Ken1997TL

Very true. The basically made a stylish box, something few others have ever come close to.

F23A4

Sly and Legend pretty much summed it up. Unless you're a small child, that third row is fairly uncomfortable. Most times, we have ours folded in place and then used only for "incidental" purposes.

As small a minivan as my old 2000 Quest was, it's third row was more comfortable than my MDX.

Sarlacc

We have been using our 3rd row in the Highlander quite a bit with my dad in town working. Since the 2nd row slides forward it makes it pretty decent.

the 3rd row in MDX is pretty useless (and usually ranks as much in reviews)...I think the same with the Q7.

F23A4

Honestly, Acura might have been better served going the Murano route by dumping the third row altogether and moving the second row back an inch or two. (Of course it would probably have lost buyers seeking a "7 passenger" SUV. )

F23A4

UPDATE: while helping broker a deal on a new CRV for the mom inlaw, I sat in a 13 Ody EX-L today. A minivan just popped up my next car radar.

fsttyms1

Especially the EcoBoost awd version. Its most likely what ill be getting the wife. The room and functionality along with power is great.

007Acura

2014 Honda Odyssey set to clean up in NY

Much of the minivan segment's volume has been sucked up by the industry's ever-increasing appetite for crossovers, but a few major players are hanging in there, eager to serve as beasts of burden for America's families. Chief among those players is Honda, which is showing its revamped 2014 Odyssey at this week's New York Auto Show with a potential game-changing feature – an in-car vacuum.

Co-developed with Shop-Vac, the HondaVAC system will come standard on the range-topping Touring Elite model. The system includes a replaceable filter and canister bag, along with a range of attachments located in the cargo hold. Honda says this first-ever feature includes a hose that is long enough to clean the entire interior. Better still, the vacuum will run for up to eight minutes after the vehicle is turned off, so you can get every last Cheerio out of the seat cushions, and it never needs plugging in or recharging, as it runs off of the vehicle's electrical system.

In other news, the 2014 Odyssey gets a new aluminum hood and fenders to pair with its revamped grille and lower fascia. Headlamps get a more sinister look thanks to darker surrounds, and there are new LED taillamps out back, as well as revamped side mirrors on the doors. Underneath the skin, Honda says the 2014 Odyssey has received structural changes to help it ace the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety's new small-overlap frontal crash test, and it's also added active safety features like lane departure warning and forward collision warning to the optional features list.

Honda has chosen to make no mention of any drivetrain innovations, so we assume it will continue to be motivated by a 248-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 powering the front wheels.

Inside, existing Odyssey owners will note a revamped center stack and new trim finishes, along with available new features including pushbutton start, HondaLink cloud-based infotainment options with smartphone integration, HD radio and so on.

Us? We just want to go spill some things and try out that vacuum. In the meantime, sit tight, kids – we'll have live photos of the new Odyssey from its New York debut before you can finish sucking down that sippy cup.

Moog-Type-S

Will the next gen come with a toaster too?

H_CAR

That's genius!

dom

So no 6AT across the board or the 3.5 from the new Accord? But there's a vacuum.....perfect.

H_CAR

I thought it was mentioned that there was a 6AT and the 3.5 from the Accord already?

Edward'TLS

Many will prefer, instead, a wet/dry vacuum to suck up all the spill drinks and accidental pees left behind by all those kids, when going out for long family trips.

fsttyms1

If this is true, i think its stupid. But that is just my opinion.

007Acura

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uooAePLXoJA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

CCColtsicehockey

Looks boring. Yes I know it is a minivan. Still looks boring.

dom

That was the speculation. No mention of either of those in yesterday's announcement.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

godfather2

the vacuum is certainly a gimmik, but i'm willing to bet that it works ...

007Acura

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/S9YxOdvM5lY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite® Makes World Debut in New York with Host of Safety Upgrades and Innovations Including HondaVAC™, the First In-Car Vacuum

The segment's benchmark minivan cleans up with bevy of safety improvements, sleek new styling and intuitive, family-friendly technologies

The 2014 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite® is making its debut at the 2013 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), setting the new 'ultimate family vehicle' standard. Thoroughly refreshed for 2014, the Odyssey Touring Elite® provides core safety upgrades, sharpened exterior styling and a revised interior with a host of new features and technologies designed to make the segment's benchmark minivan even better.

Demonstrating trademark Honda innovation, the 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite® will also mark the debut of HondaVAC™, the first-ever in-vehicle vacuum system. Available exclusively in the Odyssey Touring Elite® trim, the all-new HondaVAC™ system is part of a thorough refresh of the Honda Odyssey for the 2014 model year, adding to its already class-leading fuel economy ratings and unmatched safety ratings. The 2014 Odyssey will go on sale at Honda dealerships nationwide this summer.

"The Odyssey is already the leader in its segment, and for 2014, Honda has made the modern family hauler even better," said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing operations at American Honda. "Honda is once again showcasing its reputation for innovation with HondaVAC, and its ability to provide true value to our customers."

The 2014 Honda Odyssey brings an array of improvements to Honda's minivan, including structural upgrades expected to help it achieve top marks in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's (IIHS) stringent new small-overlap frontal crash test, which is part of IIHS's new TOP SAFETY PICK+ protocol. The refreshed Odyssey Touring Elite® will also come equipped with advanced Honda driver assistive and visibility technologies such as an Expanded View Driver's Mirror, Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Lane Departure Warning (LDW).

The 2014 Odyssey features sleeker, more sophisticated exterior styling with a new, more deeply sculpted aluminum hood, new aluminum front fenders, a new bolder twin-bar grille, and a revised lower front fascia with integrated chrome-trimmed fog lights. New two-tone mirror housings, darker-finish projector-beam headlight housings, LED taillight bars and new badging add to the 2014 Odyssey's premium look.

Inside the 2014 Odyssey, new finishes brighten the cabin and an all-new center stack showcases a host of new features. Additional standard technology on the Odyssey Touring Elite® brings new levels of ease and connectivity to owners, including keyless Smart Entry with Push Button Start, HD Radio®, an SMS text messaging function, and HondaLink™ featuring Aha™ Mobile interface. HondaLink™, which debuted on the 2013 Honda Accord, enables Odyssey owners to connect quickly and easily to a wealth of cloud-based content. The free HondaLink™ smartphone app uses the owner's favorite online content to create live, personalized radio stations, allowing drivers to put away their phones and hear updates and news feeds from Facebook and Twitter, as well as check out restaurant reviews or find the closest coffee shop.

Standard on the 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite®, the all-new HondaVAC™ was developed in conjunction with industry-leader Shop-Vac®, and is composed of a powerful vacuum, replaceable filter and canister bag, with nozzle accessories neatly integrated into a dedicated space on the driver's side bulkhead of the rear cargo area. HondaVAC™ makes quick cleanups a snap no matter the location, offering powerful cleaning suction and an integrated hose and cleaning attachments that reach into every corner of the Odyssey's cabin. The HondaVAC™ system's powerful electric motor never needs an outlet or recharging, can operate continuously when the engine is running, and will continue to operate for up to eight minutes when the vehicle is turned off for additional family duties.

Already one of the most lauded vehicles in its segment, the current 2013 Odyssey has earned IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK and NHTSA 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score crash safety ratings. The Honda Odyssey is an AutoPacific Ideal Vehicle Award winner, an ALG Residual Value award winner, recipient of the Best Family Cars of 2012 designation from both Parents Magazine/Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com, and a Best Cars for Families award winner from U.S. News and World Report. The Odyssey represents Honda's robust product development capabilities in North America with its design, engineering and assembly all taking place in the U.S., using domestically and globally sourced parts. Currently, 95 percent of all Hondas sold in the U.S., are built in North America.

Along with the 2014 Odyssey Touring Elite® and Honda's complete lineup of fun-to-drive cars and trucks, the 2014 Accord Plug-In Hybrid and 2013 Fit EV also will be on display at the Honda booth during NYIAS press and public days. The 2014 Accord Plug-In and the fully-electric Honda Fit EV both recently became available in New York.

Moog-Type-S

I bet the vacuum sucks.

Nice move Honda....there already was a stigma about the mini-van being a mom-mobile....and now you threw a vacuum in it to prove the point.

03tLsNBP

iTrader: (9)

Why wouldn't the vacuum appeal to males too? Males tend to take better care of their car interiors. This would help out tremendously.

Moog-Type-S

...because vacuums are marketed at males more than females.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

:ibfourthgentlguysdovacuumswaps:

Costco

I think the vacuum is a nice touch. It's definitely appropriate in a minivan. The question is, how many people with the Touring package equipped will actually use it?

Moog-Type-S

Few. It's a gimmick.

Most will take their leased touring to the car wash where some guy vacuums the interior out.

They should have put a 6AT across the line-up instead of the vacuum gimmick.


...but then again the gimmick will probably work for the female demographic.

phile

They can always throw in a can of leather spray to man it up a lil bit.

TSX69

Honda Odyssey Gets High Marks on New IIHS Crash Test

The 2014 Honda Odyssey received the top rating on a stringent new crash test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety today, giving the updated minivan critical bragging rights with safety-oriented shoppers.

With its "good" rating on the so-called small overlap crash test, the Odyssey becomes the only minivan to win Top Safety Pick+ honors from IIHS, which shook up the industry last year when it started ranking vehicles on how well they withstand a crash simulating what happens when the left front corner of a vehicle strikes an object such as an oncoming car, a tree or a pole.

The rating is the payoff for a major investment by Honda. The automaker freshened the Odyssey for 2014 with a strengthened steel frame and more robust airbags rather than waiting until the next redesign a few years from now.

"Honda's commitment to safety is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that we achieved this high standard in a midcycle refresh," Art St. Cyr, vice president of product planning and logistics at American Honda Motor Co., said in a statement.

Honda now leads all automakers with 6 models to receive Top Safety Pick+ plaudits. The others are the 2013 Civic sedan and coupe, the 2013 Accord sedan and coupe, the 2013 Acura TL.

Toyota asks for tests

The company's engineering push began in earnest in 2009, when IIHS released research showing that an outsized number of deaths in car accidents were coming from these small overlap crashes.

In these accidents, the crash energy goes around the steel structures that crumple to cushion the blow of a crash. Airbags often do not function as intended. That much was clear from the Odyssey, which had its driver-side corner crumpled by the force of a crash test at the IIHS laboratory here, as Automotive News reported this month.

Honda took admirable steps to deal with the shortfalls, said Joe Nolan, vice president for vehicle research at IIHS.

"They've addressed those issues," Nolan said during an interview. "They've deployed a really generous side-curtain airbag that will keep the occupant's head from going outside the car. They've resisted intrusion with a really well-designed door frame.

"The driver stays centered on the airbag, so the restraint system is keeping him in his seat. All that works together to make the vehicle perform the way it does in any other frontal crash. And that's the holy grail."

Some other automakers have struggled, including Honda's archrival, Toyota. The 2013 Camry sedan received a "poor" rating on the test for the 2013 model year, as did the Prius V hybrid and RAV4 crossover.

However, the redesigned Scion tC coupe received Top Safety Pick+ honors this month. Toyota also has asked IIHS to test the Corolla, Prius, Highlander and Camry for the 2014 model year -- a sign that the company expects better ratings.

Pedestrians and motorcycles

Honda, meanwhile, is working on 2 other safety related initiatives. 1 is aimed at reducing crashes involving motorcycle riders and the other could help prevent pedestrian accidents.

In Detroit Wednesday, Honda engineers demonstrated a driver warning system that uses radio signals called dedicated short range communications, or DSRC.

A car with DSRC detects when a pedestrian carrying a DSRC-enabled smartphone is about to enter the roadway. The driver and the pedestrian get 2 warnings when they get too close to each other, a loud beeping sound and a visual alert via the screen in the vehicle and the smartphone screen.

The system designed for motorcycles uses DSRC to alert drivers when a motorcycle is nearby, even if it is out of view.

The DSRC system does not automatically apply the brakes or change the vehicle's direction -- only an audible and visual warning.

Said Jim Keller, Honda's senior manager for technology research: "The ultimate goal is a collision-free car."

dom

Will the power steering pump still need to be replaced every 2 years? I'm about to get #3.

<--- Tad bitter.

AZuser

Every 2 years?

Legend2TL

Agree, but Honda finally put the 6AT across all 2014 Ody.
Honda Welcome to the 2000's, now that it's 2013

http://automobiles.honda.com/odyssey...fications.aspx

oonowindoo

I really hope 6AT will transform the driving experience of this gen Oddy.

Our company's 2013 EXL, which i picked out and drive often is the most soul sucking, boring and annoying car i have ever driven.

Many people have questioned me if it is really a V6. It feels like someone shoved a potato in the exhaust and takes forever to merge onto the freeway.

I know it is a Minivan, but Sienna is SOOOOO much better to drive.

H_CAR

I'm about to get mine replaced in my 2011 at 30,000 miles

Wines like a *****

This is the exact opposite of what I picked up on when I drove the Sienna and Odyssey back to back. The Sienna drove a lot worse than the Odyssey.

Costco

^was it an SE?

I dunno about the Sienna but I found an SE Camry to be much better than an LE for example.

Legend2TL

+1 My sister-in-law just traded her Sienna in for a Explorer. I was never that impressed with it and Edmunds thought the Ody was better as well.

http://www.edmunds.com/toyota/sienna...ison-test.html

oonowindoo

Is yours the elite model? because Elite has 6AT. Never drove one.

Sienna SE is 100% better than 13 Oddy EX-L with Navi.

The van felt like it never wanted to get out of Eco mode.

oonowindoo

Try Oddy non Elite model and you will see.

Not that soccer moms would care but if i were to choose one as if it was the last 2 cars on this planet, i would prefer the Sienna SE with stiffer suspension and faster acceleration.

I bought the van based on my previous experience on the previous Gen Oddy, which was not bad at all.

H_CAR

Mines an EX-L NAVI. It's not a powerhouse and quite frankly the 2004 I had before was a better drive, but the new one is a lot more refined. I don't think it ever really feels sluggish. Never drove an SE, but it's not fair to compare the SE (Which is completely sport oriented) to the regular Odyssey.

The SE Sienna looks retarded in my opinion any way

The interior was the deal breaker and the regular Sienna's are way too bouncy and soft.

Legend2TL

One of our friends replaced their 3G Ody with a 4G (2012?) Touring package. Was perfectly fine to me on a road trip we took up to Hershey Park last month, plenty of comfort, rides nice, quiet. Didn't do any slalom runs

My sister-in-laws Sienna was very nice in comfort but had more teething problems (almost all under warranty) than a Toyota should have.

Edward'TLS

Looks like the Odyssey need extended factory warranty, just like for the German makes.

Moog-Type-S

http://www.leftlanenews.com/volvo-re...RCvZT1fX0OL.99