2021 Honda Odyssey | Review & Road Test

For the latest Honda Odyssey pricing and information:


At Kelley Blue Book, we’ve already reviewed the 5th generation Odyssey and named it our Best Buy in the minivan category several years in a row. Rather than rehash all the details, in this video, we’re busting out a targeted blast of what’s new in the refreshed Odyssey.


Best hang onto your hat. Cause This Here's the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness.

Minivan aficionados (if that’s a thing) will note the Odyssey’s reshaped fascia and now-standard LED headlights. Inside, things don’t look much different, aside from new dash trim on higher models, the addition of 3rd-row bag hooks, and an illuminated 3rd row USB port on Touring and Elite trims, and 2nd-row seats that fold slightly flatter and are easier to remove.


Ok, nothing earth-shattering but the big news is safety-related.


The Honda Sensing suite of driver assists has been improved and is now standard across the Odyssey lineup. A new radar sensor and electric brake booster enable low speed
follow abilities for the dynamic cruise control plus pedestrian and bicyclist detection for the automatic braking system.

I’m told that brake booster offers a more confident brake feel. We’ll see about that. (test) Yeah, that’s nice.


Another addition is a standard rear-seat reminder feature that alerts the driver to check the back seats if they’ve placed something back there, human or otherwise.

What’s cool is that the rear seat reminder integrates with the optional cabin watch feature. Offering a handy, automatic view of the rear quarters ensuring nothing precious gets left behind.


Honda has also simplified the 2021 Odyssey lineup and adjusted pricing. Most trims see a modest price increase, but the Touring trim is now $2,500 cheaper.

Of course, as a fancy man, I’m driving the most indulgent Elite trim.

Saying it’s “luxurious” might be overkill but seat piping, perforated leather in the first two rows, and 19-inch wheels do give the Elite a dusting of swagger.


Updates aside the Odyssey’s fundamentals remain strong. The 3rd row is adult worthy. The magic slide 2nd-row seats facilitate impeccable interior flexibility and easy 3rd-row access. The Odyssey is a top performer where safety is concerned. The ride is not thrilling but it is comfortable.


…And the 3.5-liter V6, along with its 10-speed automatic transmission accomplice, produces ample, dignified thrust. (280hp, 262 lb-ft)


Though it remains America’s best-selling minivan, as of when I’m saying these words, the Odyssey has increasingly formidable competition in the form of the Toyota Sienna and Chrysler Pacifica. The Sienna is all-new, offers all-wheel drive, and comes with a standard hybrid powertrain, while the Pacifica offers its popular Stow n Go seats plus an available plug-in hybrid model that, depending on your commuting needs, you might never need to gas up.

In total, the refreshed Honda Odyssey has been honed ever so slightly, making an excellent minivan just a bit more excellent.

But don’t wait too long to introduce generation 6, Honda. Your minivan competitors are coming at you hard and fast…either that or they’re late for soccer practice.

[venom]

Wearing a Ferrari F40 shirt while driving a minivan sums up the reality of most suburban dads. LOL

[WpnX]

A masterful gentle turn Micah, and a well executed smooth stop. As an aficionado of minivans, I'll take my dusting of swagger and say Good day, sir.

[helmsdeep]

Pffft with insane rent prices nowadays I'll get a top trim one and live in it.

[clairekennedy]

I really like the Honda’s interior and standard V6 engine

[info]

I have a 2013, if you have kids there is no better vehicle for road trips, also if you like to do gardening and home maintenance you can put an amazing amount of stuff in the back.

[NaNslx]

I can't put my finger on a specific part but the front is starting to look more like the discontinued Nissan Quest

[mudassarnasir]

The odessy the sienna and Pacifica are the most amazing 3 minivans I’ve ever seen

[Accrd]

You were the one who turned us onto the Toyota Sienna SE which we love and I love it's 300hp engine which allows me to smoke so many cars on the road:) Can you imagine if Honda lost it's ever loving mind and made a Odyssey Type R? OMG I'd buy it asap, even if they only made 1k of them I'd still buy it. 400hp Type R Minivan with a Stick would be epic!!

[richardlisacki]

What about the reliability of the odyssey. It wasn’t rated good by CR last year.

[gwgrote]

I'm sorry Bing Yiu (commenter below) that you've had a bad experience with the Odyssey. I'm not a mini-van buyer and most of us are watching this because of the "Fancy Man." I do like the magic slide.  It is good looking for a non-windowless white (silver) van. The "dusting of swagger" resembles the Mercedes V-Class. I'm still amazed of all the info he can reveal in 3.40 mins.

[ericrolv]

Nice to see that classic Lincoln Continental parked on 0:56

[danielschuetze]

A huge shame this awesome minivan is not available in Germany😭...except for a few cars we mostly got 3 or 4-Cylinder Turbo engines in our cars, or a fat V8, but nothing juicy-reasonable plus indestructible like this V6...just sad...the Odyssey is the most beautiful minivan ever, plus so much more practical than a SUV...if I had a family this car would be my #1 pick.

[debrafrakes]

I have a Nissn Quest 2008 and a brabd new 2021 Odyssey. I hate hat Nissan stopped building the Quest. What I miss is the easy large flat cargo area. The Odyssey will require help gettingvout seats

[kkp]

i noticed that bigass gap between the nav screen and the dash.

[JunjouRomanticaeva]

The Kia Soul that was next to the Honda Odyssey reminds me of where I am and where I want to be

[UPassEducation]

I wonder how quiet the Odyssey is at highway speeds. Minivans can be great road trip vehicles if they are quiet and smooth.

[kingmarx]

Nothing quite like the satisfaction of bringing a vehicle to a smooth jerk free stop.

[AngelGarcia-gfwx]

I'm here for Deadpool and Wolverine

[ybing]

biggest regret of my life is my 2018 Elite Odyssey, so much stuff don't work... did they still put the brake hold switch under the hand brake level? Which you press it wrong will just lock up your wheels as you have to press it every time after your put it in P... magic sliding seat is just cool feature to show off, barely use it, and it had a big hump on the floor, you still need to tilt the seat forward for 3rd row access (unless you are kid)... Nav and infotainment system will randomly frozen up, if you have the lucky day you just need to turn off and open the door to restart it, otherwise like me at least once a month I need disconnect the battery to reboot it, and they are genius enough to use two different sizes of bolts to for positive and negative on the battery!!!! I can make a list of stuff that went wrong longer than this video...

[michaelwiebe]

Love the Odyssey, unfortunately not available here in Germany.