2021 Honda Odyssey review: Carry kids and cargo, no crossover required

Crossover-SUVs may be hot hot hot, but don’t discounted the minivan. What as soon as was a nerdy manner of family transportation is now a classy way to haul little ones and gear. Situation in stage, the refreshed 2021 Honda Odyssey.

If you’re very seriously in the marketplace for a minivan, I don’t consider driving dynamics are your major problem. In its place, you’re very likely more fascinated in the super cozy entrance seats, or the 3-across 2nd row with a detachable middle section. With no that middle seat in put, the outboard chairs can slide from side to side. This can make obtaining into the third row even simpler, and means mothers and fathers can different their bratty little ones if they get started combating. The third row has room for 3 little ones or two ordinary-sized grown ups.

Regardless of in which your little ones are seated, you can preserve an eye on them with the available CabinWatch aspect, which displays a video feed of the rear compartment on the entrance infotainment display. It even has evening vision so you can see your little ones in the darkish, and now is effective with the rear seat reminder to not only notify you if you left a kid in the auto unintentionally, but present you which a single. What a environment. Also, the CabinTalk tech takes advantage of a microphone to venture the driver’s voice by the rear headphones and speakers.

Admittedly, I did not have any purpose to use the kid-checking functions. But I did get to test out the vacuum cleaner. It is effective as marketed.

Infotainment tech in my completely loaded Elite tester is managed on an eight-inch touchscreen with common Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but the base design receives a five-inch unit without the need of smartphone integration. Continue to, even the more substantial Display Audio computer software just isn’t my favourite, considering that there looks to be a single added stage for each functionality. Not good.

In back again, the Odyssey Elite has a ten.2-inch dropdown display with two wireless headphone sets. Next-row kiddos get a single HDMI port and two 2.five-amp USB-A outlets. The third row has two headphone jacks (sorry, no wireless units for these unfavorites), as perfectly as a single 2.five-amp USB-A port and a 12-volt, 800-watt outlet. Up entrance, mother and dad are flush with charging options, far too, which includes a pair of USB-A ports, a 12-volt outlet and more.

As for cargo-hauling — little ones often come with cargo, proper? — the space driving the third row has up to 38.six cubic toes of space. I dig the very low, large-load space that makes it possible for the third row seats to fold flat, and as soon as they’re stowed, cargo space raises to ninety one cubic toes. Having said that, if I want to unleash the Odyssey’s true hauling opportunity, I have to just take the 2nd row seats out, which is no uncomplicated endeavor. Each seat weighs about 70 kilos and just has me craving for the Stow-N-Go seats identified in the Chrysler Pacifica. Certain, the Odyssey has more space as soon as the chairs are taken off, but I am going to just take a marginally smaller space for uncomplicated-peasy stowing.

When it arrives time to essentially travel, the Odyssey won’t disappoint. The 3.five-liter V6 and a lot of zip for merging onto the highway. The motor is paired with a ten-velocity computerized transmission that routes electrical power to the entrance wheels. All-wheel travel is not available, which stinks simply because the Pacifica and Toyota Sienna now offer you this aspect. There is, however, a snow manner that recalibrates the traction regulate parameters to cope with the slick things.

The Odyssey returns an EPA-believed 19 miles for each gallon in the town, 28 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg blended. Through a 7 days of tests I essentially defeat the EPA, averaging 24.six mpg blended. Having said that, family members who are searching for even superior gasoline financial state really should appear at the hybrid powertrains in the Pacifica and Sienna. The Sienna receives up to 36 mpg blended whilst the plug-in hybrid Chrysler Pacifica has 32 miles of all-electrical range and receives eighty two MPGe.

The Odyssey behaves superior than you’d hope on curvy roadways, but it actually excels at daily driving. The trip high quality is superb, it by no means feels severe or jarring and the cabin is silent all the whilst. New for this 12 months is an electrical brake booster, which increases brake come to feel and offers a shorter pedal stroke.

All of present-day modern day driver-support functions are right here, and most are common. Blind-location checking does not grace the entry-degree LX trim, but other driving aids are common. It is really good to see that adaptive cruise regulate now has very low-velocity pursuing, simply because in past many years, it would disengage below 22 mph, making it ineffective in prevent-and-go website traffic. Also new for this 12 months are website traffic-sign recognition, which is effective like it really should, and pedestrian unexpected emergency braking, which I luckily have not professional. The lane-trying to keep support typically is effective perfectly, but it can be a tiny iffy at times. A superior reminder to preserve your arms on the wheel.

Even though the 2021 Honda Odyssey begins at $32,910 which includes $1,a hundred and twenty for place, my prime Elite tester arrives out to $forty nine,335. The sweet location in the lineup is the EX-L for $39,580. The EX-L is perfectly-geared up with heated entrance seats, 4 USB-A ports and 3 12-volt outlets, the eight-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and tri-zone computerized local climate regulate. I eliminate ventilated entrance seats, CabinWatch and CabinTalk, as perfectly as the rear-seat amusement technique, wireless charging, a Wi-Fi hotspot and the vacuum cleaner, but I’m not guaranteed these functions are value the $ten,000 upcharge for the Elite.

The refreshed 2021 Honda Odyssey is an superb decision for these who require to haul little ones and gear, but don’t want to get into the 3-row SUV marketplace. The Pacifica and Sienna do offer you electrified options and all-wheel-travel ability, making them very seriously fierce rivals, but the Odyssey at the very least has a lot of family-helpful functions and a peppy V6 to boot.