What if Honda made a Jeep?

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:18 pm

I was reading a forum last night where people had Honda's going 300,000 to 500,000 miles with basically no problems.

What do you think would happen if a company with Honda's quality copied the Jeep Wrangler but had Honda's transmission and engine and reputation?

Would Jeep even have a chance?

I know I'm on a Jeep lovers site, but if they were similarly priced I would go for the Honda in a heartbeat.

chetos · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:38 pm

apples to oranges

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:41 pm

I wouldnt buy a honda. They already get great mpg and seem to last along time with their cars.. But its a jeep thing.. I guess you dont understand.

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:51 pm

Jeep wasn't always Chrysler. It Honda was the next parent company, people would complain (no doubt on that) but I do believe that they'd make it better.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 12:57 pm

Also it could still be American-Made. I was just reading an article that said the Liberty and Wrangler were something like 85% American, but Honda had a lot of vehicles that were 75% American.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:04 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

Also it could still be American-Made. I was just reading an article that said the Liberty and Wrangler were something like 85% American, but Honda had a lot of vehicles that were 75% American.

Yeah Honda's may be made in the USA but all the profits go to Japan.

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:05 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

JohnnyCash wrote:

Also it could still be American-Made. I was just reading an article that said the Liberty and Wrangler were something like 85% American, but Honda had a lot of vehicles that were 75% American.

Yeah Honda's may be made in the USA but all the profits go to Japan.

I work for Chrysler. All the profits go to Germany.

REKIII · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:07 pm

I think it would be a cool vehicle, however a lot of it's ruggedness would go away. I think it would lose offroad capability too. Honda engineers would have a hard time designing things to accomodate off roading when they know 80-90% of the vehicles will never leave pavement.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:09 pm

Getting parts would be a nightmare to,even though Honda's are mostly made here in the states.All forign car parts are a pain to get fast,then again so are KJ parts(seems the dealer never stocks what I want).

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:11 pm

REKIII wrote:

I think it would be a cool vehicle, however a lot of it's ruggedness would go away. I think it would lose offroad capability too. Honda engineers would have a hard time designing things to accomodate off roading when they know 80-90% of the vehicles will never leave pavement.

But........what if they copied the Wrangler as far as suspension and SFA's and approach/departure angles, and clearance. The only changes being engine, transmission, and other internals.

It just seems like the Wrangler's main advantage in the marketplace is that nobody else makes anything like it.
What would happen if they did?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:13 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

REKIII wrote:

I think it would be a cool vehicle, however a lot of it's ruggedness would go away. I think it would lose offroad capability too. Honda engineers would have a hard time designing things to accomodate off roading when they know 80-90% of the vehicles will never leave pavement.

But........what if they copied the Wrangler as far as suspension and SFA's and approach/departure angles, and clearance. The only changes being engine, transmission, and other internals.

It just seems like the Wrangler's main advantage in the marketplace is that nobody else makes anything like it.
What would happen if they did?

Jeep would go out of buissness.

REKIII · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:17 pm

Lets say they copied all the geometry. We'd stil have to assume they would copy all the material guages and bolt sizes. (look at a kia sportage)

If Honda copied it exact I'd lose a lot of respect for Honda, and I think they would have a hard time selling them unless they were a lot cheaper than a jeep. It's kind of like harley buyers. If you like Harleys you are not going to buy the carbon copies made by Kawasaki, Polaris, or Yamaha, even though they are better products.

Bob

ccattie · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:17 pm

You'd have some weird problems. Can anybody explain why the Honda Ridgeline with its dinky engine and FWD gets the same mileage as the Chevy Avalanche which has the big 8? Your wrangler would probably have the power of a Civic and no mpg gains. I've got 36,000 on my Jeep and I did it in about a year and 9 days and it runs great aside from the brake fix I just had done. I wouldn't want a Honda Jeep. I wouldn't mind seeing it owned by GM though.
-c

hyedipin · **Joined:** Thu May 11, 2006 10:20 am **Posts:** 1667

ccattie wrote:

You'd have some weird problems. Can anybody explain why the Honda Ridgeline with its dinky engine and FWD gets the same mileage as the Chevy Avalanche which has the big 8? Your wrangler would probably have the power of a Civic and no mpg gains. I've got 36,000 on my Jeep and I did it in about a year and 9 days and it runs great aside from the brake fix I just had done. I wouldn't want a Honda Jeep. I wouldn't mind seeing it owned by GM though.
-c

I also recently checked Toyota and Honda trucks and SUVs.. "gas saving cars"-my booty. 14mpg or even 18 , ok let me go as high as 20 mpg.. This is not a fuel efficient vehicle. And I guess if I were to strap any one of those behind my Jeep and drop it in 4lo I can pull them while they are accelerating the opposite way.

If honda made exact copy of Jeep, i still wouldn't buy it. If they improved Pilot and turned into something more solid and more affordable, I would then buy it.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:25 pm

Quote:

I wouldn't mind seeing it owned by GM though.

Bad idea,look at what they did to the Hummer name(H2-cough,H3-cough-puke)

gone_jeepin · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:29 pm

I don't think Ford would do to bad, wranglers coming stock with 9inch rear. and D30 or D40 in front, but then again you would lose the manual Tcase and replaced with a button on the dash that says "4-low"

JohnnyCash · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:29 pm

It's not that I hate Jeep.
I was just wondering why Toyota or Honda don't just attempt to crush Jeep in the offroad category.

I was just thinking yesterday about how bad Chrysler's image is in the marketplace,
and how good Toyota and Honda are seen by consumers.
It may or may not be true that one is better than the other, but consumers seem to think this way.

I bought my Liberty because there's nothing out there that compares at the same price level. It is the perfect vehicle for a mix of highway and offroad driving..........wish it had a little more clearance though.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:39 pm

JohnnyCash wrote:

It's not that I hate Jeep.
I was just wondering why Toyota or Honda don't just attempt to crush Jeep in the offroad category.

I was just thinking yesterday about how bad Chrysler's image is in the marketplace,
and how good Toyota and Honda are seen by consumers.
It may or may not be true that one is better than the other, but consumers seem to think this way.

I bought my Liberty because there's nothing out there that compares at the same price level. It is the perfect vehicle for a mix of highway and offroad driving..........wish it had a little more clearance though.

Honda and Toyato primarly sell to a different breed of people and when those persons happen to buy a Jeep,Jeep gets a bad name(stupid city folk thinking there hot just because they bought a Jeep).Most people(at least for TJ's and JK's) will modify there vehicles right away and are used to all the small things going wrong because of there "hey I can live with a sqeak as long as the $500 axles I just put in don't break" mood.The only problem I have with my KJ is I could not order one without the carpet and with a rubber floor mat,I hate carpet,power seats,leather,and all those other little gizmo's that cost a fortune to fix.Jeep is keeping DC alive right now so Jeep has to change a little(hence the compass) and quility will start to improve,just give it some time.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:41 pm

Toyota has tried copying Jeep - that's what the FJ series is about - the FJ40 was pretty good - but it really needed a V8 - which they have now, but they didn't have in the 70's.
Honda's claim to fame has always been the Engine - that why they make Cars, Bikes, lawnmowers, generators - they consider engines their speciality - so I would expect a Honda/Jeep - to have an American style body chassis - with a new Engine - it might be VTEC or Hybrid -
actually the VTEC's now are focused on top end power - I wonder what would happen if they focused on low end torque?

unixxx · **Posted:** Wed May 09, 2007 1:53 pm

I'm assuming most of Chrysler Group's engineers are American and spend their money here.

JohnnyCash wrote:

I work for Chrysler. All the profits go to Germany.

What if Honda made a Jeep?

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