The Honda Odyssey was completely unknown to me and I was gobsmacked when I first slid back the rear doors to find gold-class cinema-style seats, complete with footrests, in the second row!! I was eager to put it through our BabyDrive testing to see how family friendly these seats and the rest of the vehicle really is!
The Odyssey is very aptly named! It felt spaceship-like to be in and just otherworldly really!! Unlike any other car I've driven it had a gangway that went the length of the interior, two individual arm-chair style seats in the second row and a row of three in the third row. The second-row seats could be moved forwards and backwards in more interior space than most city apartments have! The seats reclined all the way to flat, have footrests, slide outwards to create the gangway and inwards to join them together.
There is ISOFix in the two second-row seats, but they are not within plastic guides, they have the seat upholstery fabric concealing them and I found it difficult to part the fabric with one hand while connecting them with the other while managing the child seat as well!
There are top tether anchor points right at the bottom of both second-row seat backs, I found I needed an extension strap for the rear-facing child seat.
There were two top tether anchor points for the outer seats in the third-row model I tested, but no ISOFix. The top tethers were not on the seat backs but on the lip of the boot opening, which caused the tether straps to go across the boot space which is not a practical design at all.
I managed to install two big child seats in the back there, I did struggle a little to post them in and out through the doors and folded forward seats though.
I was able to install four child seats in the Odyssey which was great.
The amount the second-row seats could slide meant that I was able to climb in around the installed child seats to access the third-row seats and the gangway makes accessing all the seats really easy too.
Legroom is fantastic in the Odyssey, with a rear-facing child seat installed in the second row you can distribute the legroom to 25cm each in both the front and third rows.
Storage in the Odyssey is, well… odd too! There is no central console storage box because of the gangway. The central console moves up and down and the two cup holders it has are not easy to use.
In the front it is all very minimal, in the second row there is very little, there is a cup holder in each the door that replaces door bins and then there is a bottle holder in each chair.
In the third row, there is a square cup holder on each side and a 12V socket on the left.
Although the boot looked small I could only get six shopping bags in there, which is four less than in the Kia Carnival and the Infiniti QX80, two fewer bags than the Nissan Pathfinder and one less than the Mazda CX-9. The trough shape boot worked really well to stand strollers up in with shopping bags beside them.
When I was only using five seats the third-row seats collapsed into the trough in the floor, their seat backs created a flat surface in part of the boot and then the second-row seats slide mechanisms etc were in the floor too so there was not an even surface. It was difficult to decide where to position the second-row seats for this test because they have soooo much movement so I positioned them so that they were level with the front of the wheel arches and there was plenty of legroom in front of them.
When only using four seats I could get 20 shopping bags in the boot, that is four less than the Kia Carnival, two less than the Infiniti QX80 and two more than in the Nissan Pathfinder and the Mazda CX-9.
The media screen in the Odyssey is VERY old fashioned! It doesn't have Apple Car Play or Android Auto and I found every function very frustrating to use and connecting my phone was actually impossible! I could not get it to connect at all!!
I found the Sat-Nav was really difficult to use as well.
The reversing camera has multiple views which you can flip through by pressing a button on the end of the indicator stalk, the image on the screen is small though. There are no parking sensors in the Odyssey only park assist.
The whole digital dash controls were like something out of am 80's spaceship. Having the gear lever on the dash next to the push start button, touch airconditioning controls and media screen.
The air-conditioning in the Odyssey was effective, there are vents that run down the sides of the ceiling for the second and third-row passengers, as well as four across the front dashboard. There are controls in the centre of the second-row ceiling as well as on the front dash. So you can control the rear airflow while driving, in case your rear passengers are too little or fighting over it!!
The Odyssey was quite a smooth car to drive but you could hear the engine struggling up hills! Visibility is actually quite good out of the side windows especially because the second-row seats sit so far back you get a good amount of window to see out of even with child seats installed. When parking and manoeuvring I relied on the reversing camera a lot which had many different views which were really helpful, it had a convenient button on the end of the indicator stalk to change the views.
The Honda Odyssey got a 5-star ANCAP safety rating in 2014 and has 6 airbags as standard.
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
Storage in the Odyssey is ODD!! There is no central console storage box because there is a gangway through to the rear seats! There is a phone tray with sockets for connecting and charging, this does move up and down but I could not work out a reason for that.
There are two cup holders on the back of this that will hold a disposable or reusable coffee cup or a large refillable water bottle will fit in them too.
The glove box would fit an iPad and wallet in with the manual.
The door pockets in the front are a good size, they will fit a large refillable water bottle, a Pigeon baby bottle and 600ml fit or my wallet fitted too.
There is a glasses case in the ceiling and conversation mirror and lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.
In the second row seats there are map pockets on the back of both front seats, however, they are sewn down the centre creating two small pockets on each seat, so an iPad wouldn't fit.
There is a bottle holder in each of the second-row seats, they would hold a 600ml.
There are no door bins, just a cup holder in each of the rear sliding doors. They would hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.
In the third row seats, there is a square cup holder on each side. The cup holders weren't the best shape for holding cups or bottles without them rattling or spilling and weren't big enough for a large refillable water bottle. On the left there is a 12V socket next to the cup holder, I am not sure about having this where children might be sitting, I'd be nervous they would fiddle about with it and be playing with it while driving along.
The boot space in the Odyssey is rather odd too! Like in the Kia Carnival, when you are using all three rows of seats the boot space is like a trough behind the third-row seats! But unlike the Kia Carnival, when you are using all three rows of seats and the top tethers in the third-row the straps go across the boot space and fasten onto the lip of the boot cutting across the boot space.
This was smaller in the Odyssey and only held six shopping bags, unlike the Carnival which held 10.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres ia not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
With the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller in the boot, I can fit two shopping bags alongside it. I actually liked this method of standing the stroller up as I felt it used less space than in conventional car boots where you have to lay it down.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller only fitted with one shopping bags. The problem with the Flexx tandem stroller was that it is modular so not as easy to put in and out of the boot because the pieces do not stand independently like the Duet and Urban Jungle do and I had to wedge them in place.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller also fitted with three shopping bags beside it.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with three shopping bags beside it.
When you are only using two rows of seats you can fold the third-row seats away into the trough in the floor behind them. When you do this it feels very much like a van only the floor is not flat and smooth, there are seat mechanisms and things in the floor and it is uneven. It would be large enough to carry a very large dog!
When only using four seats I could fit 20 shopping bags in the back. I didn't put the second-row seats as far forward as they would go, I kept a rear-facing child seat in them.
The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fitted with 11 shopping bags. I found it easier to use the uneven space nearest to the second-row seats for the stroller and put the shopping bags on the flat surface nearest the boot opening.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with 13 shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with 13 shopping bags too.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 18 shopping bags.
The area nearest the boot opening is nice and flat and I found this was a good spot for an emergency nappy change although you do have to bend down quite low.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
The reversing camera in the Odyssey has so many viewing options! There is a button on the end of the indicator stalk which allows you to change through them but the image is quite small though.
The Odyssey had blind spot monitoring and it could self-park but it did not have parking sensors which I found strange! I did, however, enjoy the quiet and didn't find I missed them!
Lane departure warning in the Odyssey beeps to alert you that you are drifting out of your lane and can be turned on and off with a button by your right knee.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The indicator volume is a nice quiet sound that would not affect sleeping children on board.
The sat nav was particularly difficult to use and I could not find a way to mute the volume at all. The system was not user-friendly at all and I found it extremely frustrating.
The Odyssey does have auto engine cut out to save fuel when you are stopped at lights, I found the car shuddered to a stop and start and this really would disturb a sleeping passenger! The button to turn it off is down by the USB and 12V sockets in the central console.
Connecting my phone to the Odyssey was impossible!! The system is so dated and frustrating, I actually I couldn't connect it using either the USB or Bluetooth.
There is no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which is desperately missed in the Odyssey because the media system is so dated and difficult to use. The media system is a real let down point of the car for me.
The rear doors in the Odyssey open by sliding along the side of the car rather than opening outwards. There are buttons to activate them next to the driver's right knee or you pull the rear door handle.
The road noise is good in the Odyssey and it is a smooth drive, however, the engine is loud when going up hills!
An alarm did sound when I came to a stop, took off my seatbelt and opened the door with the engine still running. This would wake any sleeping child you were hoping might remain asleep or you wanted to delicately transfer into the house!!
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The doors and windows are not too bad, they all open quite quietly but close with a thud. You can lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.
The seatbelt reminder is only for the front passengers, which is crazy for a people mover, you can't see the third-row passengers so you rely on the car's technology to tell you that the seatbelts are removed! The Odyssey also chimes really loudly when you first get into the car until you put your seatbelt on which I found annoying and disturbing for passengers, I didn't need reminding of my own seatbelt, it is the other passengers I want to know about!
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
The Odyssey is a large seven-seater people mover; the seats in the second row are like gold-class cinema seats!! They have sooooo many different adjustments using an array of handles and levers on the sides of them!
They fully recline to lie flat, the footrests rais up level with the seat base and my little girl LOVED using these as a step into her child seat! The side armrests are adjustable, the seats have an enormous range of movement; they slide backwards and forwards so that they nearly sit in the boot, great for long journeys when children are moaning!!! The seats also slide outwards to separate them and make a gangway and slide inwards to move them together, also great for separating children that squabble!
Both the second-row seats have ISOFix, they are not within plastic guides, they are concealed behind the seat fabric and I struggled to part the fabric with one hand while installing them.
There are top tethers at the bottom of both the seat backs, I found the rear facing child seat tether strap would not reach so you would have to look at using an extension strap if your child seat allows it.
I could install two child seats in the second-row seats, I found it easier than in most cars because the seats of the car are separated I had space to move around them.
There are three seats in the third row, the seatbacks fold 40:20:40. There is no ISOFix but there are two top tethers in the model I drove, so I could install two child seats.
Accessing the third-row seats was easy even with a rear-facing child seat installed because the gangway runs down the length of the car and the second-row seats slide and move so much there was room to get in around a rear-facing child seat.
Legroom is excellent in the Odyssey! With rear facing child seat installed in the second-row seat, the first and third-row seats both have 25cm of knee room!
My daughter who was 105cm at the time found it great to climb into her forward-facing Britax Platinum Pro child seat in the second row using the footrest in its up position as a step! Posting baby into their child seat in the second row from inside and outside the vehicle is fine, as the interior is very roomy. I did notice that moving the seats into the separated outer position means you are not having to reach so far across to post bub in or to do up harnesses.
Australia being a country of weather extremes- blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is room to feed Bub in both rear rows of seats if you only have one child seat installed. All seats are made from black leather with minimal stitching details, so keeping them clean would be quite easy.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
The front seats in the Odyssey I tested are nicely padded and very comfortable, they are more like armchairs and have armrests that fold down at the inside.
I spent hours styling my hair this morning, said no new mum ever!!
The second-row seats are extremely comfy and adjustable, I travelled in the back of the Odyssey a lot next to my daughter and I enjoyed being able to separate the seats as I found it just gave me a bit of distance that parents sometimes need 😉 I did find if the seat was in the furthest back position over the rear wheel arches I actually felt quite travel sick. Moving the seat of the car further forward stopped it.
For the first year of Tulsi's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The third-row seatbacks are split 40:20:4, they are quite comfortable to sit in and head and legroom are very good.
The second-row seats slide an enormous amount and can be adjusted individually to allow for distribution of legroom, which is excellent throughout the Odyssey.
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down. The cruise controls are on the right side of the steering wheel and are easy to use, the cruise control I found to be not accurate at all and went 15km over the set speed on undulating roads at 60km/h it was more accurate on more straight faster roads.
I found the Odysseys lack of a digital speed display really frustrating too!
There are four aircon vents across the front dashboard, two in the centre and one at either end.
In the back, there are two sets of round air vents in the ceiling on both sides, above both the second and the third-row seats. There is a light with them both too.
In the ceiling above the second-row seats is a control panel for the rear aircon. I do find you have to make sure before you set off that these round vents are not pointing directly on little bubs as I have found it upsets my little one and you can't reach to adjust them while driving.
There are dual aircon controls on the dashboard in the front and for the rear aircon, which I found easy to use and great for being able to control the airflow in the back for my little passengers! Or take over if they are squabbling over them!
I found the aircon controls a little difficult to use while driving because they are touch screen you have to take your eyes off the road long enough to make sure you're accurately pressing the right thing!
The windows in the Odyssey are really nice and big and deep so visibility is good, also the second-row seats can slide so far back that you still have great visibility out of the side windows even with child seats installed. Also because you can only install two child seats and you have the space between them when the seats are separated that also allowed for more visibility. The side mirrors and reversing cameras multiple views help hugely with parking and maneuvering too. Compared to an SUV, I find I can judge where the edges of the Odyssey are because there are not a lot of protruding bumpers etc.
The windows in the rear doors have window blinds which is a fantastic BabyDrive feature for shielding rear passengers from the sun on journeys.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get the big cars and utes as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, the visibility in the Odyssey meant it was not really quick to park but no where near as hard as you would expect for a car of this size because you can see the front and back of it!
The second-row headrests are angled at the sides like aeroplane headrests, this made them harder to install a rear-facing baby mirror.
There is press on lights above the second and third-row seats on both sides with the air vents. Those in the second-row ceiling I found are not reachable while driving.
I find it important to reach the interior rear lights so that when I am driving bub at night I can turn the lights on while she is awake so that she is not scared in the dark and then I can switch them off once she is asleep.
In the front are two press on lights positioned in the ceiling. There is a glasses case in the ceiling and a conversation mirror which I LOVE as it allows me to check on the rear passengers without turning my head and allows my forward facing passengers to see my face, which I find keeps my little one a lot calmer while travelling in the car.
There are also lit vanity mirrors on both sides in the front visors.
The Odyssey is a nice car to drive, it is smooth and easy to drive around town. It was noisy up hills as it pulled the big vehicle up them.
There are handles above the second and third-row seats with the lights and air vents. The second-row handle was not well positioned for a child's toy to hang from.
The interior of the Odyssey I drove didn't feel very special. I think it was the thick carpet floor mats all over the floor that felt a bit like an 80's boys bedroom and would be a nightmare to get child spills and mud from kids feet out of!
The dashboard was a bit spaceship-like but it would be easy to clean as would the seats.
The key fob does have press buttons to open the sliding rear doors and press to unlock and lock the front doors. I didn't find it as easy as in the Carnival because there were not the touch buttons on the rear door handles or pull the rear door handle and the door would slide open which is really handy because it leaves your hands completely free for carrying kids and kid stuff!! You can also open and close the sliding doors using buttons down by your right knee. The tailgate is not powered, you have to open and close it manually.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
The Honda Odyssey got a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2014. It was awarded a total score of 32.75 out of 37. For the frontal offset test, it scored 12.75 out of 16 and for the side impact test it got the maximum 16/16 and 2/2 for pole test and pedestrian detection was rated acceptable.
The Odyssey has six airbags as standard. Driver and front passenger frontal airbags, front side airbags and full-length curtain airbags extending to the third row as standard.
The Honda Odyssey VTi and VTi-L models both come with anti-lock braking system (ABS) with brake assist system (BA) and electronic brake force distribution (EBD), hill-start assist (HSA), Emergency Stop Signal (ESS), Blind spot monitoring, Tyre Deflation Warning System (DWS), traction control system (TCS), electronic stability control (ESC) as standard.
The VTi-L model comes equipped with Honda Sensing driver-assist technologies including adaptive cruise control (ACC), forward collision warning (FCW), collision mitigation braking system (CMBS), lane departure warning (LDW), road departure mitigation system (RDM) lane keeping assist system (LKAS).
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
Hi there! My wife and I accidentally stumbled upon your website while searching 7-seater cars, and we LOVE your website. You answer pretty much all the questions that parents are asking about cars they want to buy, and often these questions aren’t answered anywhere else (like how many shopping bags/strollers can you fit in the boot, or which carseats will fit in a particular car).
Anyways, I had a question about this Honda Odyssey. You know how you fit two forward-facing carseats in the rear seats; did it look like someone could fit in between there? I’m asking because we are expecting our fourth child and ALL FOUR OF THEM will be in car seats. While we would LOVE to buy a Kia Carnival we might not be able to afford it, so we are looking at alternatives. But if no one can fit in the middle of our two big kids in the rear then we need to rule this car out because once we have all our kids in the car plus my wife and I, then we won’t be able to fit anyone else.
Cheers
Behnam from NZ
It’s VERY narrow between the bulky seats we used but if your kids older and in relatively slim boosters it might just work (but probably not comfy)
Hi there and thanks for all the great content!
I’m struggling to screw in the anchor hook on the back row, the bolt seems to be too short, but I was told it’s a standard Britax bolt. What was your experience? I’m only using the bolt+washer+hook, and the bolt screws in just fine on its own. Any idea why this is happening? I have a VTi-L 2015.
Best to check with the ACRI https://babydrive.com.au/ACRI