Car buyers are very rarely rational when they decide which vehicle to buy. If you want a proof of that, compare the sales of minivans to the sales of SUVs. In a situation when you need a vehicle to haul a large number of people day to day, and you do not have a large towing needs, the minivan is a sure thing for you. But despite that, the SUVs take up a third of sales in the US while less than 600.000 minivans were neatly parked in the America’s garages in 2016. It seems that the trends are slightly shifting toward minivan market and the Chrysler saw that first introducing its Pacifica in 2016. Honda, on the other hand, is trying to counter them with the 2018 Odyssey shown at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
2018 Honda Odyssey – All New
Although the 2018 Honda Odyssey is all-new, it is very likely that you will instantly recognize it thanks to the continued usage of the signature lightning bolt line along the lower edge of the side glass. This signature line was retained for its looks and practicality because it allowed a more open feeling in the back end and much more visibility for the third row of passengers. But that was on the old model, and besides the signature line, the new one brings some notable design changes that come in the form of flowing character lines along the sides of the vehicle that give the sheet-metal more life. Plus we are getting black segments on the D-pillars that create the impression of a floating roof. These last features that give out the impression of the floating roof are OK, but it is in a way a copy-paste thing since many of the automakers (like Lexus and Nissan) used it on their recently introduced vehicles.
2018 Honda Odyssey Interior
The interior of the 2018 Honda Odyssey is really packed with advanced tech, and for a minivan, it has truly stepped up the game. Inside you will find the newest version of Honda’s touch screen display which has grown to 8 inches and received a redesigned interface. Right beside it, we have a rotary volume knob like the one on the recently launched 2017 CR-V.
One more neat addition can be found inside, and it is the Magic Slide seats in the second row which allow the middle section to be removed while the two outboard seats can be slid sideways. This way it is a lot simpler to move to the third row, whether from the either sides or the middle. When these seats are moved to one of the sides, the one in the middle can slide forward so that a parent in the front can have their young one in a child seat, closer to them.
Japanese car maker went all out with the 2018 Honda Odyssey by adding the new CabinWatch system which stretches several steps beyond the wide-angle mirrors that are often provided to monitor kids in the back. There is also a camera mounted above the second row of seats which will allow the driver and passengers in the second row to monitor what is going on behind their back on the infotainment screen. During the night you will have a luxury of an infrared mode which will let you check on your sleeping kids during a long road trip.
