2024 Honda Odyssey: Still kinda fun, for a minivan

2024 Honda Odyssey Elite: People-moving monster.

Price: $51,765 as tested. No options on test vehicle.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver says “Magic Seats keep everyone happy, lots of standard driver-assist tech, excellent performance and handling.” But on the down side, “Magic Seats need muscle to remove, the infotainment system needs updating, optional 19-inch wheels turn the ride jagged.”

Marketer’s pitch: “So versatile, it’s practically magic.”

Reality: Magically spacious, but some caveats.

What’s new: The Odyssey got an “exciting new Sport trim” for 2023, as Honda enthused in press materials. The press rep sent me the 2023 info with 2024 prices, so obviously this was not the year for breakthroughs in Odysseyland.

Competition: Toyota Sienna, Kia Carnival, Chrysler Pacifica.

Friends and stuff: Like the song says, you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.

The Sturgis Family Sienna was away at college with Sturgis Kid 4.0, cementing his status as big man on campus for sure. (At least when it’s moving day.) But that meant waiting for the test Odyssey to arrive for Mr. Driver’s Seat to fulfill a lumber run.

I didn’t think I had a lot to fit into a minivan — a couple dozen 8-foot boards and five 10-foot posts. Surely all the shorter ones will fit behind the front seats, I thought.

Wrong. A few could ride diagonally, a few more had to squeeze onto the console, and the longer posts were balanced precariously close to the windshield. Fortunately, no insurance claims were filed in the making of this review.

Box comparison: But come the weekend, both the old-style Sturgis Family Sienna and the 2024 Sturgis Kid 1.0 Sienna were at the house, so I put them to the test.

The 2011 Sienna — the space inside that should translate into all models before 2022 — fits 8-foot boards behind the front seats just fine. And if you want to pop out the middle row, all the better. The 10-footers rest on the console just in front of the stereo controls, keeping the butterflies in check.

The 2024 Sienna middle row can’t be removed; the seats can be squished up against the front seats, but that’s all the cargo space you get. So only the wood that fits between the middle seats comes along for the ride.

The Odyssey cargo space remains a whopping 140.7 cubic feet. (It has 86.6 cubes behind the second row and 32.8 behind the first.) That makes the Odyssey the cargo winner among minivans, unless you shop for a used Sienna.

As for seating, the Odyssey middle row and rear row seats are comfortable, and there’s plenty of room all around. The rear row remains reclined a little too much for my tastes.

Driver’s Seat: The Odyssey front seat is comfortable and roomy, with heating and ventilation in the test model.

The gauges are typical Honda; the speedometer is all digital, the tachometer hidden away up top in a straight line, no issues seeing what you need to.

Up to speed: The 280-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 provides powerful acceleration, and keeping up with traffic is no problem. The minivan gets to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, according to Car and Driver. That’s seriously brisk for a big box.

On the down side, it does seem to hesitate in Drive mode once in a while.

Shifty: The Honda buttons. Dislike.

Still, there’s 10 gears, and it does the job just fine.

On the road: Handling of the Odyssey is quite nice, a little more crisp than the Sienna. It really feels car-like; it even felt jaunty on one evening ride through the country roads back home from Delaware, and that’s riding on the 19-inch wheels that Car and Driver maligned.

The Odyssey comes only in front-wheel drive; the Sienna is the lone minivan to offer all-wheel drive.

Highway handling felt a little wonky now and again, but we did have several windy days to contend with. Choose between Drive or Sport mode as needed, and you’ll probably find a decent ride.

Play some tunes: After years of raving about the stereo in the 2022 Odyssey, I looked forward to the chance to rehear all the lost notes.

Alas, something’s changed, and no matter how I adjusted it, those notes were staying lost this time around. I’d call the playback about a B+ to A-; sorry, Honda, it was good while it lasted.

Operation of the system is simple enough, unless you go hunting for the tone controls. They’re nested way inside the screen.

Keeping warm and cool: A bit of a drawback: There’s everything on a row of buttons except for air source. For that you have to press “Front Control” or “Rear Control” and then visit the touchscreen.

Temperature is handled by Honda’s standard-issue toggles, while fan speed has an up-down button.

Fuel economy: I averaged just under 23 mpg, but the people before me had it up to 28 over 160 miles. I move more enthusiastically than I thought.

Where it’s built: Lincoln, Ala.

How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts the Odyssey reliability to be a 3 out of 5.

In the end: The Odyssey is definitely the machine if you need a big people mover and want to have a little fun driving.

But I’d be waiting to try out the electric VW ID. Buzz, allegedly arriving by year’s end.