Review

Commendably, Honda includes the vast majority of the Odyssey's safety equipment--the run-flat tires being the notable exception--as standard equipment on all models. That roster includes dual-stage driver and passenger front airbags, front side airbags, and side-curtain airbags for all three rows. The latter are fitted with a rollover sensor to deploy in the event things get topsy-turvy. On the preventive side of safety, anti-lock brakes, traction control, and electronic stability control are included to help ensure those airbags don't get used. The Odyssey also earned five stars in NHTSA's front- and side-impact crash tests.

The Odyssey only comes with one powertrain: a 3.5-liter V-6 delivering a best-in-class 255 horsepower. EX with leather and Touring models get a slightly different version of this engine that can deactivate three cylinders at low loads (such as cruising on the highway) to achieve 28 mpg on the highway--three more mpg than with the regular engine. A light on the instrument cluster alerts you when the cylinders go to sleep, but otherwise the change is transparent. All models have a five-speed automatic transmission.

The phrase "built for comfort, not for speed" comes to mind here. While power is generous, the engine has a lot of Odyssey to tow around. Like many Honda engines, this one has great midrange grunt, which meshes well with a minivan's mission. You won't snap your passengers' heads back off the line, but as you accelerate up that onramp, the V-6 responds to your urgency--nice when you have to merge with at-speed highway traffic.

The ride/handling compromise is skewed firmly in favor of comfort, with bumps squelched nicely. While Honda bills the Odyssey as offering the handling of a luxury-performance sedan, there aren't too many of those cars that are driven by their front wheels and weigh two-and-a-half tons, so take that claim with a grain of salt. It does, however, handle better than just about any like-sized SUV, by dint of its lower center of gravity and (compared with seven- and eight-passenger SUVS) relatively trim mass.

Odyssey driving dynamics are the equal to those of its chief rivals' and are significantly better than those of many other minivans (ahem, the domestics). It's somewhat surprising, though, given the Odyssey's ample techno goodies, that you can't get an adaptive cruise-control system like the one on the Toyota Sienna.