Honda light trucks consistently rank among the highest customer satisfaction numbers across the board. One place however that they may have been behind the ball somewhat is in their off-roading capability.
In this category, brands like Land Rover and Jeep consistently outperform Honda models like the Pilot, Ridgeline, and CR-V. This is an issue Honda’s new TrailSport package is striving to fix.
TrailSport equipped Honda trucks will come with off-roading upgrades like chunkier off-road tires, slight suspension lifts for higher ground clearance, a full-sized spare tire, and increased four-wheel drive functionality. All items seldomly found on Honda light trucks before
Honda has lots of experience in developing all-wheel-drive systems for on-road purposes like Acura’s “Super Handling AWD” system. In those systems, a series of sensors and computers work at all times to ensure the proper amount of power and torque are applied to each wheel.
The TrailSport off-road system is the first time this expertise has been applied to a road-legal 4x4 application. It’s a system Honda hopes will make its lineup more appealing to traditional off-roading fans who may have otherwise defaulted to a Jeep.
Honda is of course also known for its line of off-road quad-bikes, ATVs, motorcycles, and side-by-sides.
This is by no means the brand’s first foray into the enthusiast off-roader market. This time though, The Japanese carmaker hopes the TrailSport package can finally see Honda seen as a by-word for off-roading capability.
"TrailSport represents the next chapter in our rugged direction and will bring exclusive styling to our existing light trucks that will appeal to buyers seeking adventure, Our U.S. engineering team is leveraging more than 20 years of experience creating highly capable light trucks to develop this new series of adventure-ready vehicles,” mentioned Dave Gardner, executive vice president of National Operations at American Honda.
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