6th gen Speculation Thread

Good deal man, thanks for following up on that.

 

Can’t be any worse then offshore oil drilling. No risk of a massive oil spill either.

 

it's a popular thing to have those bumper stickers on an EV. See it quite a bit.

 

Anyone here think the new V6 Honda Trailsport could hurt 6th gen sales?

I know it's a unibody crossover, but with its V6, off-road capability, and lower price point it will definitely make it very attractive.

 

Not very rugged looking compared to 6th gen.

How much lower price point?

 

From what I read seems like mid $40s

 

The unibody is a hard no for enthusiasts. Your average soccer mom doesn't care about that but they do care about how the vehicle looks.

This one looks fine, but still pretty bland.

I don't know how big it is but a better comparison would be to the Rav4 or Highlander.

Do Rav4 or Highlander owners care about a NA V6? Nope......they are more into mpgs.

 

I think the Passport will sell just fine to the buying public as another do-everything crossover and Subaru-alternative. Solid capability for what it is I expect.

it’ll probably continue to hang around in the Pilot’s shadow though being a two-row.

Styling’s solid if a tad “big Bronco Sport”, they’re still almost full-size wide but so is the new Tacoma and 4Runner.

 

I think so. Most owners aren’t taking it off-road anyways. Isn’t that a Pro in the photo? The non pros will look less aggressive and more similar to the passport too.

 

Honda Trailsport

46-56

 

for me its about the ruggedness of the platform for day to day driving during winters up here in ND. snow ruts, un even paths from not being plowed, hidden potholes, etc.

so a unibody is a hard pass for me for my driving style. i am usually on the road going to work before the plows

 

One of the greatest SUVs and off-roaders ever made was a uni body. The Jeep XJ Cherokee. 30 years later there are still a lot of them on the road too as there is no frame to rust out and force them to the scrap yard.

 

The uni-body frame can rust. We saw one on a trail run where one of the contol arm mounting points snapped off and they had to use ratchet straps to hold it together so they could limp it off the trail.

 

Well it is steel so of course it can rust but not to the extent that a frame does. Unibodies are typically dipped so they aren’t as prone to rusting.

 

How so?

 

I LOVE the V6 idea; I am not a fan of these noisy 4 cylinder turb engines; they sound like a 1985 Ford Tempo on steroids.

I think there is a lot of potential to take sales away from non hard core off road fans of the 4Runner for sure. I have a good friend at Honda and so he says anyway this is a piece of that market they are trying to capture.

All of these new 4 Cylinders sound awful, I drove a 2.3 Ranger the other day and thought it sounded so unrefined and noisy, seems like a step backwards for me anyway from that perspective. Even my neighbors new Accord with a 1.5 4 cylinder sounds like crap!

On the new Honda above though I am not a fan of the Weather Tec made wheel well lips. I think every manufacturer around has partnered with Weather Tec to make these wheel well plastic liners that look awful.

 

Because they are dipped like I said. The entire unibody is typically hot dip galvanized.

 

They should treat the frames like my boat trailer. 30 years later here we go

 

That would be nice.

 

This is a cool video of new passport.

https://automobiles.honda.com/future-cars/passport


Listen for the brief clips of the engine noise. That’s a hell of a lot more masculine and rugged than 4 a banger clinging and clacking

 

Sure, as long as you're more concerned with the sound of the engine than performance.

 

That’s true but I’m guessing Honda has had this V6 around longer than the new turbo 4. Guess time will tell how durable it is. Sorry but not sorry just an old school dude here and like the V6s

 

Old school dudes like V8's.

No need to apologize. I'm just saying that if your opinion is entirely based on the sound of the engine it's pretty irrelevant. It would be like choosing your suspension based on the color of the springs.

 

I understand my opinion was not just based on the solely on sound it is only one component. We are all different here but if I am spending $40k plus I prefer to buy something that has some sort of reputation and log time. I suspect that Honda V6 is based on the same engine from Ridgeline, Pilot etc and while there have been some issues at least some of the bugs have been worked out.

I struggle to understand why and how Honda will keep the V6 in so many vehicles unlike toyota. Perhaps it based ok raw sales numbers and the cafe standards. For me the V6 just seems like much more fun

 

Perhaps it is some combination of Cafe standards and people complaining about the lack of torque in the 2GR-FKS, and even in the 1GR-FE.

We have to keep in mind that Toyota makes actual trucks, which Honda has never done. At least not for the US market.

Edit: how is less power more fun?

 

The new Pilot has a new or new-ish V6 and a new 10-speed - I’m pretty sure that’s what’s in the new Passport.

 

It says right at the top of their webpage in large white letters. Lmao

"powered by a next-generation 3.5L DOHC V6 engine"

 

Hmm, but those red TX Baja springs on the second gen Tacoma were fire.

 

Because they want it more. They created a new V6 that meets the newer emissions requirements; it's a different solution to the same problem. Maybe they have more know-how in that area, or in some way this was cheaper for them than developing a new turbo-four for the larger vehicle.

If you're interested in the engine:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42662418/honda-35-v-6-engine-dohc/

I really liked this approach, it's a more nuanced engineering solution to the emissions problem, vs. everyone else's apparent solution of shrinking and turbo-ing engines.

It seems like a pretty robust solution too, lower stress. This generation may be even simpler than the outgoing line, since they've dropped VTEC.

 

I'll make sure to extensively research my every post from here on out and include APA citations just for you.

More seriously, I meant my post to caution someone farther up expressing how it's a proven V6 but it's actually still somewhat new despite being yet-another Honda 3.5L V6 so I should've quoted them.