'18 Honda Odyssey
May 15, 2017
Honda's fifth-generation Odyssey sees design updates, but more importantly for a minivan, functional updates to its interior that make it more family-friendly than ever (See related story: under certain conditions.
Honda has said upshift and kick-down times at mid-driving speeds are “significantly reduced” for the 10AT vs. the outgoing 6AT-equipped Odyssey, but there isn’t one of the latter here to test to verify that claim.
Design is a weak point for the Odyssey. The Pacifica’s plainer sheet metal and sleek and proportional profile bestow a cool, minivan-of-the-future appearance. While the Odyssey’s signature lightning bolt line below the C-pillar thankfully is smoothed out for ’18, Honda designers have added a boomerang-looking indentation in the sheet metal on the side doors. The detail makes the minivan look overly busy. Ever since the ’11 Hyundai Sonata popularized deeply stamped body panels automakers have gone crazy with the trend.
Interior Tech-tastic
The Odyssey’s interior is handsome with good-quality materials, but here too there isn’t much boundary-pushing. The Honda minivan lacks the contrast stitching and piping available in the Pacifica and Kia Sedona, winners of Wards 10 Best Interiors awards in 2016 and 2015, respectively. But Honda is letting loose a bit by offering a new rich brown interior color for ’18, dubbed Mocha, that is appealing.
The Odyssey has a lot of cubbies, notably three tiers of them on front doors. It also has a generous center-console box that we use to store a large bag of snacks. A pullout drawer at the front of the console holds DVDs for the rear-seat entertainment system.
The rear-seat entertainment in the Odyssey and Pacifica have many of the same features, including an app letting kids track a road trip (“Are We There Yet?” in the Pacifica, “How Much Farther?” in the Odyssey).
The Odyssey exceeds the Pacifica’s streaming abilities by offering 4G LTE WiFi, whereas the latter has just 3G. Rates for 4G LTE, supplied by AT&T, were unavailable at press time.
A key focus on the new Odyssey’s development was improving Honda’s dated infotainment system. Thanks to a modified Android operating system, touchscreen graphics are fresh and new, virtual buttons are large and inputs are registered quickly. Additionally, the vehicle’s display audio and rear-seat entertainment systems can be updated over the air, a Honda first.
On-screen shortcuts on the touchscreen can be customized, for those not using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, available in EX and above grades.
Voice recognition in the Honda van also is much improved, judging by the accurately understood and fast responses to radio-station and destination requests.
The Pacifica has great HMI too, and a slight ergonomic advantage thanks to a generous open space on the center stack to brace your hand for touchscreen selections.
Pricing for the Odyssey begins at $29,990 for the base LX grade and rises to $46,670 for the Elite grade driven here. Destination and handling will add another $940 to those prices.
They may seem over-the-top, but Honda, thanks to its good reliability ratings, always has been able to charge more than the competition.
Toyota has, too. Its Sienna, now seven years out from its last full redesign, ranges from $29,750 to $47,310 for ’17, sans a $960 destination charge.
The Pacifica is $1,000 less than the Odyssey on the low end and almost $4,000 less for its top grade.
Kia’s Sedona and the Dodge Grand Caravan, the latter now sticking around until the ’19 model year, are relative deals, with the Sedona ranging from $26,900-$41,900 and the Grand Caravan $25,995-$33,395.
Judging by 2016 U.S. sales, it appears there’s still a healthy market for low-priced minivans (sales spiked 20% and 26%, respectively, for the Kia and Dodge vans in 2016 while Odyssey deliveries rose 7%).
But for consumers willing to spend more, the new ’18 Odyssey has a lot to offer in terms of features and functionality, especially given the ultra-configurable second row that parents of little ones should love.
Honda expects the van to tally 125,000 sales in its first full year, about the level it has consistently sold and a level that seems right given the improvements to the vehicle.
The new ’18 Odyssey, assembled at Honda’s Lincoln, AL, plant, goes on sale in the U.S. May 25.
'18 Honda Odyssey Elite Specifications
Vehicle type | 4-door, 7- or 8-passenger small van |
|---|---|
Engine | 3.5L SOHC V-6 with direct injection, all aluminum |
Power (SAE net) | 280 hp @ 6,000 rpm |
Torque | 262 lb.-ft. (355 Nm) @ 4,700 rpm |
Bore x stroke (mm) | 89 x 93 |
Compression ratio | 11.5:1 |
Transmission | 10-speed automatic |
Wheelbase | 118.1 ins. (3,000 mm) |
Overall length | 203.2 ins. (5,161 mm) |
Overall width | 78.5 ins. (1,994 mm) |
Overall height | 69.6 ins. (1,768 mm) |
Curb weight | 4,593 lbs. (2,083 kg) |
Price as tested | $46,670, not incl. $940 destination and handling fee |
Fuel economy | 19/28 mpg (12.3-8.4 L/100 km) city/highway |
Competition | Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Grand Caravan, Kia Sedona, Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna |
Pros | Cons |
More powerful engine than before | Similar in output, mpg to Pacifica |
Magic Slide baby! | Less passenger volume than ’17 Odyssey |
Reworked, improved infotainment | No good place to brace hand |
">Odyssey Functional Family Hauler).
Read more about:
2017You May Also Like
