New CX 9 vs. 2017 Ridgeline

D

Dr. Awkward

Member
:
2017 Honda Ridgeline RTL-E
Comparing a truck to an SUV is odd, some may say but read on.

Motorweek (PBS) had a review of the new CX 9 on its latest program.
Basically they really liked the CX, didn't mention the lack of front seat adjustment and got 22 MPG overall with it. 7.4 seconds for 0 60.
The signature trim was tested and John Davis had nothing negative to say about the interior whatsoever.

I was giving some serious thought (test drove a '16) on checking out a 2017 CX 9 but then discovered the new Honda Ridgeline.
Our RTL E should be delivered in mid-October.
Since the kids are grown we don't need three row seating, we will be trading our CX 5 and selling our '95 Toyota T100 PU, we will move from three vehicles to two.

The Pilot based RL is every bit as comfortable as a CX 9, the AWD gets 21 MPG overall - Car & Driver got 28 MPG in one on a highway loop - and does 0 60 in 6.6 seconds.
Of course the CX drives better, but the RL doesn't feel yuge like some trucks and handles really well in city driving for a PU.
We basically view this vehicle as a Pilot with a bed as does Car & Driver which has an article on it in this month's edition.
 
Mostly should depend on whether you need/use open cargo space vs enclosed cargo space. Do you take road trips where you need to bring along a lot of gear that nees to stay enclosed? Or do you frequently make home improvement runs?

IMO, closed SUV's are better to own than P/U's unless you use a p/u for your job. I always figured that if you need a truck bed occasionally, you can just rent one from Lowe's /Home Depot/uHaul.

The Ridgeline is almost a hybrid of the 2 more than any other body on frame truck so it may be a good option. It even has a trunk in the bed. If your road trips are just 2 people, then you could certainly just load up the back seats. Either way, I do like the Ridgeline's unique car like/crossover take on a p/u.
 
Rangline for the win.

DINK (at home at least)... You won't miss the third row, presuming you don't have a bunch of grand-kids.

Way better re-sale for the Rangline as well. (Particularly an issue for you since trading in a one model year old vehicle.)
 
The Ridgeline is a great truck. Amazingly underrated. If you don't need the 3rd row, it is a great choice.
 
New Ridgeline seems like a good vehicle. If you have towing needs it also has a higher rated capacity. IIRC..up to 5000 lbs.
 
We haul our trash, cardboard, and plastic to a convenience center five miles from our place.
We garden a little, use a woodstove, ski, bike, and camp so this vehicle blends well with all that.
The rear is roomy and the seats are fine.
If the rear seats are popped up you can get a bike behind the front seats as Honda shows in a picture.
The under bed 'trunk' will hold a golf bag and then some.
 
Dr. Awkward said:
We haul our trash, cardboard, and plastic to a convenience center five miles from our place.
We garden a little, use a woodstove, ski, bike, and camp so this vehicle blends well with all that.
The rear is roomy and the seats are fine.
If the rear seats are popped up you can get a bike behind the front seats as Honda shows in a picture.
The under bed 'trunk' will hold a golf bag and then some.
Click to expand...

Then it sounds like the Ridgeline is the vehicle for you.

You could probably answer you're own question by asking yourself whether you'd want a Pilot or Ridgeline. I know you mentioned the Pilot but the point is the CX-9 competes with the Pilot. So if you're cross shopping the Mazda with the Ridgeline, it seems odd to not look at the Pilot as it is so similar, one having a bed, the other a 3rd row. Front styling and front interior design are very very similar.

So in the end, if a Ridgeline interests you much more than a Pilot, you must be wanting a P/U.
 
In the RTL E trim you are basically getting most of the features found on the Pilot Elite. I saw one of those that was stickered at $48,000 at the dealer I'm working with so trading away the 3rd row seats for a short bed and saving $5K makes sense to me.

Would be interesting to see more of these comfy hybrid trucks. Say a Highlander real hybrid pick-em-up?
Would take care of all the comfort shortcomings in the rough and ready Tacoma.

Imagine a CX 9 based PU? I think Mazda would sell a bunch of these given the popularity of the new 9.
I do find the CX 9's seats a little narrow (I'm 6', 230) and not that much different from my CX 5 which weren't so comfortable on longer drives.
The RL has some of the best seats in any SUV/PU I've sampled; 10 way power for the driver and four way power for the passenger.
 
Last edited:
Dr. Awkward said:
Imagine a CX 9 based PU?
Click to expand...

01%2B-%2BC%25C3%25B3pia.jpg
 
Looks like owners should keep an eye out for TSBs on Ridgeline transmission. This may be just a one off but on this test video they got a overheat warning.

Screen%20Shot%202016-09-26%20at%201.55.05%20PM.png


 
I'll never be in a severe off road situation so I'm not concerned about the slight overheating the testers experienced while rock crawling. Don't get why a TSB is imminent; the warning served its purpose. It warned, and the crew appeared to rest, regroup and finish the shoot w/o the RL or the Chevy.

We get a little snow now and then, up to a foot at a time in a good year. Also need good performance on ski area access roads and in the parking lots, condo complexes, especially at Snowshoe, WV where the majority of the dining, shopping, and lodging is clustered along a two mile ridge at 4,800' elevation.

Over my skiing career I have driven to WV to ski during our worst storms in some fine 4/AWD vehicles including an Isuzu Trooper, an Outback, a T100 Toyota PU, Nissan Pathfinder, Tundra Crew Cab, and Highlander Hybrid. I vividly remember driving the T100 down I 81 as I heard on radio that the interstates were supposed to be closed. Drove to my exit all alone and continued with no problems.
 
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the honda ridgeline already wins in infotainment.. has apple carplay and android auto.

mazda is way behind in that. they said they wuold for the cx9 but where is it now?
 
Dr. Awkward said:
I'll never be in a severe off road situation so I'm not concerned about the slight overheating the testers experienced while rock crawling. Don't get why a TSB is imminent; the warning served its purpose. It warned, and the crew appeared to rest, regroup and finish the shoot w/o the RL or the Chevy.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it will be a great rig.. I've just never experienced an overheated transmission in a vehicle when not towing anything and scene was fairly typical of logging roads around my area of the country. Perhaps it needs a larger transmission cooler if it has one? This may show up in slow on-road towing as well.
 
redturboeclipse said:
the honda ridgeline already wins in infotainment.. has apple carplay and android auto.

mazda is way behind in that. they said they wuold for the cx9 but where is it now?
Click to expand...


Remember that a lot of car brands still don't offer Android auto / Apple carplay, including the world's largest automaker [Toyota]. Seems that people assume that most cars now have it.
 
Dr. Awkward said:
I'll never be in a severe off road situation so I'm not concerned about the slight overheating the testers experienced while rock crawling. Don't get why a TSB is imminent; the warning served its purpose. It warned, and the crew appeared to rest, regroup and finish the shoot w/o the RL or the Chevy.

We get a little snow now and then, up to a foot at a time in a good year. Also need good performance on ski area access roads and in the parking lots, condo complexes, especially at Snowshoe, WV where the majority of the dining, shopping, and lodging is clustered along a two mile ridge at 4,800' elevation.

Over my skiing career I have driven to WV to ski during our worst storms in some fine 4/AWD vehicles including an Isuzu Trooper, an Outback, a T100 Toyota PU, Nissan Pathfinder, Tundra Crew Cab, and Highlander Hybrid. I vividly remember driving the T100 down I 81 as I heard on radio that the interstates were supposed to be closed. Drove to my exit all alone and continued with no problems.
Click to expand...

It actually did really well when TFL used it to tow at it's max on the Ike Gauntlet.
 
Looks like there may be a new name for the segment the Honda Pilot fits into, the lifestyle pickup.
And there is another one on-the-way:

http://www.motortrend.com/news/2019-hyundai-santa-cruz-pickup-almost-ready/

"Internal studies suggest Hyundai could sell about 50,000 Santa Cruz pickups a year, and external studies put the figure as high as 70,000."

Mazda take notice; the CX 9 would morph into a mighty fine 'lifestyle' truck.
 
Was not intending to be car shopping this fall but a friend was so I helped him.
He started out working on a new Toyota Rav4, but balked.
I found him a great deal on a new Mazda CX 5 Touring AWD, $25,800.
He ended up in a '14 Highlander XLE @ $27K.

He wanted a little more room and he got me thinking maybe so did I.
The new CX 9 looked promising so I drove one and found not that much difference in front seat comfort from my CX 5.
I'm 6' 230 and there was more room in the 9, but as Consumer Reports noted in a review, the CX 9 had a tight driving position and limited front-seat adjustments.

Later I ran across an article on the new Ridgeline, started hunting down more info, followed later by internet dealer research, and then personal contact with dealers.
Explored the truck. As soon as I climbed in I was impressed. The 10 way driver seat felt great.

I'm pretty sure Mazda will address the front seat issue before their MY 2017 but making the 9 wider will be difficult.
Most normally sized individuals will feel great in a 9 but if you're broad shouldered and over 200 lbs. make sure you do a long test drive and don't get diverted by the snappy turbo powered, smooth handling ride you will experience.
 
Thinking the Driver area lost area from the Console as it seems wider and instead of pushing it towards the passenger it seems that it was pushed towards the driver.
At least that is what it seemed to me when I took one for a test drive.
John


Dr. Awkward said:
Was not intending to be car shopping this fall but a friend was so I helped him.
He started out working on a new Toyota Rav4, but balked.
I found him a great deal on a new Mazda CX 5 Touring AWD, $25,800.
He ended up in a '14 Highlander XLE @ $27K.

He wanted a little more room and he got me thinking maybe so did I.
The new CX 9 looked promising so I drove one and found not that much difference in front seat comfort from my CX 5.
I'm 6' 230 and there was more room in the 9, but as Consumer Reports noted in a review, the CX 9 had a “tight driving position and limited front-seat adjustments.”

Later I ran across an article on the new Ridgeline, started hunting down more info, followed later by internet dealer research, and then personal contact with dealers.
Explored the truck. As soon as I climbed in I was impressed. The 10 way driver seat felt great.

I'm pretty sure Mazda will address the front seat issue before their MY 2017 but making the 9 wider will be difficult.
Most normally sized individuals will feel great in a 9 but if you're broad shouldered and over 200 lbs. make sure you do a long test drive and don't get diverted by the snappy turbo powered, smooth handling ride you will experience.
Click to expand...
 
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