mrmako

Well, this showed up in my driveway after the wife took the Odyssey to the dealer for it's JCI (mandatory insurance/inspection).

Cliffs: Decent city commuter with good interior room. The battery / motor engagement takes getting used to. Excellent fuel economy. Got about 30 mpg city driving.



Driving: Well, not a whole lot happens when you hit the accelerator. I guess this is livable for those that want a battery/gasoline car. From a stop, you'll feel a "slip" as it changes from battery to gas. It should suffice as a simple to/from work transportation. No sporting pretense what so ever.

The steering is about as expected in a thin tire, slightly high centered vehicle. not much in the way of communication, but it's alright around town.

Brakes: As a regenerative system, the brakes charge the battery, and you will always feel the disconnect of the motor from the drive train. Also, you will feel this when it switches from gas engine to battery in ECON mode.

Interior: good amount of room for a car like this. The front seat area has the extended (vertical) roofline, which makes for good headroom. The gauges and switches are simple and Honda efficient. There's a display in the center that goes through different ways you can watch your energy savings. So a nice distraction while you get t-boned for not watching the road

Visibility: Similar to a minivan with the extended A pillar, but pretty good. The rear windows definitely need a Rain-X treatment, and the flatness of the top window is something to get used to. I apologize, as I didn't get a photo of the split rear window.

Utility: The rear seat is a 60/40 split fold down, and that makes this a decently useful area. The batteries are below the rear floor. The small door in the deck leads to a small foam storage bin. Also the jack is located there. Under that foam is the battery case. It seems Honda placed it well away from the rear so a collision would not upset the system.

Overall: Very fuel efficient, decent room for two to four people. This should be a nice city commuter car. But I wouldn't own one.


**Note** Newspapers on the floorboards is an attempt to keep the car clean, not our family disarray

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Nice write up! I really like the interior. I just wish it wasn't so Prius-ish in it's exterior design.

neuronbob

Thanks for the review. Nice job!

TheMirror

Thanks for the report mako. Its fun to hear about stuff over there.

mrmako

Is Honda bringing this to the US?

PortlandRL

It's been here and mistaken for Priuses countless times since last summer or so.

CocheseUGA

Nice little write-up. I like the car, personally. I just wish we'd get on a technology to allow us to store hydrogen effectively so the FCX could take off.

majin ssj eric

I have an irrational hatred of this car. Everytime I see one it pisses me off...

Nice write up though!

CocheseUGA

I always thought it (and the Prius) looked like a 4-door CRX.

Will Y.

It's been here for a year-- LHD, though .
I rode in one to go to lunch several weeks ago. The car seems to have decent interior space, but I did not come away with any other impressions of it.

iTimmy

I looked into picking up an insight when I picked up the Si, I knew it was going to be more vanilla, which was ok, but they wouldn't budge off MSRP and they would discount the Si fairly well so it made the decision an easy one.

1StGenCL

Nice write up, like the blue headlights

Reminds me of my ex's prius inside and out

TL_Captain

I see 1 battery under the hood for the gas engine and 1 in the trunk for electric motor. Instead of 2, why doesn't Honda use just 1 large battery?

2 batteries for better weight distribution?

ThermonMermon

nice! this is currently my favorite honda fascia. the two toned bumper and blue headlights are stunning.

not sure how i feel about the interior and the obtrusive "pod" controls. BTW, that radio looks like garbage by american standards, but maybe its just the looks of it.

mrmako

It looks like a cheap piece, but it's really a Kenwood or Pioneer unit. Gathers (the name on top) is Honda's aftermarket name for their stereo's here. It has a USB connector on the front panel and will play MP3/WMA files.

And for the batteries, NFI mate. It could be, if the big one fails, the car will still start and run. My guess.

CocheseUGA

That would be my guess, along with the fact you don't want to deplete your drive battery by having to start off of it.

vas25tl

Where are the pics of the Ody?!?!?!

Moog-Type-S

Why get this when you can get a Fit/jazz?

mrmako

I haven't forgotten. Just been busy...It'll be a new thread, I promise.