Review and photos by Grant YoxonLa Jolla, California – I have a confession to make: I like minivans.
By nature, I am a very practical person. And for a family of five, a minivan with its cavernous interior, seating for seven or eight, or five with a lot of stuff just made a lot of sense.
By nature, I am a very practical person. And for a family of five, a minivan with its cavernous interior, seating for seven or eight, or five with a lot of stuff just made a lot of sense.
Apparently my opinion about minivans is not a popular view. Since the early part of the last decade, minivan sales have taken a steep decline. According to Global Insight, the economic forecasting firm, minivan sales in Canada dropped by some 100,000 units between 2003 and 2009.
Minivan owners and those who might be inclined to buy a minivan opted instead for seven passenger sport utility vehicles and the stylish and increasingly popular crossover utility vehicles. One could hypothesize that the growth of this latter category has been at the expense of minivans.
And at the expense of practicality too: it doesn’t matter how practical a vehicle is, it won’t succeed if buyers are embarrassed to be seen in it.
To find out what put people off, Honda rounded up a large group of people and held some focus groups. Not surprisingly, they learned that from 100 metres or so, people couldn’t tell the difference between a Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna or Dodge Grand Caravan. They all had the same one box design with a belt line that ran in a straight line from the top of the front fenders to the rear of the vehicle beneath the windows.
Honda also learned that attitudes toward a minivan purchase could be grouped into three distinct categories: Rejecters – people who put style over practicality and would never consider buying a minivan; Adopters – people like me who placed practical needs over style, and; Hesitators – people who might be persuaded to buy an Odyssey if it didn’t look so darn practical and anonymous.
Needless to say, the outcome of all this research is the 2011 Honda Odyssey, a complete redesign of the Honda minivan and one that Honda hopes will differentiate it from those other uninspiring competitors.
To bring a more modern look to this fourth generation Odyssey, Honda has lowered the roof, widened the body and track and distinguished its profile with a “lightning-bolt” belt line that is both stylish and functional (it adds outside visibility for third row passengers). To reduce the boxy look that comes from a one box design, Honda’s designers stretched out the front A-pillars and added more rake to the rear C-pillars giving the vehicle a roof line that tapers to the rear.
These changes also have a practical application – enhancing aerodynamics which helps to reduce wind noise and fuel consumption. Larger wheels and tires surrounded by noticeable fender flares reduce the body-to-wheel proportion which in turn reduces the perception of vertical height. No longer does a minivan need to look like it is perched precariously on its wheels.
Despite the lower roof, the interior of the Odyssey is as cavernous and roomy as ever with three rows of seats that depending on trim level can seat up to eight passengers. Six adults can sit comfortably in the three rows, as we found out when carrying six well-fed journalists from restaurant to hotel. Leg room in the second and third rows is adult sized and access to the third row does not require any unusual contortions or the flexibility of a six-year-old as is common with three row SUVs.
Pulling one handle near the base of the second row seat flips the seat back forward and moves the seat ahead about eight inches. Combined with a wider opening for the rear sliding door, accessing the third row seat is just a matter of stepping in. Third row room has also been enhanced by moving the spare tire from the side wall to a space under the floor between the front seats.
Of course, the third row seats flip and fold flat into the floor – a feature pioneered by Honda – greatly enhancing cargo carrying capacity. The big difference is that stowing the rear seats (a 60/40 split seat, one large, one small) is no longer a two step process. There is just one pull strap which lowers the seat back and locks it into place while unlatching the seat from the floor, allowing you to pull the seat into the floor with one hand. Honda decided against offering a power rear seat option because the new manual process is just as easy, and quicker, than power operated seats.
The Odyssey that we were treated to in southern California was the top line Touring Trim, a level that includes many features found in luxury vehicles. Its multi-view rear back up camera, for example, is the same as that included in our top-of-the-line Acura ZDX long term tester.
The Touring model is outfitted with a variety of other luxury features including a rear entertainment system that features a 412 mm (16.2 in.) ultra-wide display. The screen can show two different sources at the same time, such as a movie and video game. It also receives a navigation system with voice recognition, 650-watt AM/FM/CD hard disk drive-based 15GB (HDD) premium audio system with 12 speakers including subwoofer and 5.1 surround sound theatre mode.
Starting at $29,990 (a $1,700 reduction from the current DX model), the base Odyssey LX includes such features as cruise control, remote entry system, manual air conditioning, eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat with manual lumbar, front centre floor tray, sunglasses holder, floor mats (front and second row), one-motion 60/40 split 3rd-row seat, power side mirrors, two-speed/variable intermittent windshield wipers, intermittent rear wiper/washer, rear window defroster, power windows with auto-up/down driver’s and front-passenger’s windows, tilt and telescopic steering column, 10 beverage holders and maintenance minder system.
LX models are equipped with an information display, 229-Watt AM/FM/CD audio system with five speakers including subwoofer and MP3/auxillary input jack. EX ($33,990), EX-RES ($35,490) (RES means Rear Entertainment System) and EX-L (leather) ($40,990) models receive an eight-inch colour display with rear view back-up camera, Bluetooth, AM/FM/CD/CD-Library two-GB memory audio system with seven speakers including subwoofer and steering wheel-mounted audio controls. The EX-RES adds a rear entertainment system with nine-inch display and two head phone jacks two wireless headphones, one RCA video input, and one 115V power outlet. EX-L models (and Touring) also receive XM satellite radio and steering wheel mounted phone controls.
Standard equipment on the EX trim line and higher is a second row middle seat that doubles as an armrest with beverage holders and a centre tray for electronic devices. The middle seat also moves forward bringing car seats closer to front seat passengers. Second row seats can also be moved laterally to provide up to 38 mm (1.5 in.) of additional space between the seats. In total, there are child seat latch positions for up five car seats (four for LX models).
Other new and innovative features that have been developed for the Odyssey include a cool box mounted at the base of the centre stack (EX-L and higher) that uses the air conditioning system to keep beverages cool, a removable front floor console (EX and above, replacing the fold down tray found on previous models), and a flip-up trash bag ring (EX and higher) attached to the centre console.
Safety, of course, is a high priority for minivan owners and the 2011 Honda Odyssey contains a wide range of standard passive and active safety features. Safety begins with the vehicle structure which has been enhanced with a greater amount of high strength steel (59 per cent vs. 35 per cent in the previous generation Odyssey). Active safety features include vehicle stability control with traction control, four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes (with larger rotors than the previous Odyssey) with electronic brake distribution and brake assist, and tire pressure monitoring system. Passive features include three-point seat belts at all seating positions, dual-stage multi-threshold front airbags, front-seat side airbags, three row side-curtain air bags with rollover sensor, active front seat head restraints and adjustable head restraints in all positions. Honda expects the 2011 Odyssey to achieve top safety ratings.
Optional features that enhance safety include single-view (EX, EX-L) or multi-view rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors (EX-L and Touring) and blind spot information system (Touring).
The most significant difference between the Touring ($46,990) and other trim levels is its six-speed automatic transmission. All other trims have a five-speed auto. The principal advantage of the six-speed over the five-speed is a launch from a standstill that feels more powerful and quieter cruising at speed at a lower rpm. Better fuel economy also results. The Honda Odyssey Touring is rated at 10.9 L/100 km in the city and 7.1 on the highway, while all other Odysseys are rated at 11.7 and 7.2 L/100km city/highway. Still this represents an improvement of 1.4/0.7 over the previous 2010 Odyssey LX and EX models.
While producing better fuel economy, the Odyssey’s 3.5-litre V6 engine also produces marginally more horsepower and torque – 248 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque, up four hp and five lb-ft over last year. More significant for most Odyssey buyers is the extension of variable cylinder management – VCM shuts down up to three cylinders when power demand is low – to all EX trim levels. VCM helps save fuel.
The 3.5-litre engine coupled with the six-speed transmission pulled strong from a stop and had generous power at launch, while merging into traffic on the freeway and for passing on the highway. We powered up hills and cruised along the freeway at freeway speeds without fuss and without a lot of noise penetrating the cabin.
At one time, the cavernous interior of some minivans tended to amplify road and wind noise, but the 2011 Honda Odyssey is a well-insulated and quiet place to be. Now with rear seat entertainment systems to keep rear sear passengers occupied, even parents with children can speak to each other at conversational levels.
Both large and small changes – the stretched A and C pillars, panels that sweep the airflow around the front tires and underneath the engine, inner front fender wells that are sculpted rearward to improve engine room air flow, a tailgate spoiler that smoothes air over the rear of the vehicle to reduce turbulence, and a more aerodynamic mirror shape and lower rocker panels on the Odyssey Touring – all contribute to a lower coefficient of drag and a quieter interior.
From the driver’s seat, the blue accented gauges and displays are easy to locate and read, and secondary controls for the audio system, navigation system and climate-control system are all within easy reach and feature large, easy-to-operate buttons and knobs.
The front seats are large and comfortable. With 10-way power adjustment (eight-way for LX) it was easy to find a comfortable driving position. Our Touring testers also had four-way power adjustment for the passenger seat.
The Odyssey EX-L and Touring feature a leather-wrapped steering wheel intended to create a sporty feeling, with steering wheel mounted audio, cruise control, telephone and navigation voice control buttons.
Whether intended or not, some spirited driving through a twisty canyon road revealed a sporting side to the Odyssey that few would believe possible in a minivan. It may never be a sports car, but the 2011 Odyssey’s lighter, stiffer body and firm suspension help the car handle twists and turns without unusual sway and minimal body roll. The new Odyssey felt much smaller than it is with handling equal to or better than the short wheelbase minivans once built by Chrysler and Mazda.
The disappearance of the short wheelbase minivans, such as the Mazda MPV and the Dodge Caravan, were the first signs of a declining market for minivans. They were quickly followed by the departure of the Ford Freestar and one by one, GM’s entries in this segment as well. In 2009, Nissan stopped building its minivan, the Quest.
With minivan sales predicted to level off in the 70,000 units per year range by 2012, one has to ask why Honda would bother investing in a completely new minivan for such a small market. Canada is only a small part of the minivan market in North America: while U.S. minivan sales have fallen from a high of 1.3 million units in 2000 to a predicted half a million vehicles this year, a 500,000 plus market is more than enough for four players to go after. Nissan is obviously rethinking its decision to terminate the Quest and plans to introduce a new Quest at the Los Angeles auto show in November.
In the U.S., the Honda Odyssey is the number one selling minivan (it’s the Grand Caravan in Canada) and its 2011 Odyssey is designed to keep it in the top spot in the North American minivan market.
The 2011 Honda Odyssey goes on sale October 22, 2010.
2011 Honda Odyssey Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (plus approx $,1,500 for freight and pre delivery inspection)
LX: $29,990
EX: $33,990
EX RES: $35,490
EX-L: $40,990
Touring: $46,990
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