2023 Honda Odyssey Test Drive Review
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I test-drove a 2022 Honda Odyssey for a couple of days. We need an extended family hauler, and the Odyssey is the only minivan on the market with a naturally aspirated engine, no hybrid system on board, and a conventional automatic gearbox with paddle shifters.
Ultimately, it’s a decent car — just a really big one. It is heavy, but not overbearingly so. The V6 has just enough grunt, and with paddle shifters and lower gears, you can stay in the left line without triggering fellow commuters too much.
When manually operated, the gearbox shifts smoothly and reasonably fast, downshifts are a little slower.
You can’t switch the gearbox to neutral with paddle shifters, but a prolonged push down the N button works. Switching back to the gear needs another D/S button push. It’s a ten-speed(!) transmission, can’t imagine using it in auto mode.
Starting off the line is not one of the car’s strengths. It’s a forward-wheel drive, no LSD vehicle, with a conventional automatic gearbox that seems to operate in a binary format when taking off. Making all-season tires squeal is a special kind of fun, while being safe and easily available.
Flooring it most of the time and keeping it under 7th gear brought mpg down to 17 from a very reasonable 22, averaged by the car’s previous drivers. Considering my driving style, car size and weight, I’m at peace with this number.
Doing 80mph on a highway feels ok, but I would not want to go faster than that for a long time.
The brakes are adequate, and the modulation is good. There is no dead travel, and pads held up during a short 20-minute canyon run above the Milpitas.
The suspension is certainly on the soft side, it tends to oscillate on continuous and not particularly rough road imperfections. At the same time, it absorbs single dips or bumps very well.
The steering is very light. Odyssey is surprisingly easy to operate in city traffic, but finding that empty parking spot will no longer be your favorite sport.
When the suspension is happy, the car holds the road well — on factory all-season tires with 19″ wheels. It won’t get lost in canyons unless the pads or gearbox overheat (which I did not experience). You will lose rear passengers first.
This car was in an Elite trim, which has better acoustic glass proofing, a decent stereo system, front seat ventilation (works great and is very useful!), and suite of electronic gimmicks, such as push-to-talk and a back row camera.
With the exception of flat, short, and lacking padding material front seats (no height or tilt adjustment for the passenger), it’s a nice place to be.
The instrument cluster design is a little too playful for my taste, reminding me of American vehicles and more generally — rental cars. Among display settings, there is a hide tachometer option, and you can also switch between trip computer, tire pressures, navi and music played. There is a blank option in the list, which reduced the clutter and made it look more… serious.
Rear passengers get enough space, manually adjustable seats, USB ports, and sun shades for passenger windows (super useful for minors). Stoving away the middle seat of the second row and sliding one of the side seats inward gives great access to third-row passengers. You can literally walk between rows while travelling. Without doing so, access to the third row is limited, similar to three-door hatchbacks and 3-door coupes.
The interior materials in the back and overall space design don’t impress — it’s all black plastic, rubber and cheap leather. Third-row seats fold down easily and stay flat to the floor, but there is no easy way to prevent your grocery bags from sliding around. When the third row is up, there is a huge niche behind the 3-rd row, which swallows all your grocery bags and keeps them there.
Sliding doors and rear hatch are motorized, and there are operating buttons in all expected places, including a key fob.
In general, driving this car is a fine, comfortable, and even relaxing experience. You can drive it fast and rough, but it won’t encourage or reward you for doing so.
It has more creature comfort features than I expected, and comes with a minimalistic car-enthusiast-survival pack, such as paddle shifters, decent brakes, and adequate V6 VTEC engine power.