Chevrolet Upstages Ford - Then Honda Throws Composite Shade on Both

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

You may’ve noticed an ad campaign by General Motors touting the toughness of its steel cargo bed in comparison with Ford’s aluminum cargo hold. The Chevy came out battered and bruised, but Ford’s aluminum-bodied F-150 incurred multiple lacerations. GM, in its comparison, proclaimed itself the winner.

Then late Friday, a plucky upstart called Honda (you may know the company for its motorized bicycles and electrical generators), threw massive shade on the Detroit rivalry using the same test.

Honda’s engineers (not the PR folks, though Honda PR distributed the video) performed roughly the same rock-drop test as the Chevrolet advertising campaign. The result? Just some scratches in the Ridgeline’s composite bed. Not a dent. Not a break. And the in-bed storage door still opened and closed as designed.

Well done, Honda. Now all we need is a real truck for your trick bed.

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

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  • Jeff S Jeff S on Jun 14, 2016

    Denver Mike--I don't like either Dennis or Howie. Maybe a Ford fan boy would like Dennis. I always liked Mike Rowe and I liked Sam Eliot on the Ram commercials--both are more believable. Ford should hire Mike back. Anson Mount would be a good spokesperson for Chevy trucks.

  • AlexEng AlexEng on Jan 14, 2018

    I'm not a Ridgeline fun but come on! It is a nice truck just is different! Why it isn't a truck? Because hasnt got a frame under the chassis? Not everybody need a truck to carry heavy stuff some need a truck to carry lighter stuff and this can do it the Ridgeline very well. In the other hand it drives and feels quite comfortable just like as an SUV or a common car with excellent ride and fuel consumption.I think Honda has create a different truck is something completely different than the mainstream truck and they deserve all the credit for their try.

  • 3-On-The-Tree Another observation during my time as a firefighter EMT was that seatbelts and helmets do save lives and reduce injury. And its always the other person getting hurt.
  • 3-On-The-Tree Jeff, Matt Posky, When my bike came out in 1999 it was the fastest production motorcycle in the world, 150 HP 197 top speed, 9.57 quarter mile Hayabusa peregrine falcon etc. This led to controversy and calls for high-speed motorcycles to be banned in order to avoid increasingly fast bikes from driving on public roads. This led to a mutual decision nicknamed the “ gentleman’s agreement” to limit bikes to 186mph, ending the production bike speed contest for all bikes 2000 and upward. Honestly once your over a buck 20 it’s all a blur. Most super cars can do over or close to 200mpg, I know at least on paper my 09 C6 corvette LS3 tops out at 190mph.
  • 3-On-The-Tree In my life before the military I was a firefighter EMT and for the majority of the car accidents that we responded to ALCOHOL and drugs was the main factor. All the suggested limitations from everyone above don’t matter if there is a drunken/high fool behind the wheel. Again personal responsibility.
  • Wjtinfwb NONE. Vehicle tech is not the issue. What is the issue is we give a drivers license to any moron who can fog a mirror. Then don't even enforce that requirement or the requirement to have auto insurance is you have a car. The only tech I could get behind is to override the lighting controls so that headlights and taillights automatically come on at dusk and in sync with wipers. I see way too many cars after dark without headlights, likely due to the automatic control being overridden and turned to "Off". The current trend of digital or electro-luminescent dashboards exacerbates this as the dash is illuminated, fooling a driver into thinking the headlights are on.
  • Kjhkjlhkjhkljh kljhjkhjklhkjh given the increasing number of useless human scumbags who use their phones while driving (when it is not LIFE AND DEATH EMERGENCY) there has to be a trade off.It is either this, or make phone use during driving a moving violation that can suspend a license.
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