2012 Honda Odyssey Overview Change Vehicle

This 2012 Honda Odyssey review explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2012 Odyssey, and includes Honda Odyssey safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

The 2012 Honda Odyssey is an eight-passenger minivan. Over the past decade, it has become one of the top choices in its class, but today competes against recently redesigned or freshened entries from Chrysler, Dodge, Nissan, and Toyota.

Totally redesigned for the 2011 model year, the Odyssey receives few changes for 2012. The popular EX model is upgraded with standard Bluetooth hands-free calling and music streaming, and this model’s CD changer is replaced with a 2-gigabyte CD library hard-drive and a USB port. The Odyssey EX also gets a new eight-inch multi-information display screen in the dashboard. The only other change for 2012 is the availability of a richer shade of white called White Diamond Pearl on the Touring and Touring Elite models.

Just when you think you can get by with an affordable version of the Odyssey, Honda tosses something onto the standard equipment list of a higher trim level that you just can’t live without. For example, the Odyssey LX starts at less than $30,000, and looks like a compelling buy until you review the standard features list for the EX. And the EX seems perfect until you check the equipment roster for the EX-L, which is great until you consider the Touring. Even the Touring Elite entices with features that can’t be had on other Odysseys, and now you’re spending almost $45,000. For a minivan. A Honda minivan.

If you decide to just go with the Odyssey LX and get a set of decent aftermarket wheels to replace the 17-inch steel rims and plastic wheel covers, you’ll get everything you really need in a family conveyance. Front and rear air conditioning, power windows, power door locks with remote keyless entry, power side mirrors, cruise control, a tilt/telescopic steering wheel, and a stereo with a CD/MP3 player and an auxiliary audio input jack are standard. The Odyssey also has an eight-way power driver’s seat, a HomeLink universal remote, dark tinted rear glass, map lights in all three rows of seats, illuminated visor mirrors, and front floor mats. The cargo area is equipped with a light to make things easier to find at night, and there are bag hooks for holding plastic grocery sacks.

Trouble is, the popular Odyssey EX adds a whole bunch of stuff that you really want. Chief among them are power sliding side doors, Bluetooth hands-free calling and audio streaming, triple-zone automatic climate control with a humidity sensor, second-row integrated sunshades, a removable center storage console between the front seats, and power lumbar support for the driver. The EX model also provides eight-passenger seating with a multi-function second-row center seat, a multi-information dashboard display screen, an upgraded stereo system with a 2-gigabyte CD library hard-drive and a USB port, and steering wheel controls for the audio system and Bluetooth phone. That’s not all: seatback storage pockets, a conversation mirror, a flip-up front trash bag ring, an outside temperature indicator, automatic headlights, heated side mirrors, and a security system are also included. The Odyssey EX rolls on 17-inch alloy wheels, too.

Next up is the Odyssey EX-L , which, as it’s trim designation suggests, includes leather front and second-row outboard seats in addition to a leather-wrapped steering wheel. Honda doesn’t stop there, however, and the EX-L contains heated front seats, a power front passenger’s seat, a power tailgate, a power moonroof, satellite radio, a rearview camera, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a cool box storage area. Honda entices you to purchase the EX-L by making it a prerequisite to get the optional navigation system with FM traffic data service and a 15-gig hard-drive. The EX-L is also available with a rear seat entertainment system that includes a 115-volt power outlet in the third-row seating area.

The Odyssey Touring includes the navigation and rear seat entertainment systems, and adds 18-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, parking sensors, and side mirror turn signal indicators. A memory system for the driver’s settings is also standard on the Touring model, along with ambient interior lighting, programmable vehicle settings, integrated sunshades for the third-row seat, and a third-row seat folding center armrest. A more fuel-efficient six-speed automatic transmission is also installed in the Touring model.

At the top of the lineup, the Odyssey Touring Elite is equipped with an Ultrawide rear seat entertainment screen, HDMI video input jacks, dual wireless headphones, and a 12-speaker, 650-watt, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound system. The Touring Elite also has a blind-spot information system and high intensity discharge headlights.

Every 2012 Odyssey has a 3.5-liter V6 engine making 248 horsepower at 5,700 rpm and 250 pound-feet of torque at 4,800 rpm. Honda’s Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system conserves fuel under low-load driving conditions by shutting down two or three of the V6 engine’s six cylinders, and the Touring and Touring Elite models add fuel efficiency thanks to a six-speed automatic transmission that replaces the five-speed automatic on other Odyssey models.

As a result, EPA fuel economy ratings are 18 mpg in the city and 27 mpg on the highway with the five-speed automatic transmission and 19 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway with the six-speed automatic.

Honda knows the Odyssey is frequently used to transport the most precious of cargo: children. So it installs six standard airbags including three-row side curtains, a traction and stability control system, and four-wheel-disc antilock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist. The Odyssey’s underlying structure benefits from Honda’s Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE), which is designed to channel crash energy away from the cabin in the event of an accident.

What troubles us to some degree is that a reversing camera and parking sensors, items that make it much easier to see kids that might be near the van while parking and reversing, are only available on the more expensive Odyssey models. And to get a blind-spot monitoring system, you must pay almost $45,000 for the Touring Elite model.

Nevertheless, the Odyssey certain is crashworthy. In tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), it gets an overall rating of 5 Stars even though the NHTSA recently strengthened crash standards to make it harder to achieve such a rating. The Odyssey’s 5-Star frontal-impact and 5-Star side-impact results are accompanied by a 4-Star rating for rollover resistance.

Additionally, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rated the 2011 Honda Odyssey as a Top Safety Pick*. The only other minivan to achieve this rating was the Toyota Sienna.

As this review is written, Consumer Reports is making no predictions about the Honda Odyssey’s long-term reliability prospects. J.D. Power and Associates, however, thinks the Odyssey will supply much better than average dependability over time.

* As this review is written, the IIHS has not released Top Safety Pick ratings for 2012 models. However, the 2012 Odyssey is structurally identical to last year’s version.

On all models except the Odyssey LX, it is possible to attach three child seats across the second-row seat by moving the individual outboard seats closer to the sliding doors, a configuration that Honda calls “wide mode,” thereby making room for the installation of a third child seat in the middle.

If its cargo space you seek, the Odyssey has it. There’s 38.4 cubic-feet behind the third-row seat. Fold that so-called Magic Seat, and the Odyssey can swallow and impressive 93.1 cu-ft of stuff. If you need even more room, the Odyssey can hold up to 148.5 cu-ft of cargo behind the two front seats once the second-row seats are removed from the vehicle, and Honda says the Odyssey is designed to carry standard sheets of plywood flat, with the tailgate closed.

Honda says that the Odyssey’s third-row Magic Seat can be folded or raised using just one hand, and that the “lightning bolt” side character line creates a larger window for the third-row passengers, for better outward visibility. The van’s maximum tow rating is 3,500 pounds, and a Honda Odyssey Touring Elite weighs more than 4,500 pounds. Perhaps it’s time to stop referring to these vehicles as minivans.

Based on the opinions of people who own the Odyssey, J.D. Power and Associates named the Honda Odyssey the Most Appealing Minivan in 2011.

The Honda Odyssey was designed and engineered in California and Ohio, and is built in Alabama.

When it comes to minivans, it doesn’t get better than the Honda Odyssey. We’d like to see more safety features made available on the EX model, even in the form of an option package, but otherwise it’s hard to find fault with this best-selling people mover.

By Christian Wardlaw