damn straight. This is what I had to ride in as a kid.



A comedian who's name escapes me said it best... "the kids that rode in the rear-facing third row seat had a whole different vacation than the rest of us"

 

As a 3G Odyssey ex-owner, the new Sienna wins all around over the new Odyssey,

Hands down in everything, design first.

 

I rolled around in the back of my parents Gran Torino station wagon...no flip up rear seat either....just sat in the cargo area when there were a lot of people in the wagon.

You were in for a ride/flight when dad had to brake hard.

Good times!

 

because of the lower height and such, kinda harder to fit stuff under there especially with how much closer it sits to the ground then say the mdx (also remember the flat floor, vs a tranny tunnel)

you could re engineer stuff the body to make it work, but then again honda still has never offered a V8 for sale (and it is a smaller market for the awd system, so not as profitable to develop and sell [basically lower third of the country does not even need to think about it, where further north it would be more of an advantage)

 

Moog, did it have the crank down rear window?

 

I'm not in love with either the Odyssey or the Sienna. At first, I thought the Sienna looked ok, but the more I see it, the more I don't like it. Just looks really weird to me, especially that stupid huge empty space where a grille should be. When the pics first came out of the Oddy, I thought it looked horrid, but seeing the tv commercials now, it doesn't look half bad. Haven't seen one in person yet though, so I don't know if my opinion will change.

I'd rather get an MDX, although there is a price to pay for that option. I guess sometimes you just gotta suck it up and take one for the team when you have a family to cart around. Luckily, I do not....yet.

 

LOL @ the 3rd row in the wagons. I, too, had many good times in the rear of our Chevy wagon (the name escapes me right now).

 

Too bad the JDM version is not sold in the USA. Here's the catalog link (yes, it's in Japanese) but it's a .pdf file.

http://www.honda.co.jp/ODYSSEY/pdf/odyssey_catalog_type.pdf

And they offer AWD on these models. Either a front drive w/CVT or AWD and a 5EAT.

 

Swagger wagon FTW

 

I remember one time while on a vacation road trip my dad slammed the "tailgate" and shattered the rear window all over us kids sitting in the rear "cargo" area.


Looked like this (not the actual car I rode in)

Same color and same craptastic fake..slowly peeling off piece by piece...wood siding.

We also had some wicked curb feelers on it too! (so my mom would stop rubbing the tires against the curbs and knocking out the alignment)...besides we would not want to scratch those hub caps either. :wink:

 

@ Moog's childhood.

I rode in the back (bed) of a 70's something F-150 more than a few times.

 

 

How dare you laugh at my childhood!!!!

 

the sienna looks pretty bad ass

 

 

indeed..., you could easily fit a bed in the back along with some shag carpet

 

I think Nissan may have passed honda too:

http://www.nissanusa.com/microsite/quest/2011/

 

shit that new Quest looks nice

 

X2 the 2nd row of Sienna seats are amazing!

 

barely....it's a bit boxy, but better than the Oddy.

The Sienna is still the winner.

 

If they could just change the lower window line from the 2nd to 3rd window it'd look nice for a minivan.

 

I'd rather have an Ody.

 

Seems like the next gen Quest is like the current and previous models. Great seating room but no rear cargo. If you have two kids it's fine, but with 3 you have literally no rear cargo room.

 

60/40 rear seat. Looks fine.

 

I find these minivans a bit too much for a family with only 2 kids. A family sedan should do you just fine, if not, then there's the Mazda5 or a bunch of station wagons.

Talking from a practicality standpoint, minivans are overkill IMO. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part it's not necessary.

My family of four survived fine in a Cavalier

I wish there was more of a market for the mini-minivans. Cars the size of the Mazda5, 1G Odyssey, that freak Nissan thing from the late '80s, etc.

 

SUBARU FTW, with their standard awd, and availability of an turbo (not so much anymore though )

 

damn ... that is so tight in a minivan!

 

I like the window line as it is. it's the side tracks.

they don't even need to get rid of it, just make it slimmer (compare it to the '10 odyssey and the tracks are slimmer) and don't let it run all the way to the rear of the car, like on the '10 Ody