2009 Honda Odyssey in Santa Ana

With all the talk of fuel economy these days, you might be fooled into thinking that 25 mpg on the EPA's highway test is impressive for a mid-size car. I don't think it is. 25 mpg is, however, an impressive result for a 4700-lb vehicle that can carry eight passengers in quiet comfort. When it comes to hauling people and stuff, the minivan was a better alternative twenty years ago, it was a better alternative to all of those big, ungainly SUVs people insisted on driving, and it's still a better alternative today.

Among those minivans, the Honda Odyssey remains king. And if you think you're too cool to drive a minivan, go ahead and try to sell your ill-handling, 12-mpg SUV now. You won't look so cool crying on the dealership floor when the salesperson tells you it's worth 10% of what you paid for it - or worse, that he won't even consider taking it in on trade.

What makes the Odyssey so good?
Well, for starters, it drives more like a luxury sedan than a big van. It's quiet and rides as smoothly as a limo. After driving an SUV, you simply won't believe how much road feel the Odyssey has on-center. Because it's front-wheel drive, the van does suffer from a bit of torque steer, but less than the Pilot SUV that's based on the same chassis.

The smooth V-6
The Odyssey won't outaccelerate a sports car, but its 3.5-liter V-6 generates 244 horsepower and never any vibrations. Journalists endlessly praise Nissan's VQ-series V-6, but every time I get into a Honda, I'm reminded that it is, in fact, Honda that makes the world's best V-6 engines.... Read full article