mmarshall

Except for a few unusual purpose-built designs like the Ford Lightning, Dodge RAM SRT-10, Chevy Silverado SS, etc..... most trucks are built for work, not testosterone-laden burnouts or drifting. That, of course, includes the Ridgeline, although it is obviously designed more for mid-sized work rather than full-sized work like the big American pickups and the Tundra/Titan. The Ridgeline also has some clever and useful features built into its design.

Fly4u

I'm surprised the Fiat 500 didn't score high as the stereotypical L.A. "Chick Car."

adamls2

I love me some Corvette

I remember when the Viper was like 96% male dominant, but there are 3 ladies in my area that I always see in Vipers

Aron9000

You definitely need to turn in your man card if you drive a Ridgeline. That bed is about 5' and useless. Its got a dinky tow rating of 5000lbs and Honda says you cannot use a weight distributing hitch. And it sucks down gas just as bad as any 4wd full size truck. 2wd full size trucks are actually better on gas than that stupid thing. Plus its but *** ugly. Ford and Dodge have much nicer interiors now days. About the ONLY cool thing I can find on that truck is the lockable trunk/stowage space under the bed. Just don't open it if you've been hauling dirt/mulch, or other yucky stuff.

mmarshall

In my area, I see as many men driving them as women. That's why the idea of stereotyping most "Chick" cars is nonsense. The only car I'd even (maybe) call close to being a "Chick" car is a bright-colored VW Beetle convertrible...and even they have their share of male drivers.

mrraider

Most of them are trucks, probably used by people in their line of work. I dont see many female plumbers or contractors.

mmarshall

I agree that the Ridgeline is not an F-350 or a dualie-rear-axle, Cummins-diesel Ram 3500, but still don't sell it short. Its frame is quite stiff for its size, due to the fact that its basic construction, like that of the now-extinct Lincoln Town car, combines elements of both unibody and body-on-frame crossmembers. The main limitation on the Ridgeline's capabilities is because the normally-aspirated 3.5L V6 just can't equal the torque found in the big domestic V8 and V10 pickups.....simply because neither Honda or Acura, in the American market, has an engine in that size/power-class.

Aron9000

No, its main problem is that it is a unibody minivan under the skin. A regular 1/2 ton Dodge, Chevy, Ford, costs the same, gets the same gas mileage, has a much bigger bed, and can tow way more in a much safer manner.

I was kind of curious about how much you really can tow with a Ridgeline. IMO the factory rating of 5000lbs combined with the fact that Honda says YOU CANNOT USE a weight distributing hitch makes this A VERY UNSAFE towing vehicle. The general rule of thumb is that if you are towing more than half of the recommended tow weight, you should use a weight distributing hitch. So for a Ridgeline with 5000lb tow rating, anything over 2500lbs you should use a weight distributing hitch. Any sort of travel trailer loaded with water, gear, etc is more than 2500lb. Towing a car, yeah way more than 2500lbs. A decent sized bass boat, way more than 2500lbs.

So what does a weight distributing hitch do for you? It takes the load off the rear axle and equalizes it between the front. The main benefit is the trailer doesn't sway or try to drive around you, it also makes the trailer much more stable in emergency braking and handling situations. IMO its flat unsafe to tow anything if its making the rear of your vehicle sag like this picture:



People who buy the Ridgeline IMO just drank the "Honda is awesome" kool-aid and didn't do any research before buying such a god-awful product. If you want something smaller than a full size, go buy a Tacoma or Frontier, they're real trucks under the skin that can haul a load or SAFELY tow a decent size trailer.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

That's interesting about the IS. I usually see young guys driving those. Most women I see drive LS', GS', RX's and SC's.

I'm surprised the Camaro isn't on either list. I see tons of girls driving those now.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I wonder how the sampling was done to come up with numbers showing that not even one car has 50% female ownership.

My guess is that women are less likely to respond to these kinds of surveys than men.

mmarshall

According to them, the Beetle does score an even 50%....I guess that would include all Beetle body styles/trim-levels. My guess, though, is that Beetle Convertibles would probably score a little higher than 50% in female ownership.......though I generally don't believe in automotive stereotypes, the Beetle convertible is probably the closest thing I've seen to a true "Chick" car.

They're probably less-likely to care about surveys like this. Most women I've known simply go out and buy and drive what they want or suits them best (or come to me for advice and we go shopping), not really caring about stereotypes or what the auto-press thinks about their car.

Nor, BTW, are surveys like this always needed to find out who drives what. Much of that information is maintained in the list of vehicle-registrations at state DMVs, though state laws vary on how much of that data can be freely accessed, by whom.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

In my area,IS250 AWD's,got to be over 70% driven by women.
I owned a '06 IS250 AWD.I bought it from my daughter.

mmarshall

Same here in the D.C. area. Though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "Chick Car", many of the IS250AWDs here are also female-driven. But as I noted in another post, it's probably because of the bad-weather traction, and the fact that many women are not as concerned with HP/torque as men, hence the 250 rather than the 350.