According to Honda, the median age of an Odyssey buyer is 45. In comparison, the average age of those who buy the Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica and Kia Sedona are 54, 53 and 38, respectively. Does that mean that the Honda Odyssey is what the hip youngins' are buying these days? We'll let you decide that one.
At any rate, all Odysseys are powered by a 3.4-liter V6 that's rated for 280 horsepower and 262 lb.-ft. of torque. As well, no matter what trim, buyers will get Honda's full active safety suite—called Honda Sensing—that includes adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation and lane keep assist.
What is the Honda Odyssey like to drive? Read our driving impressions below.
Fifty grand is a lot of money for a minivan. It just is. But Honda does everything they can to justify every nickel with the latest Odyssey.
Civilians might think that the most dangerous press loaners are the powerful hoonmobiles, ready to unleash 300, 400, or even 500+ horsepower on the public at the hands of some dumb auto journalist. Well, I’m here to tell you that a $300 speeding ticket one time is cheaper than a $600 monthly payment, and vehicles like the Odyssey make those numbers seem tempting.
The Odyssey just does everything so intuitively and well. While it may rate lower on the driving engagement scale than sportier rides, it rates extremely high on the transparency scale. You simply don’t notice it around you, but in a very good way. Because everything works the way you would expect it to, and ingress and egress are easy, and controls are logical and easy to find, and loading is a snap, and all of the slick features like the stowaway third row don’t take puzzle-solving skills to operate, the van becomes a source of calm rather than another source of stress. It’s simply brilliant.
Complaints? Okay, a couple if you pushed me. I’m not tall—especially in the leg area—and the seat bottoms seemed a bit short to me. On a day-long drive someone with long legs might feel that, but maybe not. Comfort and support were still top-notch. What else? Ehh, not much. The price I guess, but that’s what loaded minivans cost these days. You’d never complain about a lack of value for that money.
My one big disappointment with this one: I didn’t get to spend more time with it. It’s the Honda of minivans.
It starts with everything that we have loved about Odysseys for years: solid driving dynamics in that, yes, you could pitch this thing around. (Been there, done that.) It makes plenty of power, offers great seats and even looks good. It’s not gimmicky or weird.
My one nit-pick: I’d love to see a more conventional shifter. I’m still not digging Honda’s pushbutton transmissions. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it’s my single complaint. I even like the way the latest Odyssey looks.
Biggest thing: Why don’t more people drive these instead of SUVs? It’s the better people-mover. And in the minivan world, this is still the Gold Standard.
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