Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Officially Official: 2011 Honda Odyssey prepares to rock your sippy cups [w/video]

When Honda pulled the wraps off of its Odyssey Concept at this year's Chicago Auto Show, we knew it was just a few small tweaks away from being production-ready. Well, four months later, the official details and images have been released, and while the 2011 Odyssey doesn't go a long way in offering fantastic new innovations for the minivan segment, it packages the whole thing together in what might be the best-looking minivan we have yet to see.

The 2011 Odyssey is lower and wider than the outgoing model, and features what Honda is calling a "lightning bolt" beltline, a feature that was present on the concept van that we saw in Chicago. We aren't sure if we're in love with that quirky design element, but one thing's for sure, you won't see the origami fold and stepped greenhouse on any other minivan in the shopping mall parking lot. Other new features for the 2011 model year include available HID headlamps up front, new 18-inch alloy wheels, larger 12.6-inch ventilated front disc brakes, revised side mirrors and a power tailgate. Honda has yet to release full performance specs, but we do know that there's a 3.5-liter i-VTEC V6 under the hood, and early estimates state that the top-trim Odyssey Touring Elite should achieve 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg(!) on the highway.

Inside, Honda has made the most of the Odyssey's extra width, offering an additional inch of shoulder room in the front row. What's most interesting, though, are the three second-row seat configurations, including an all-new wide mode which allows the two side captains chairs to be pulled away from the center seat, meaning three child car seats can fit all across one row. Again, the Odyssey hasn't really done anything innovative with its interior packaging, but new features like a chilled cool box in the front center console, HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) input, 16.2-inch widescreen entertainment system, 15 upholders and a trash bag holder (yep!) will make the cabin more attractive to consumers who need one heck of an all-around family hauler.

We'll have more details on the Odyssey's underpinnings in the future, but for now, hit the jump to not only read Honda's press release, but to see videos of the new Odyssey in action. A full gallery of high-res images is yours for the clicking below.

Gallery:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-honda-odyssey/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB8Vi...ayer_embedded#!

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/17/2...minivan-video/

GFerg

What the **** is that!???

LMAO @ Honda.

ecr527

I like the interior and having an HDMI is a nice touch. I don't know about the lightning bolt sides though. Because of it, they have no choice but to make the side door tracks fully exposed instead of getting them to blend in with the rear glass as other models have.

From a styling standpoint, I think Daddy like the new Previa better.

BrickHead

OMG, that has to be one of the ugliest mini vans I have ever seen. What's Honda thinking??

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Nail in the coffin.

The concept was promising but this is just HILARIOUS!!!!!! Honda is absolutely off the deep end.

(Cj)

Agreed.

Honda/Acura now have the most ugly offensive lineup in the industry

caddyowner

The back end looks poorly glued on.

(Cj)

The whole thing looks like it came together in a train wreck...

<VENOM>

I had to look at the Sienna cause before this I always took for granted how the doors slide open

-J-P-L-

What in god's name is going on at Honda?

It looks like they glued 3 different vehicles together.

The zig-zag belt line is a disaster of an idea. And as pointed out, reveals the ugly door track on an already busy surface. The front end is decent and the interior is nice but it can save this.

It's why I'm afraid of what the all important next Civic will look like. If Honda uses their ugly stick on that, it's going to be really bad for Honda.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

The Sienna just started looking sooooo much better.

-J-P-L-

Hell, taking a Caravan over this is a no-brainer. Sad.

MoogieBoogie

Honda needs to start going back to boring, conservative. They were good at that. Their "edgey" designs are just ugly.

Faymester

Yea, huge disjoint at the end of the back door whhyyy?

eyezack87

iTrader: (4)

I'll take my swagger wagon thank you very much!

Its like the back end was an afterthought, like they realized they needed to add more windows or something...