings for now.
The impact has been much greater on Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi said on Wednesday that "shortening of time spent on R&D, and expectations that high fuel-efficiency be achieved" led to data manipulation.
"There was no direct order from top management in this incident," Mitsubishi Chief Executive Osamu Masuko told reporters.
"But top management did not have a firm grasp on the proceedings at the R&D department," he said, adding there were several chances to stop its workers from using improper testing methods but that they did not stop.
Emissions and fuel economy have come under increasing scrutiny from regulators globally after Germany's Volkswagen admitted last year that it used "defeat devices" on 11 million diesel vehicles to lower emissions during tests.
France, which ordered tests on a random sample of about 100 diesel cars last year, said last month some vehicles made by Renault, Fiat, Mercedes, VW, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Nissan, Opel and Ford failed to comply fully with its emissions regulations.
South Korea, which has tested 20 diesel vehicle models, said on Monday it would punish Nissan with a fine and a recall of its Qashqai diesel sport utility vehicles, accusing it of manipulating emissions. Nissan denied the allegation.
In the United States, the Justice Department is investigating Daimler, the maker of Mercedes vehicles, over emissions testing.
Source;
http://www.bnn.ca/News/2016/5/18/Suzuki-admits-to-improper-mileage-tests-Mitsubishi-president-stepping-down.aspx
Second Generation Automated Acura RLX Development Vehicle Revealed in California
-
TORRANCE, Calif.
Acura has revealed its second generation
automated development vehicle in California, a modified version of the
RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD™ luxury performance sedan. The RLX has been
fitted with a new suite of radar, Lidar, camera and GPS sensors,
complemented by higher performance CPUs and GPUs, and improved cabling,
heat management and circuitry. These enhancements have been combined
with new, more intelligent software algorithms to support more complex
testing scenarios.The development vehicle is designed to achieve high reliability by fusing overlapping information together from various sensors. This concept, known as sensor fusion, allows test engineers to validate information from each signal with a higher degree of accuracy than can be obtained from any one of the sensors independently. For example, the vehicle's radar sensors are adept at detecting the relative position and velocity of off-board objects with pinpoint accuracy, while the camera system is best suited to help detect and identify objects based on size and shape. This same concept is applied in the AcuraWatch™ safety and driver-assistive suite available on all model year 2016 Acura sedans and SUVs.
The vehicle will be tested by Honda Research Institute USA at GoMentum Station, a 5,000-acre automated and connected vehicle proving ground in the San Francisco Bay Area. GoMentum Station contains 20-miles of paved, city-like roadway grids, buildings and other urban infrastructure, providing a realistic environment that will help accelerate the development of automated and connected vehicle technologies. This testing program is aligned with the company's goal to introduce automated driving technologies around 2020.
About Acura Active Safety
Safety performance has been a core element of Acura's commitment to excellence since the brand was founded three decades ago. All model year 2016 Acura sedans and SUVs are available with AcuraWatch™, one of the most advanced suites of safety and driver-assistive technologies in the class. AcuraWatch includes Adaptive Cruise Control, a Lane Keeping Assist System, Road Departure Mitigation and a Collision Mitigation Braking System™ (an AEB technology) with pedestrian-sensing capability.
About Honda Research Institute USA
Honda Research Institute USA (HRI-US) conducts research in the areas of computer and materials science, and develops strategic partnerships with public and private institutions to foster innovation. HRI-US was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Silicon Valley.
Source;
http://www.hondanews.com/releases/second-generation-automated-acura-rlx-development-vehicle-revealed-in-california
Monday, May 16, 2016
Automotive News: Honda's Ridgeline lesson: Looks matter
 |
| Bye-bye, buttress: The new Honda Ridgeline ditches the old polarizing design for the more standard cab/bed style. |
ANTONIO -- The shadowy teaser image Honda released in late 2013 said very little about the second-generation Ridgeline that's due to go on sale in June. But it did reveal the most important element the automaker was intent on fixing: its styling.
Honda needed only a silhouette to show that the polarizing "flying buttress" profile of the original Ridgeline was gone, replaced on the forthcoming 2017 model with the conventional cab/bed style found on nearly every pickup built in the last 100 years.
The effort started early in the second-generation Ridgeline's design process. Honda held clinics in California and Texas with pickup buyers and showed them a variety of trucks without their brand labels.
The research found that buyers made assumptions about toughness and payload based on the gaps in the wheel arches between the tire and the truck body, and the height of the bed. If a pickup had a trailer hitch, people assumed it could tow more.
Honda even included the first-generation Ridgeline with a spray-painted piece of cardboard covering up the flying buttress in the design clinics. Even that was well-received by potential buyers.
"Those things were honestly kind of "aha' moments or big surprises to us as a project team," Jim Loftus, a Ridgeline engineer, said at the media launch here in early May. "And of course, we went back and incorporated all of those messages into the next-generation Ridgeline."
Engineers tilted the Ridgeline up about half a degree from back to front to make the bed look like it was sitting higher. They also increased the gap between the wheel arch and tire by lifting up the chassis by about an inch.
"Based on the understanding that people are going to make some assumptions just visually, we said, you know what, we need to raise this up just to convey that image," Kerry McClure, chief engineer on the Ridgeline project, told Automotive News.
A trailer hitch is now standard on all new Ridgeline models, not only to convey a sense of toughness (all-wheel-drive models can tow 5,000 pounds), but also because the structural elements needed for a hitch were already in place.
The first-generation Ridgeline, for all of its segment-busting innovation and carlike ride and handling, never landed on many shoppers' lists because of how it looked.
The flying buttress style was partly due to a desire -- especially among executives in Japan -- to make it visually obvious that the Ridgeline was different and not a traditional body-on-frame truck.
There was also evidence at the time that a new school of truck design was emerging -- think Ford Explorer SportTrac or Chevy Avalanche. When the recession walloped the auto industry, buyers shied away from the unconventional, and Ridgeline sales plummeted.
"I think the challenge we faced with the old Ridgeline, part of it was the styling that wasn't so well-accepted," Jeff Conrad, general manager of Honda, said at the Ridgeline launch.
"And when the market did turn, it was very difficult to sustain that or get it back."
With the changes in place on the new version and a laundry list of segment bests (fuel economy, passenger volume, crash ratings, cargo room in bed), Honda is bullish on the Ridgeline's prospects.
The company hopes annual sales will work their way up to the previous version's peak of 50,193.
But Honda is realistic about the kind of buyers it's going to attract. "We're not going after the buyer that is looking to take this vehicle and climb rocks up the side of the mountain," Conrad said.
2017 Honda Ridgeline
- Powertrain: 3.5-liter, V-6 engine, 6-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard on all but the highest trims; all-wheel drive is a $1,800 option.
- Technology: Optional 8-inch touch screen with navigation and real-time traffic updates, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Apple's Siri Eyes Free voice commands
- Safety: 6 airbags, standard backup camera, optional blind-spot monitoring, pre-collision warning and braking, lane-keeping assist, rear cross-traffic monitor
- Target: 50,000 units a year
- Competitors: Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon
- Strengths: Carlike ride, handling and interior comfort; excellent cabin space, class-leading fuel economy, unique in-bed storage space and dual-action tailgate
- Weaknesses: Doesn't project the tough image some truck buyers seek; low ground clearance; unibody construction not as hardy as body-on-frame
- Bottom line: Over 2 days of on- and off-road testing outside San Antonio, the Ridgeline proved why Honda is eager to show off this truck. The interior space, comfort and handling make you forget there's a bed in back. The powertrain is smooth and robust, even when towing. It has enough off-road chops to meet the needs of all but the truest off-road warriors. Now that the styling isn't a turnoff, Honda has a truly innovative vehicle that's a contender for buyers who are honest about what they need from their truck.
| 2017 Ridgeline 2WD | 2016 Toyota Tacoma V-6 double cab 2WD | |
| Wheelbase | 125.2 in. | 127.4 in. |
| Length | 210 in. | 212.3 in. |
| Width | 78.6 in. | 74.4 in. |
| Height | 70.2 in. | 70.6 in. |
| Curb weight | 4,242 lbs. | 4,230 lbs. |
| Engine | 3.5-liter V-6 | 3.5-liter V-6 |
| Horsepower | 280 @ 6,000 rpm | 278 @ 6,000 rpm |
| Torque, lbs.-ft. | 262 @ 4,700 rpm | 265 @ 4,600 rpm |
| Tow rating | 3,500 lbs. | 6,700 lbs. |
| Ground clearance | 7.3 in. | 9.4 in. |
| EPA mpg | 19 city/26 hwy. | 19 city/24 hwy. |
| Base price* | $30,375 | $28,885 |
| *includes shipping | ||
Source;
http://www.autonews.com/article/20160515/OEM04/305169938/hondas-ridgeline-lesson-looks-matter
Friday, May 13, 2016
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles need ‘one more step’
 |
| Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and pure EVs are the key to Honda's future, reveals CEO and president Takahiro Hachigo |
In the nine months since Takahiro Hachigo, 55-year-old Honda
‘lifer’ and senior engineer, was unexpectedly appointed president and
CEO, good fortune and tough challenges have crowded his agenda in equal
measure.
In Europe, Honda is doing better than for many years as new models (which Hachigo oversaw as R&D boss in Europe) promise to drive 2016 volume past 160,000 cars and towards a 200,000-unit target. In January and February, sales in Europe climbed by a third.
Farther afield, quality issues, some poorly resolved US models and inward-looking management mean Honda has failed to capitalise on Toyota’s recent troubles and is in danger of conceding sixth place among world car makers to Nissan.
Through it all, Hachigo, with his engineer’s eye, looks to a day 30 years from now when Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell and pure EVs will be “dominant”. Here, in an exclusive interview, he reveals his view of the future.
Honda used to be described as the world’s greatest maker of engines. What are its priorities now?
“We are still making very advanced engines and will continue to do so for some time to come. As an example, we have developed a new range of downsized 1.0-litre and 1.5-litre turbocharged engines that will sell in our cars throughout the world. But we are also working hard on all other important technologies, concentrating especially on electrification, which will become a core Honda technology.
What kinds of electrification do you favour? Do you believe hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, such as your Clarity FCV, can ever suit the mass market?
Building zero-emission vehicles is our ultimate goal, both fuel cell vehicles and pure electric vehicles. But we still have important technical issues and infrastructure problems to overcome with both. In the meantime, we think the plug-in hybrid will become the mainstream.
How long do you believe that the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle period will last? Two or three model cycles?
This period will be highly dependent on technical progress with fuel cell vehicles, with the development of a [hydrogen] fuelling infrastructure and, of course, the cost of these things. We see the PHEV as a necessary step but not the goal.
Your rival Toyota talks of hydrogen FCVs as it once talked of its Prius hybrid, which now sells in millions. Do you feel the same?
Yes, we hope FCVs will spread around the world as quickly as possible, but to do that they must progress on two fronts — with the way electric power is used to propel cars and in finding an efficient source to generate and distribute the hydrogen.
How suitable are today’s FCVs for big-scale manufacturing?
The main component in any hydrogen fuel cell car is the stack and as far as manufacturing technology goes, I think this needs to make one more big step. Without that, it’s difficult to visualise building FCVs at a rate of one car a minute, as we do with petrol cars. So as well as the problems with infrastructure, we have this to overcome.
How long will it take to achieve these things?
We believe that by 2030 EVs and FCVs should make up about 15% of total Honda sales. By 2050, we think these cars will be dominant in the mix of models we build. That would be our ideal, at any rate, and it is what we are working towards.
What about product positioning? Does Honda have a desire to move upmarket?
We believe our products are correctly positioned. Instead of worrying about premium talk, we should focus on the customers who know us now and study how our products will bring them greater joy. As you know, we make motorcycles and power products as well as cars, which means we reached no fewer than 27 million customers last year.
In the UK, we’re always concerned about the future of Honda’s Swindon plant. Can you describe its place in your global plan?
We’ve invested €3 billion [£2.4bn] in Swindon since it began, and just signed off another €270m [£210m]. Swindon is going to be the global production hub for the Civic. We divide our global business into six regions, aiming to optimise the efficiency of all plants to complement one another, depending on the ebb and flow of demand. Within that framework, Swindon will play a very important future role in Honda’s global structure.
In Europe, Honda is doing better than for many years as new models (which Hachigo oversaw as R&D boss in Europe) promise to drive 2016 volume past 160,000 cars and towards a 200,000-unit target. In January and February, sales in Europe climbed by a third.
Farther afield, quality issues, some poorly resolved US models and inward-looking management mean Honda has failed to capitalise on Toyota’s recent troubles and is in danger of conceding sixth place among world car makers to Nissan.
Through it all, Hachigo, with his engineer’s eye, looks to a day 30 years from now when Honda’s hydrogen fuel cell and pure EVs will be “dominant”. Here, in an exclusive interview, he reveals his view of the future.
Honda used to be described as the world’s greatest maker of engines. What are its priorities now?
“We are still making very advanced engines and will continue to do so for some time to come. As an example, we have developed a new range of downsized 1.0-litre and 1.5-litre turbocharged engines that will sell in our cars throughout the world. But we are also working hard on all other important technologies, concentrating especially on electrification, which will become a core Honda technology.
What kinds of electrification do you favour? Do you believe hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, such as your Clarity FCV, can ever suit the mass market?
Building zero-emission vehicles is our ultimate goal, both fuel cell vehicles and pure electric vehicles. But we still have important technical issues and infrastructure problems to overcome with both. In the meantime, we think the plug-in hybrid will become the mainstream.
How long do you believe that the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle period will last? Two or three model cycles?
This period will be highly dependent on technical progress with fuel cell vehicles, with the development of a [hydrogen] fuelling infrastructure and, of course, the cost of these things. We see the PHEV as a necessary step but not the goal.
Your rival Toyota talks of hydrogen FCVs as it once talked of its Prius hybrid, which now sells in millions. Do you feel the same?
Yes, we hope FCVs will spread around the world as quickly as possible, but to do that they must progress on two fronts — with the way electric power is used to propel cars and in finding an efficient source to generate and distribute the hydrogen.
How suitable are today’s FCVs for big-scale manufacturing?
The main component in any hydrogen fuel cell car is the stack and as far as manufacturing technology goes, I think this needs to make one more big step. Without that, it’s difficult to visualise building FCVs at a rate of one car a minute, as we do with petrol cars. So as well as the problems with infrastructure, we have this to overcome.
How long will it take to achieve these things?
We believe that by 2030 EVs and FCVs should make up about 15% of total Honda sales. By 2050, we think these cars will be dominant in the mix of models we build. That would be our ideal, at any rate, and it is what we are working towards.
What about product positioning? Does Honda have a desire to move upmarket?
We believe our products are correctly positioned. Instead of worrying about premium talk, we should focus on the customers who know us now and study how our products will bring them greater joy. As you know, we make motorcycles and power products as well as cars, which means we reached no fewer than 27 million customers last year.
In the UK, we’re always concerned about the future of Honda’s Swindon plant. Can you describe its place in your global plan?
We’ve invested €3 billion [£2.4bn] in Swindon since it began, and just signed off another €270m [£210m]. Swindon is going to be the global production hub for the Civic. We divide our global business into six regions, aiming to optimise the efficiency of all plants to complement one another, depending on the ebb and flow of demand. Within that framework, Swindon will play a very important future role in Honda’s global structure.
Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/hydrogen-fuel-cell-vehicles-need-%E2%80%98one-more-step%E2%80%99
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors forge strategic alliance; Nissan to take 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors for 237 billion yen
YOKOHAMA and TOKYO, Japan – Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., (“Nissan”), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, (“MMC”) announced that they have signed a Basic Agreement today to form a far-reaching strategic alliance between the two Japanese automakers.
Following an MMC share issue, Nissan will take a 34 percent equity stake in MMC for 237 billion yen.
The strategic alliance will extend an existing partnership between Nissan and MMC, under which the two companies have jointly collaborated for the past five years.
Nissan and MMC have agreed to cooperate in areas including purchasing, common vehicle platforms, technology-sharing, joint plant utilization and growth markets.
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive and president of Nissan, said: “This is a breakthrough transaction and a win-win for both Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors. It creates a dynamic new force in the automotive industry that will cooperate intensively, and generate sizeable synergies. We will be the largest shareholder of MMC, respecting their brand, their history and boosting their growth prospects. We will support MMC as they address their challenges and welcome them as the newest member of our enlarged Alliance family.”
Osamu Masuko, chairman of the board and chief executive of MMC, said: “Through its long history of successful partnerships Nissan Motor has developed a deep knowledge of maximizing the benefits from alliance partnerships. This agreement will create long-term value needed for our two companies to progress towards the future. We will achieve long term value through deepening our strategic partnership including sharing resources such as development, as well as joint procurement.”
Under the terms of the transaction, Nissan will purchase 506.6 million newly issued MMC shares at a price of 468.52 yen per share. The price per share reflects the volume weighted average price over the period between April 21, 2016 and including May 11, 2016. Nissan will become the largest shareholder of MMC on closing.
MMC and Nissan expect Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Corporation and The Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ to maintain a significant collective ownership stake in Mitsubishi Motors, and to support the strategic alliance.
The transaction is subject to the signing of a definitive Alliance Agreement, expected by the end of May 2016, the signing of a shareholders agreement with the current Mitsubishi Group shareholders of MMC and regulatory approvals. It is expected to close by the end of the year.
The decision by Nissan to acquire a strategic stake in MMC marks the latest expansion of its Alliance model, built around a 17-year cross shareholding arrangement with Renault. Nissan has also acquired stakes or signed partnerships with other automotive groups including Daimler, and AvtoVaz.
On closing, MMC will propose Nissan nominees as board directors in proportion to Nissan’s voting rights, including a Nissan nominee to become Chairman of the Board.
Jalopnik: Here's How The 2017 Honda Ridgeline's Trick Off-Roading Modes Work
Wow, best article I've seen that explains how Honda's AWD works....
by Andrew P. Collins of www.jalopnik.com
Nobody expected the 2017 Honda Ridgeline to be a hardcore off-roader. It simply lacks the low gearing and solid axles typically suited to crushing rocks. But Honda’s new pickup still holds its own over rough terrain, and here’s how. Call it “better off-roading through science.”
The Ridgeline is a novelty among American-market trucks because of the way it’s built. Pickup trucks and truly tough SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler, Mercedes G-Class, Toyota 4Runner and Land Cruiser are traditionally made by slapping a body and cargo box onto a solid steel frame.
Their main drive axles are robust straight-sticks. They also
generally run part-time 4WD system manually engaged with a “low range”
reduction gear providing tremendous power at very low speed.
The big benefits to that kind of configuration are durability and economy. You get great resistance against hitting rocks and strength for the twisty crucible of a heavy load or an off-road trail. It’s also cheaper to build trucks that way.
The Ridgeline has the opposite of all that.
The Ridgeline also runs an all-around independent suspension, which means each wheel can bounce up and down on its own with little driveshafts poking into them on angles as opposed to one thick bar running between the rear wheels.
Instead of a traditional 4WD kit with a mechanical locking differential, Honda uses advanced traction control and AWD to keep their new truck moving through muck. This is where things get interesting.
Honda calls its system “Intelligent Variable Torque Management” (i-VTM4) and explains it pretty concisely in the brochure:
That hydraulic clutch, by the way, can differentiate power between the left and right rear wheel or lock them together for soft-sand type situations.
That host of motion-monitoring tech is on all the time, and
theoretically optimizes the Ridgeline’s tractability on pretty much any
reasonable road surface in “normal” mode.
The idea is to be completely automatic. As I wrote in my review of the whole truck, think of it like your iPhone– don’t worry about what’s behind the technological curtain, just enjoy the ease of use from the front end.
Here’s how the driving parameters change in each mode:
Snow: The idea here is to minimize pedal travel and
make launching easier. The throttle input via Drive By Wire (DBW) is
made less aggressive, particularly where you first tip-in the pedal.
That basically means you’re giving it less gas than you think.
Mud: “Mud” mode has an emphasis on maintaining momentum. Gain increases as you tip the throttle. Torque vectoring is shut off and more power is sent to the rear wheels. The transmission delays upshifts and traction control allows for more wheelspin.
Sand: Basically the same as “mud,” but with all the needles moved even more aggressively. It has maximum rear-bias (a Honda rep told me 70 percent) and an electronically “locked” rear differential.
How does it work in real-life? Pretty well, if you use it appropriately.
Stopping in soft stuff and then turning on “sand” mode made it a lot easier to self-extract than continuously plodding along with my foot on the floor. But if you think putting it in rear-biased “sand,” and turning off traction control as much as you can will turn the Ridgeline into a power-slider you’re mistaken.
Try to “drift” the truck like you would any other pickup; turn the computers off, saw the wheel and give it too much gas, and the Ridgeline just gets annoyed with you. It drags its face around like an overladen wheelbarrow.
But use the mode meant for the surface you’re driving on and the experience becomes remarkably idiot proof. This is what I meant when I described the truck as “another step closer to autonomous off-roading.”
Is Honda’s system a solution for hardcore rock crawlers? No way. But you knew that. If your main objective is to get from Point A to the end of your adventure without worrying about how to drive through mushy stuff, the Ridgeline’s tech will really boost your confidence.
Just don’t expect your newfound “skills” to work as well in a more primitive pickup.
So you can pretty much draw the same conclusion about the new Ridgeline’s AWD system as you can about the whole car: technologically impressive, overbearingly user-friendly, and aggressively practical. Which will hopefully help more people get out and into the world already!
If you’ve not sufficiently nerded out on this tech, I invite you to read the massively in-depth Powertrain press release Honda published this week. Until then, I’m just waiting on a longer-term Ridgeline rental so I can see just how far the system will take us.
Source;
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/heres-how-the-2017-honda-ridgelines-trick-off-roading-m-1775651261
Nobody expected the 2017 Honda Ridgeline to be a hardcore off-roader. It simply lacks the low gearing and solid axles typically suited to crushing rocks. But Honda’s new pickup still holds its own over rough terrain, and here’s how. Call it “better off-roading through science.”
The Ridgeline is a novelty among American-market trucks because of the way it’s built. Pickup trucks and truly tough SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler, Mercedes G-Class, Toyota 4Runner and Land Cruiser are traditionally made by slapping a body and cargo box onto a solid steel frame.
The big benefits to that kind of configuration are durability and economy. You get great resistance against hitting rocks and strength for the twisty crucible of a heavy load or an off-road trail. It’s also cheaper to build trucks that way.
The Ridgeline has the opposite of all that.
A Most Unusual Pickup
Honda’s new truck is made with unibody construction. It’s not literally “one piece,” but the shell and body and undercarriage are all part of a holistic structural system. That theoretically makes the ride smoother through minimized vibration and better balance, reduces weight and generally provides a more stable driving experience.The Ridgeline also runs an all-around independent suspension, which means each wheel can bounce up and down on its own with little driveshafts poking into them on angles as opposed to one thick bar running between the rear wheels.
Instead of a traditional 4WD kit with a mechanical locking differential, Honda uses advanced traction control and AWD to keep their new truck moving through muck. This is where things get interesting.
“Honda i-VTM4 progressively distributes optimum torque between the front and rear axles and dynamically distributes engine torque between the left and right rear wheels, with the capacity to overdrive the outside rear wheel by 2.7 percent to create a yaw moment that improves cornering precision.”Basically that means it maximizes efficiency by putting power to the wheel that can get the most motion out of it. As Honda continues:
“By rotating the outside rear wheel faster than the front wheels while cornering, Ridgeline’s AWD system uses torque vectoring to create a yaw moment to help turn the vehicle through the corner—reducing understeer and improving controllability. With cornering forces more evenly distributed between front and rear tires, overall cornering power is increased in all road conditions.”Now how does the Ridgeline know how to do that? Its Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) sensors and ECUs are constantly monitoring wheel speed, steering angle, how fast the steering angle is changing, lateral G-forces, vehicle yaw rate (slide speed), and hydraulic clutch pressure for the right and left rear axle shafts.
That hydraulic clutch, by the way, can differentiate power between the left and right rear wheel or lock them together for soft-sand type situations.
The idea is to be completely automatic. As I wrote in my review of the whole truck, think of it like your iPhone– don’t worry about what’s behind the technological curtain, just enjoy the ease of use from the front end.
Driving Modes
However, Ridgelines with AWD will also get three dedicated off-road modes to somewhat override the system manually, activated from a button below the shifter. There’s one for “snow” (available on 2WD trucks) one for “mud” and one for “sand.”Here’s how the driving parameters change in each mode:
Mud: “Mud” mode has an emphasis on maintaining momentum. Gain increases as you tip the throttle. Torque vectoring is shut off and more power is sent to the rear wheels. The transmission delays upshifts and traction control allows for more wheelspin.
Sand: Basically the same as “mud,” but with all the needles moved even more aggressively. It has maximum rear-bias (a Honda rep told me 70 percent) and an electronically “locked” rear differential.
How does it work in real-life? Pretty well, if you use it appropriately.
Stopping in soft stuff and then turning on “sand” mode made it a lot easier to self-extract than continuously plodding along with my foot on the floor. But if you think putting it in rear-biased “sand,” and turning off traction control as much as you can will turn the Ridgeline into a power-slider you’re mistaken.
Try to “drift” the truck like you would any other pickup; turn the computers off, saw the wheel and give it too much gas, and the Ridgeline just gets annoyed with you. It drags its face around like an overladen wheelbarrow.
But use the mode meant for the surface you’re driving on and the experience becomes remarkably idiot proof. This is what I meant when I described the truck as “another step closer to autonomous off-roading.”
Is Honda’s system a solution for hardcore rock crawlers? No way. But you knew that. If your main objective is to get from Point A to the end of your adventure without worrying about how to drive through mushy stuff, the Ridgeline’s tech will really boost your confidence.
Just don’t expect your newfound “skills” to work as well in a more primitive pickup.
So you can pretty much draw the same conclusion about the new Ridgeline’s AWD system as you can about the whole car: technologically impressive, overbearingly user-friendly, and aggressively practical. Which will hopefully help more people get out and into the world already!
If you’ve not sufficiently nerded out on this tech, I invite you to read the massively in-depth Powertrain press release Honda published this week. Until then, I’m just waiting on a longer-term Ridgeline rental so I can see just how far the system will take us.
Source;
http://truckyeah.jalopnik.com/heres-how-the-2017-honda-ridgelines-trick-off-roading-m-1775651261
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Car & Driver: 2017 Honda Ridgeline first drive review
2017 Honda Ridgeline
Honda's next crack at the civilized pickup looks more pedestrian—and promising.
by Jared Gall of www.caranddriver.com
First Drive Review
It’s not as if the first-generation Honda Ridgeline
was ahead of its time. It made its debut in 2005, just as gas prices
were transitioning from “Whoa, this is getting a little expensive,” to
“WTCrap is going on here?!” Not only was it not ahead of its
time, it was one of the timeliest automotive introductions in history.
There could not have been a better occasion to bring out a more
civilized, more efficient pickup. We named it a comparison-test winner, then ordered one for 40,000 miles of fawning.
That Honda’s reimagined pickup seated five far more comfortably than any of its crew-cab contemporaries and rode incomparably better should have kick-started a revolution. And it nearly did. In barely over a month at the beginning of 2008, Toyota and then GMC debuted similarly conceived unibody pickup concepts. GMC’s erstwhile chief told us then that he expected the entire compact-truck market to go unibody.
But after the tumult of that year, the automakers backpedaled to the safety of familiarity. Toyota continued churning out the Tacoma, General Motors kept on building the Chevrolet Colorado and the GMC Canyon, and the Ridgeline faded into obscurity, tumbling from 50,193 sales in 2006 to a low of 9759 in 2011 before getting canned after the 2014 model year.
Good Idea, Weird Idea
But the Ridgeline was a good idea—a good idea packed with weird ideas: the dual-action tailgate, the in-bed trunk, the flying-buttress cab, and the dramatically sloping edge topping each bedside. Many of those good and weird ideas remain in the new generation, but Honda reversed course significantly on the one that it most blames for the Ridgeline’s subpar sales: exterior design. What used to be adventurously overstyled now looks far more conventional, a Pilot with the roof lopped off aft of the second row.
Engines of Change
Our experience with the nine-speed automatic transmission in the Honda Pilot hasn’t been entirely satisfactory. So we were pleased that Honda has employed a six-speed in the Ridgeline. With the nine-speed, shifts vary in quickness and smoothness as speed builds, whereas the six is consistently swift and seamless. With 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, the 3.5-liter V-6 tops the outgoing truck’s engine by 30 horsepower and 15 lb-ft. It’s smooth and unobtrusive, a perfectly acceptable if uninspiring engine for a mid-size pickup. Honda predicts best-in-class acceleration, but we’ll see. The Ridgeline is proof that unibody doesn’t mean light as much as sturdy means heavy. The company claims—and our experience so far bears out—that the Ridgeline is stiffer than its competition, but the result is a curb weight of 4500 pounds, heavier than the GM twins, the Nissan Frontier, and the Toyota Tacoma. The last Chevy Colorado we tested was a touch lighter and carried 25 more horsepower.Honda claims best-in-class fuel economy of 19/26 mpg city/highway and 22 combined for front-drivers and 18/25 city/highway and 21 combined for models with all-wheel drive. But that requires interpreting the class as omitting GM’s gasoline and diesel four-cylinders, both of which better the Honda V-6.
Got Baggage? Ridgeline Has Cubbies
As before, the interior of the Ridgeline positively embarrasses the competition. It feels enormous and comfortable front and rear. The flip-up rear seat remains, providing yet another yawning, weather-protected storage cavity when raised and hiding up to 2.9 cubic feet—enough for at least one golf bag—beneath seated passengers. The primary storage location, the bed, now is four inches longer than before, at 64 inches, which makes it longer than those of the crew-cab Tacoma and the short-bed Colorado but 10 inches shorter than a long-box Chevy. And the Ridgeline is the only truck in the class that can take a four-by-eight-foot sheet of building material (or a four-by-eight-foot medieval triptych) laying flat between the wheel wells. Of course, you’ll have to drop the tailgate to accommodate an eight-foot load, so invest in some good plastic wrap.
Different Blokes
Neither does any competitor have the Ridgeline’s clever tailgate that either drops like a regular truck’s or swings open to the driver’s side like an old-fashioned station wagon’s. Nor do they have the Ridgeline’s in-bed trunk beneath the load floor. And most important, none of them come anywhere close to the Ridgeline’s ride quality. All it takes is one bump in the Honda to realize that GMC guy from 2008 should have been right. According to Honda’s research, less than 10 percent of mid-size truck buyers ever tow more than 5000 pounds. Therefore, less than 10 percent need anything beefier than a Ridgeline.The Honda Ridgeline enjoys a ride that no live-axle, body-on-frame vehicle could dream of. It’s all lightness and composure, carlike body control and smoothness. Here, too, the distinction between light-truck-duty Ridgeline and even-lighter-duty Pilot is appreciable. Whereas the Pilot can wallow and feel a little sloppy, the Ridgeline’s firmer tuning gives it a more controlled ride. The soft brake pedal and light steering are perhaps a little too smooth, but at least their operation is progressive. And in this segment, vague controls are a norm that only the Colorado and Canyon deviate from.
Listening to Honda’s engineering team rattle off their list of best-in-classes, we couldn’t help but detect a hint of exasperation in their voices. They might as well have said, “For the love of God, people, buy our truck!” Tech features are another area in which the Ridgeline’s more civilized roots place it ahead of the class’s top sellers. Adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning and automatic braking, lane-departure warning and assist, and blind-spot monitors are all available. There’s also Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but no matter how much tech you pack in, we’re a long way from accepting Honda’s touchscreen infotainment system, which is organized about as logically as the tiles on your Samsung Galaxy’s home screen when you turned it on for the first time in the store.
The March of Profits
The 2017 Ridgeline will go on sale this June. The RT, RTS, Sport, RTL, and RTL-T trim levels are offered with either front- or all-wheel drive (an $1800 upcharge), while the RTL-E and Black Edition are strictly all-wheel drive. For $30,375, the entry-level RT includes a rearview camera, keyless start, a tilting and telescoping steering column, and a seven-speaker stereo with Bluetooth, auxiliary device, and USB connectivity. At $32,415, the RTS adds keyless entry, remote start, and tri-zone climate controls. The $33,915 Sport nets black exterior trim, red footwell lighting, and gray-painted wheels.Luxury starts creeping in with the $34,680 RTL, which gets leather seats (heated in front), with 10-way power adjustability for the driver and four-way for the passenger. An acoustic windshield cuts interior noise to let occupants hear those little motors work.
Tech begins to arrive at $36,830 in the RTL-T. That one includes an 8.0-inch touchscreen navigation/infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, satellite radio, a second USB input for the front and two USB charging ports for rear-seat passengers, and Honda’s LaneWatch blind-spot camera system. But the full complement of safety tech doesn’t come into play until the $42,270 RTL-E. Here, the Honda Sensing system includes adaptive cruise control, lane-departure prevention, blind-spot monitors, and automated emergency braking. Additionally, you get blue ambient lighting, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, a power-sliding rear window, and truck-bed audio, plus eight traditional speakers and the 400-watt in-bed power inverter. Like the RTL-E, the $43,770 Black Edition is fully loaded. But it’s as sinister as a Ridgeline can look (until accessory lift kits become available), with black paint, exterior trim, and wheels as well as a black headliner and red ambient lighting.
No matter how it’s outfitted, the Ridgeline is a no-brainer of a truck: unmatched in smoothness and comfort, and full of innovation well beyond its unibody construction. It deserved far more sales than it netted in its inaugural generation. Here’s hoping this one realizes its full potential.
Source (with a bunch more photo's);
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