Honda Odyssey Regains Top Spot in Consumer Reports' Ratings of Minivans

[Ming]

Honda Odyssey Regains Top Spot in Consumer Reports' Ratings of Minivans
Douglas Love of Consumer Reports

YONKERS, N.Y., U.S. Newswire-- The redesigned 2005 Honda Odyssey regained the top spot in Consumer Reports' minivan ratings following tests of four minivans for the March 2005 issue. The Odyssey edged out the excellent Toyota Sienna, CR's previous Top Pick in this category.

The Odyssey and Sienna finished in a near tie in CR's tests; both have "Excellent" overall scores. The two other vehicles tested as part of this group, the Dodge Grand Caravan and Saturn Relay, were both rated "Good" overall.

The Odyssey and Sienna are leading an evolution in the minivan category. In addition to being comfortable, space-efficient vehicles that are ideal for family use, they now offer many of the attributes of mid-level luxury cars, including smooth, quick powertrains; well-constructed interiors; good driving dynamics; and an array of the latest features and technology.

Consumer Reports' auto engineers have found minivans to be a good alternative to large SUVs. They're less expensive, get better mileage, generally ride and handle better, and provide easier access to the third-row seat. (Some minivans also come with all-wheel-drive systems for improved traction on ice and snow.)

Full tests and ratings of the four minivans appear in the March issue of Consumer Reports, which goes on sale February 8. The complete report is also available to subscribers of http://www.ConsumerReports.org. The March issue also contains a special report on the new Buick LaCrosse four-door sedan.

Consumer Reports recommends three of the four vehicles in this test group, the Odyssey, Sienna, and Grand Caravan. CR will only recommend vehicles that have performed well in its tests, have at least average predicted reliability based on CR's annual surveys of its subscribers, and have performed adequately if crash- tested or included in government rollover tests. The Saturn Relay cannot be recommended at this time because CR doesn't have reliability information on it yet.

The Odyssey is a well-rounded vehicle. Its engine and transmission work well together. Handling is agile and secure, with its emergency handling aided by a standard electronic stability control. The interior is well-crafted and versatile with a new split-folding third-row seat. The Odyssey EX ($32,410 as tested) is equipped with a 255-hp, 3.5-liter V6 that is smooth, strong, and reasonably fuel-efficient, returning 19 mpg overall. The responsive five-speed automatic shifts very smoothly. Overall braking performance is very good. Storage space is very good. Removing the second-row seats and folding the rear bench resulted in 66.5 cubic feet of storage space. Based on CR's survey results for the previous generation of this vehicle, reliability for the Odyssey should be very good.

Full Article: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=43011

[GMFreak8]

I find it ugly, and the interior just doesn't look as good as the vans from GM even if they are built on an 8 year old platform.

[GM_Fanatic]

The Relay was rated as high as the Caravan? amazing. I guess I really underestimated the CSV's.

[GMFreak8]

Originally Posted by GM_Fanatic

The Relay was rated as high as the Caravan? amazing. I guess I really underestimated the CSV's.

The CSVs I think are very nice.

[kuns83]

If you've read CR, they rate cars, and all products for that matter on a bar graph with a "range" within a category, so that means that its possible that the relay score lower than the caravan and still be rated as "good". Its actually very rare that a car score in the "fair" category.

[puma12]

Originally Posted by gonenuts15792

I find it ugly, and the interior just doesn't look as good as the vans from GM even if they are built on an 8 year old platform.

You have to be high on glue fumes to consider GM's CSVs remotely handsome. I'd pick the Honda or the Chrysler, both have a lot more character and practicality...

[Innotech]

the Chrysler ****************ing owns the mininvan segment. After I looked around and drove my aunt's new 2005 Chrysler van with Stow and go, the Honda isnt ****************.
Honda doesnt have stow and go. end of discussion.

[GMFreak8]

Originally Posted by puma12

You have to be high on glue fumes to consider GM's CSVs remotely handsome. I'd pick the Honda or the Chrysler, both have a lot more character and practicality...

Well than I'm high on glue fumes. I actually like the looks, and I think the Honda is ugly, the Kia van looks better.

[spudglo08]

I dont like the CSV's because they all look the same.Still way better that the Honda.

[GMFreak8]

Originally Posted by spudglo08

I dont like the CSV's because they all look the same.

Sort of but not really. I think the Pontiac looks the best out of all of them. but I like the Buick too.

[logansowner]

Originally Posted by Innotech

the Chrysler ****************ing owns the mininvan segment. After I looked around and drove my aunt's new 2005 Chrysler van with Stow and go, the Honda isnt ****************.
Honda doesnt have stow and go. end of discussion.

Um...you drove a Chrysler and nothing else but you know it is supirior because it has S&G? Dodge certianly has something with that, but if one is in the minivan market, you have to drive everything, driving one does not give much of a basis for judging what you havn't driven.

[GMFreak8]

Originally Posted by logansowner

Um...you drove a Chrysler and nothing else but you know it is supirior because it has S&G? Dodge certianly has something with that, but if one is in the minivan market, you have to drive everything, driving one does not give much of a basis for judging what you havn't driven.

Doesn't the stow and go seating have seats that aren't as supportive. Didn't they have to do that to make them fit into the floor.

[uujjj]

The new Odyssey is a good van and drives well, but it is just a little disappointing. The last gen Odyssey, when it came out, simply blew away the competition in every respect. It was the only good van at the time, the most reliable, most versatile, most comfortable to sit in, and the only van that was even remotely fun to drive. The new van is an improvement in certain respects, but it is not compelling. The new Odyssey is at best the class leader only by a slight margin, and certainly will not be the class leader for 5 years like the last one.

[Innotech]

Originally Posted by logansowner

Um...you drove a Chrysler and nothing else but you know it is supirior because it has S&G? Dodge certianly has something with that, but if one is in the minivan market, you have to drive everything, driving one does not give much of a basis for judging what you havn't driven.

its a minivan, I didnt care about how it drove. It did feel solid and hte interior is quite good for as minivan though. I didnt think the seats were unsupportive. Chrysler has a nice hit with that van. Again, **************** the Odyssey.

[Buick61]

Let me straighten out this thread a little.

I have that issue, the Toyota, Honda, AND Dodge were recommended. The Saturn was NOT. The Toyota and Honda were found ideal for daily driving, while the Dodge was found the best for hauling. The Saturn excelled in neither condition.

I had the opportunity today to inspect all the CSVs and the Odyssey. It simply wasn't a contest. The CSVs seemed dated. The dashboards looked nice, and the overhead rail system was well executed, but beyond that, things weren't rosey for GM. The seats were difficult to fold, without the rear storage system the load floor is far from flat, those trays in the back of the seats ALWAYS get in the way of normal-sized peoples' knees--at that plastic is HARD, and to top it all off, they felt too narrow inside.

The Odyssey was wider, had an awesome touch-screen Nav system--which had all sorts of features and functions that control all different parts of the vehicle, the ergonomics were spot on, there was plenty of space in all the roads, the seats were easy to operate, the sliding windows powered down, and to top it all off, the price wasn't all that different than the CSVs.

If this was 1997 or if the CSVs were cheaper, than maybe they'd make a good option. But it's not, and they aren't. I really wanted to like them (I really liked the interior appearance of the Buick) but I was let down. Too many shortcomings.