2020 Honda Odyssey Road Test and Review

You can’t beat a minivan when it comes to comfort, utility, safety, and value in a family-sized vehicle. And among minivans, the 2020 Honda Odyssey is a favorite for a multitude of reasons.

What makes the Odyssey appealing is a strong showing across a broad cross-section of evaluation metrics. Competitors from Chrysler, Kia, and Toyota all offer exclusive features unavailable on the Honda, but each is also flawed in a way that can turn potential buyers off. That’s where the Honda, which offers a handful of exclusives of its own, draws in minivan fans, delivering high customer satisfaction across the board. With family visiting from out of state to celebrate the holidays, I needed something that could comfortably carry eight people. Wishing to avoid a gas-guzzling full-size SUV that would be hard for my elderly parents to climb into, I elected to examine a minivan, and specifically the 2020 Odyssey, which proved even more impressive when used in exactly the way its maker intends.

It’s been 25 years since the first Honda Odyssey went on sale, so the automaker is celebrating with a couple of rather garish 25th Anniversary Edition option packages that add a bunch of unnecessary chrome trim to the minivan.

My Odyssey Elite test vehicle had the lower-priced 25th Anniversary package, keeping a $50,000 lid on pricing. The test vehicle cost $49,915, including the $1,095 destination charge to get it from the Lincoln, Alabama factory to the dealership. Yeah, that’s expensive for a minivan. The good news is that you don’t need to pay this much to get into an Odyssey. Lower trim levels include LX, EX, EX-L, and Touring. The base price for the Odyssey LX is $31,785, but you’re going to want to upgrade to EX trim ($35,785) at a minimum in order to get standard Honda Sensing safety technology and the better infotainment system. Your ticket to leather seats is the EX-L ($39,055), while Touring ($46,055) includes a slew of infotainment and convenience upgrades.

All minivans are shaped like a shoebox with an angled nose attached. They look this way in order to maximize the amount of space inside, and there isn’t much that designers can do to bring a sense of style to one.

Honda tries. From the kinked beltline where the sliding doors meet the rear fenders to the boomerangs stamped into the Odyssey’s flanks, this minivan looks different from all of the others. Add Honda’s signature chrome bar grille and the Elite’s spiffy 19-inch wheels, and you might find the Odyssey genuinely appealing. From certain angles, anyway. Once you climb inside you forget about the looks. Especially in higher trim levels with gray or beige leather, the Odyssey takes on an upscale appearance. Of course, plastic panels are the rule rather than the exception in order to make clean-up easier. And when you use a minivan for shuttling family and pets, cleaning up is a constant chore.

One of my favorite things about the 2020 Honda Odyssey is seat comfort. Though the front passenger’s seat lacks height adjustment, every outboard seat in the house easily accommodates a 6-foot-tall adult in plush, supportive, soothing comfort. Center seat positions in the second and third rows are not quite as accommodating but are perfect for children.

While the Magic Slide second-row seat design requires complete removal in order to maximize cargo space, you can’t argue with multiple ways to configure the arrangement. This includes a setup that moves both outboard seats toward each other, placing your kids as close to the safe center of the vehicle as possible. Behind the third-row seat, a cargo well holds up to 32.8 cubic feet of space if you stack items to the roof (which you won’t, unless you want everything to fall out when you open the liftgate). Fold the third-row seats into the well to create up to 89.2 cubic feet. Remove the second-row chairs to maximize volume at up to 144.9 cubic feet.

In order to get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in a 2020 Honda Odyssey, you need to get the EX trim or higher. That’s because it comes with the upgraded 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which also equips the minivan with HD Radio, satellite radio, CabinControl smartphone accessibility, a quick-charge USB port, and more.

My Elite test vehicle had the top version of this system, with an 11-speaker premium sound system, Wi-Fi, wireless smartphone charging, navigation, and a full complement of HondaLink subscription services. Add a 10.2-inch rear entertainment screen with a Blu-ray disc player, a CabinTalk parent announcement feature, and a CabinWatch camera, and my test Odyssey kept everyone entertained at all times. All that’s missing is a radio tuning knob. Meanwhile, if you’re the tidy type, you’ll love the HondaVAC that comes in the Touring and Elite trims. It’s a built-in vacuum, a Honda innovation that Chrysler has copied. And it works well, as I learned first-hand.

Another reason to upgrade to the EX or higher is Honda Sensing. This collection of advanced driving assistance systems is not offered on the base Odyssey LX, but it comes standard on all other trim levels. Honda Sensing includes adaptive cruise control, a forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, a lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and road departure mitigation. That latter feature is designed to help keep the Odyssey on the pavement if the system determines that an unplanned off-roading excursion is about to take place.

While effective, the Odyssey’s Honda Sensing technologies lack refinement. The adaptive cruise control brakes unevenly and responds slowly to changing traffic conditions. The lane-departure warning system also had trouble recognizing situations where one lane becomes two, or two lanes become one. Fortunately, based on crash-test ratings, if a collision is unavoidable, rest assured this minivan will do a good job of protecting you and your loved ones.

Honda offers one powertrain for the 2020 Odyssey: a 3.5-liter V6 with a 10-speed automatic transmission. The transmission drives the front wheels, features grade-logic control for superior performance on hilly terrain, and offers paddle shifters that are useful for adding engine braking while driving in the mountains. Econ, Sport, and Snow driving modes are available, tailoring powertrain response accordingly. All-wheel drive is not available for the Odyssey.

Making a robust 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque, the V6 provides spirited acceleration with just a driver aboard. When there is a butt in every seat, the Odyssey shrugs off the extra weight and continues to merge onto fast-flowing freeways or power up and over mountain ranges with authority. Variable Cylinder Management and an engine stop/start system aim to maximize fuel economy, and over the course of a week of driving, the test vehicle averaged 22.2 mpg. That’s a little better than the official EPA rating of 22 mpg in combined driving.

Like any Honda, the Odyssey has a firm, controlled ride that provides a good feel for the road and unexpected athleticism in corners and curves — especially with the Elite’s upgraded 19-inch wheels and tires. The steering is accurate and precise if not fast and immediate, and in most driving situations the brakes work beautifully.

Add weight, and the Odyssey’s ride quality gets smoother and softer but remains confidence-inspiring and secure. While running myself and seven passengers over the Santa Monica Mountains, however, the brakes quickly began to heat and grumble. At this point, I activated the transmission’s paddle shifters to use engine braking while descending from approximately 1,800 feet to sea level in a matter of a few miles. After the week’s final airport shuttle run, I put the Odyssey through its paces, heading north from LAX through Venice, Santa Monica, and Malibu. In the city, on Pacific Coast Highway, and on the writhing ribbons of road inland from the coast, the Odyssey proved remarkably enjoyable to drive. And not just “for a minivan.”

If you’re a fan of the minivan, you know the Odyssey competes against several credible competitors. The Chrysler Pacifica and bargain-bin Chrysler Voyager are typically discounted by thousands, offer unique features like Stow N’ Go second-row seats and a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and have a distinctive sense of style. The Kia Sedona is an older design, but it represents exceptional value in multiple ways. From its low price and long warranty to its Slide-N-Stow seats and stain-resistant fabric, it’s a compelling alternative to the Odyssey. The Toyota Sienna’s design is a decade old, and it shows in terms of crash-test results. But if you want a minivan with all-wheel drive, it’s your only choice until the Pacifica adds that as an option.

Against this quartet of alternatives, the 2020 Odyssey is easily competitive from a product standpoint. But it’s more expensive than the Chrysler Voyager and the Kia Sedona, which stand ready to capably serve families on tighter budgets.

If I’m spending my own money on a minivan, the 2020 Honda Odyssey is my choice, in EX-L trim. That’s the sweet spot within in the lineup, where simplicity, safety, comfort, and available technology intersect, and with a hint of luxury thanks to the leather seats. Add the optional Navigation and Rear Seat Entertainment System option package, and the price is basically $40,000.

Moreover, living with a minivan just makes everything easier. The Odyssey is easy to get into and out of, easy to load and unload, easy and pleasurable to drive, and easy to use thanks to intuitive controls and generous storage throughout. And don’t we all want life to be easier?