2007 Honda Odyssey Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Style is not a minivan’s reason for existence. Utility is the point, so the design maximizes interior volume at the expense of styling appeal.

As minivans go, the Odyssey’s conservative and cohesive appearance falls somewhere between the surprisingly sleek Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan and the comparatively drab Toyota Sienna. The futuristic Nissan Quest is something else entirely, and the misshapen quartet of vans from General Motors (Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, Pontiac Montana SV6, Saturn Relay) ought to be taken out to the back of the barn and put out of their misery.

Inside, you’ll find an emphasis on function rather than form. Front-seat occupants face a layered dashboard design, with a black upper section and lower panels that match the seats. A silver band of trim separates them, and Honda’s traditional no-nonsense instrumentation and controls are logically located, if a bit hard to reach.

Honda also places the transmission lever on the dashboard, located close to the driver for easy access. Unfortunately, it can get in the way when reaching for the stereo and climate controls.

Making 244 horsepower, the Odyssey’s smooth-revving 3.5-litre VTEC V6 engine is a gem, powering a front-wheel drive (FWD) drivetrain through a five-speed automatic transmission with power specs of 244 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque. Choose EX-L or Touring trim, and it comes with Variable Cylinder Management (VCM), which shuts down three of the engine’s six cylinders under specific driving conditions in order to save gas. The VCM system improves fuel economy from 13.3 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving and 8.5 on the highway to 12.7 city and 8.2 highway.

Riding on a four-wheel-independent suspension, the 2007 Odyssey demonstrates the typical driving characteristics that can bring joy to any Honda owner’s face. Though it weighs more than 2,000 kilograms (4,400 pounds) in most trims, it doesn’t feel heavy from behind the new tilt/telescopic steering wheel. Instead, it feels responsive to inputs, supple in terms of ride, and athletic when it comes to handling. For a minivan, of course.

There is some room for improvement, though. First, the brakes warm easily, so when you’re driving in the mountains with lots of people or cargo aboard, they can quickly heat, grumble, and even shudder a bit. Second, Touring trim comes with a tauter suspension. This degrades the ride to some degree, but it also enhances the handling.

When it comes to the features people want in a minivan, the 2007 Honda Odyssey checks all of the boxes… and then some.

Every trim level except for the base LX offers eight-passenger seating. Credit the handy PlusOne seat between the two second-row captain’s chairs. You can use it for a person, you can fold it for a table, or you can remove and store it to create a pass-through to the third-row seat. When it’s stored, you can even slide the two captain’s chairs together, placing occupants further away from the sliding doors and in a safer spot during a side-impact collision.

The PlusOne seat stows in a compartment under the floor in the Odyssey’s second row. When the seat isn’t placed there, the compartment features a Lazy Susan method of storage in the Touring trim. Up front, the Odyssey includes dual glove compartments ahead of the front passenger and numerous other storage bins and trays. In back, a storage well behind the third-row seat holds all manner of sporting equipment, and it won’t roll out the moment you open the rear liftgate.

Cargo space behind the third-row seat measures 1,087 litres. You’ll need to empty the well to make more space, though, because the third-row Magic Seat tumbles into that location in order to open up 2,579 litres of space behind the second row. Maximum volume with the second-row seats removed measures 4,174 litres.

The Honda Odyssey LX has everything you need—including cruise control, air conditioning, 16-inch alloy wheels, power windows, and power door locks with keyless entry—unless your needs include power sliding doors, a power driver’s seat, and second-row window sunshades. Those come standard on the Odyssey EX. Or, you can choose the Honda Odyssey EX-L trim for leather seats, heated front seats, power sunroof, and available rear entertainment. The Honda Odyssey Touring trim supplies triple-zone automatic climate control, a power rear tailgate, power-adjustable pedals, and more.

There is no shortage of entertainment features aboard a 2007 Honda Odyssey, but you’ll need to upgrade to a higher trim level in order to access them.

At the base LX trim level, the Odyssey includes a four-speaker stereo and a CD player. The popular Odyssey EX adds a couple of extra speakers along with a six-disc in-dash CD changer. A rear-seat entertainment system with a DVD player is also available for the EX-L, while a moonroof is included with this model. Touring trim includes all of that, plus triple-zone automatic climate control, front and rear parking sensors, a 115-volt household-style power outlet, and more. A navigation system with voice recognition is also included for the Touring trim, and it adds a rearview camera that shows the driver what’s behind the Odyssey when the van is in reverse gear.

What you can’t get with the Odyssey is Bluetooth, a cell phone pairing technology that allows the driver to accept and make phone calls without holding onto the phone.

Lately, Honda builds its vehicles around what it calls an Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) vehicle architecture, and the 2007 Honda Odyssey is no different. Honda says ACE helps to deflect crash energy away from the cabin, and, by extension, the people seated within it.

Additionally, the Odyssey includes a long list of standard safety equipment. Front, front side-impact, and side curtain airbags with a vehicle rollover sensor for all three rows are on that list, along with antilock brakes, traction control, and stability control.

If you lose control and a collision occurs, rest assured the Odyssey will do its best to protect you. The minivan receives Good crash-test ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the moderate offset frontal-impact and side-impact assessments. The IIHS assigns a Marginal rating for the Odyssey’s head restraints and seats, though.

In tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Odyssey earns five-star ratings across the board except for rollover resistance. In that test, it gets a four-star rating.

Especially in the Touring model, a 2007 Honda Odyssey isn’t inexpensive. The company commands a premium for this model, but it does so for good reason. Safe and sophisticated, roomy and useful, comfortable and enjoyable to drive, and equipped with a well-earned reputation for reliability, the Honda Odyssey represents something close to minivan perfection.

Note: Images show a US model.