2008 Honda Odyssey

Four ages into the current generation, the Honda Odyssey is holding its own, rather speaking, in a new automobile market savaged by $4 a gallon gas and a dwindling economy.

Like those of its archrival, the Toyota Sienna, dealings of Odysseys were off by 9 per cent the year with June as compared to a year earlier. But persons of the longtime leader of the minivan pack, the Dodge Grand Caravan, are off by 26 percent, continuing to while the Dodge and its cousin, the Chrysler Town & Country, were a great deal more recently redesigned than either the Sienna or Odyssey.

Honda updated the Odyssey's styling for '08 and has supplied the supplementary expensive Odyssey variants, similar to the Touring which I sampled, how is said to be an improved variable cylinder management system - which can shut off two or 3 of the engine's six cylinders to save fuel.

So, it seemed worthwhile to take an extra look at the Odyssey.

And our one-week look, including over a hundred dollars of miles of driving, reveals a minivan with one of the most attractive and user-friendly interiors on the family automobile market but, at 4,600 pounds in a suspension tuned for comfort, one the is just average in its handling.

Further, continuing to when the tester was empty except for the driver, the 241 hp. engine, while smooth, disappointed in its ability to uphold speed additonally climbing for a long while interstate improvements without a downshift from the five-speed automatic transmission. And, if the driver requested a downshift with a stab of the accelerator, so gearbox was ongoing to deliver.

Back on the upside, the Odyssey has a top five-star score from the federal authorities for frontal and half impact crash protection, additonally the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety names it a "top safety pick." (The Sienna and Grand Caravan get a slightly lesser rating of "good" from the institute.)

The U.S. EPA anticipations the Odyssey's fuel sector as prohibative as 25 mpg on the highway; I never saw an average on the trip computer above 21.4 in the local-highway mix I did over seven days.

Odyssey prices start at $26,530 with freight for an LX, plus automatic transmission, air conditioning, electricity windows and locks and stability control and brake assist. Most are priced in the $30,000s and they duration past $40,000 for a top-of-the-line Touring model through options like a navigation system.

This minivan seats up to eight and, when the split third row is not needed, it can be quickly folded into a vastly in the floor.

That last row, by the way, earned praise for its spaciousness based on two of my adult passengers seated in it on a trip for 15 or 20 minutes. But I'm not guaranteed if properties could undergo been as enthusiastic if we had been on the road for an hour or more.

Honda's large, clearly marked dashboard controls deserve special praise, constructued unlike individuals in some competitor vehicles to be leg work on the move by a past customer who is in addition driving.

2008 Honda Odyssey Touring

Vehicle tested:

Engine: 3.5-liter V-6, 241 hp.

Fuel: Regular

Transmission: Five-speed automatic, front-wheel drive

Safety: Dual front, seat-mounted side and curtain air bags; 4-wheel disc brakes with anti-lock, brake help and stability control; rearview camera for backing; tire pressure monitoring; fog lamps, daytime running lamps

Place of assembly: Lincoln, Alabama

Cargo room, min./max, cubic feet: 38.4/147.4

EPA fuel economy

estimates: 17 mpg, city; 25 highway

Price as driven: $40,645 not excluding freight