2021 Honda Odyssey review: Better than the new Kia Carnival?

The Honda Odyssey is synonymous with the people mover segment. But, we haven't really heard much from Honda lately in terms of the Odyssey. So does the latest update bring with it enough competition to take down the all-new Kia Carnival? Paul Maric gets behind the wheel to find out!

Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
Exterior 00:53
Interior 02:24
Infotainment 03:41
Safety Tech 05:05
Practicality 05:58
On the road 13:13
Verdict 18:03

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CarExpert:

Paul Maric:

#honda #review #odyssey

[rokeyakhatun]

Congrats to Paul🎉
He had become a father 2 weeks ago

[cvzn]

That 3rd gen Odyssey is one of the all time great designs for a "regular" car. So far ahead of its time and still looks great today.

[darrenexcell]

In the absence of space/provision for a full sized spare, it begs the question of where to put your punctured wheel if you need to change for your spare whilst out on the road carrying people/things

[Schlabbeflicker]

Lack of center console can be used to store exceptionally long items between the front seats (like skis) or to grant access to the rear seats while driving in case the front passenger needs to wrangle a child. It's nice to have a few vehicles that still offer open space.

[pearljamrock]

The lack of sensors and USB in the back is ridiculous. So frustrating.

[jonathenschwartz]

This honda is comparatively compact, and holds all the passenger in a descent luxury and clean finish. Soo much practicality and well designed. Easy to drive and Soo smooth.

[kumarshankarchandran]

@paul 13:00 the spare tyre in Carnival in on the driver side and not passenger side.

Here are the reasons why I bought a Carnival over odyssey:
1. No iso or top tether points in the 3rd row
2. Only 2 front speakers for the car, that’s absurd for a top end
3. No front parking sensor
4. Servicing intervals at 10k

[andrewmihaleff]

Late to the party here but regarding the captain's chairs... the reason for the sideways movement is to get them past the wheel arches. If you fold the third row down, you can send the captain's chairs WAY back.

Toyota's minivans (Estima, Alphard) also have this feature.

[SE-gmsr]

I never thought I'd see a day when a car is compared to a Kia as the benchmark. Especially the Carnival 😂

[joeyl]

Thanks! Another great review made my Paul as always. Watch your show every time, really enjoyed it!

As an Odyssey owner, I have some personal experience to share. I had the old 2020 VTI-L. The new one doesn’t have a 360 camera and footrest, which is not handy for me. Besides, the Aussie market only gets the lowest spec of Odyssey from Japan( their cheapest model has parking sensors and 360 camera as standard)… what a shame... These functions are super helpful in school time to pick up and drop off.

Space is one of the best features of Odyssey. I generally use the Odyssey as a four-seater (with the third row fold down). Therefore, the two captain seats can be set way back to enlarge the second row room. By doing that, there is huge room for kids and my elder parents to get in and out the car easily witou climbing those big SUV's. They can also enjoy the footrest and huge headroom during long distance driving.

In terms of the engine, not sure why Honda insists on using this old 2.4 engine ( There used to be a better Earthdream 2.4L engine in the Chinese market with more horsepower and more torque). Not sure why Honda not adapting that one on these Odyssey's. Frankly speaking, this old 2.4L engine (225NM) is fairly adequate for daily driving. Most of the Odyssey buyers only using this car on daily family commuting which therefore it is quite enough. KIA's petrol engine is much more thirsty than this and it is not quite sufficient in urban driving environments. I took 5 adults and 2 kids to Snowy mountain and carried several pieces of luggage, the car still rides really well. In my experience, using the paddle shift to actively engaging the gear-changing process will help your driving experience much smoother.


The only two downsides I would complain about with an Odyssey are NVH and harsh suspension As this Odyssey is designed for the Japanese local market which has very good road condition. Therefore, the ride is pretty stiffy and hard on our Australian stone chip roads. Therefore, noise is a big problem. The new model with the new wheel has a new noise-reduction technology on it which should change the game. Besides, all the windows now come with double glazed windows which could also largely reduce the noise than the old model.

To sum up, if you have a limited budget ($55000 ) and looking for a car that can sometimes carry 7 people without letting anyone feeling tired onboard, Odyssey is a very good choice for you. If you have a higher budget, I do think KIA Carnival Platinum will be a very wise choice.

[clb]

Thanks Paul for the detailed review. I have been waiting for someone in Australia to do this particular Odyssey review.
One thing you missed on one additional feature for the new 2021 upgrade - is the kick sensor for the boot to open automatically.

[misssummersalt]

No parking sensors in a car of that size, with the purpose of carrying lots of people around, is an absolute crime. Honda ought to be ashamed of themselves for such a damning omission.

[MrZiploc]

I will go with the Carnival at this time.

[X-TATE]

Proper family cars don't have a centre console for free interchanging of seats from front to back. Those features are mainly for driver-oriented user experience with limited accessory ports and ventilation which isn't an issue with family sized vehicles like Odyssey

[davefrommelbourne]

I drive a 2020 Odyssey model (previous to this one) I’m still dumbfounded as to why they still haven’t included the middle console and why they eliminated the multiple USB and HDMI ports from the last one? Power on takeoff seems ordinary so that’s disappointing. What I do like are the second row captains chairs.

[wosamosman]

I wish Honda brought the Stepwagon here .
Specially the hybrid variants .

[rolandkettle]

I have a 2017 Odyssey L and it looks like the 2021 has skimped on some features, like foot rests in second row and and the infotainment camera capability is not 360’ like mine. The front finish with extra glove compartment is substandard compared to mine and mine is the same 2.4 with 140kw of power. So I wonder why they have adjusted the Kw output. Regards Roland

[kenankanjo]

Hi Paul
When do you think you can get The new Toyota kloger
I’m very excited to know about it

[domc]

Great review Paul! I wonder if you are going to review the new Hyundai Staria?

[henrybrar]

Damn this version is such scaled down compared to what Honda offers in the US.