2005 Honda Odyssey First Drive

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Safety Sells

For example, Honda is dedicating significant resources to making its products as safe as possible, and the 2005 Odyssey is the first vehicle to reflect the company’s commitment to protecting not only vehicle occupants but those in other cars as well as pedestrians. The new Odyssey was redesigned with this goal in mind, and the result is a comprehensive standard safety package on all models as well as a new Advanced Compatibility Engineering (ACE) body structure.

ACE refers to the design of the 2005 Honda Odyssey’s forward frame elements, new upper and lower structural members engineered to spread crash energy over a larger area for absorption and disperse the energy away from the cabin. New gussets located in the lower corners of the engine bay at the firewall intend to reduce passenger compartment intrusion during a crash. Honda expects this new design to better protect the 2005 Odyssey’s occupants while making the new minivan more compatible with smaller vehicles in an accident. Furthermore, the new Odyssey’s hood and front fenders are designed to crumple if impacted by a pedestrian’s head in an effort to protect those outside of the van.

Inside the 2005 Honda Odyssey, a full complement of airbags and safety technologies come standard to protect passengers. Dual-stage, dual-threshold front airbags are combined with standard side-impact airbags for the front seats and side curtain airbags with a rollover sensor for all three rows. To help keep a rollover accident from occurring, every 2005 Honda Odyssey is equipped with a standard Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) system, which includes both traction control and stability control. Also standard is a four-wheel-disc ABS with brake assist technology to bring the new Odyssey to a stop as quickly as possible.

Model Mix

As before, Honda will offer the new Odyssey in LX and EX trim levels. A leather package is available on the EX, and a new Touring edition is a fully equipped luxury van with all the bells and whistles. At press time, Honda could only offer estimated prices for each Odyssey model.

In addition to the safety package found on every 2005 Honda Odyssey, the LX also includes P235/65 tires mounted to 16-inch wheels, power windows for the first two rows of seats, power door locks with remote keyless entry, cruise control, a CD player, a 60/40 split-folding “magic” third-row seat, an in-floor storage bin, and a smart maintenance indicator. On the Odyssey LX, the exterior trim is black rather than body color and the wheel covers are plastic, making it easy to identify as the entry-level model. Pricing is estimated to start at about $25,000, and Honda says that about 10 percent of all Odysseys sold will be the LX model.

The 2005 Honda Odyssey EX adds a handy Lazy Susan to the underfloor storage bin, alloy wheels, body color trim, eight-passenger seating, power sliding side doors, an in-dash six-disc CD changer, second-row sunshades, and a parabolic conversation mirror that allows the driver to see each of the Odyssey’s rear seating positions. This popular model is likely to cost about $27,500, and the sales mix is estimated by Honda to be 25 percent of total volume.