Entries tagged with “honda” from Car & Caboodle

So you've already decided you want a minivan? You may have narrowed it down to these two popular models. What's the difference? Leave it to a mom who has tested both the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey, to tell you the stuff that really matters.

Performance:

Torque Schmorque. The Toyota Sienna feels slightly lighter and more sporty on level turns. But it's slow to accelerate on hills. The Honda Odyssey rode steady and never lost power on us.

Score: Honda Odyssey

Car Seat Placement:

Honda's Odyssey gives you three places to latch a kid's carseat, two in the second row and one in the center of the third. Toyota's Sienna supports your brood by giving you four placements - two in the second and two in the third. This may all be moot, however, if your carseat is the style that uses the latch plus the lap belt, and the placement of the latch makes buckling the belt (or the adjacent passenger's belt) impossible. You really do need to get yourself, your kids and all their assorted carseats to a dealer, and strap everyone in.  But hey, it's fun to watch the salesmen's faces when you drag four crumb strewn carseats out of your car and introduce them into the floor model!

In a nifty addition the Toyota Sienna offers a front and center seat option that allows you to pull the second row center seat, closer to the front row, which can be reassuring for parents with small kids. 

Score: Honda Odyssey

Comfort and Convenience:

We found the seats in the Toyota Sienna a little stiff and unyielding. Fine for short trips but not very comfy for long rides. The Honda Odyssey seating, on the other hand, was as cush and supportive as it gets. Even after a long day of driving, there was no telltale bum ache. 

Both cars were similarly equipped with automatic sliding doors and remote rear liftgate. The control buttons for the Honda Odyssey were located to the left of the steering wheel on the dash, which takes some getting used to. The Toyota Sienna places the door and lift controls on the ceiling above the center console. The price for this is moving the sunglasses storage to the left side of the ceiling, just inside the driver's door. Either way, lefties will rejoice, righties will complain.

Both vehicles offer enough cupholders for everyone to drink two fisted. I lost count after a dozen. It's more cupholders than anyone really needs. I'm telling you people, when you have more cupholders, you have more forgotten, leaky, sticky, smelly drinks growing weird cultures in your vehicle.

Finally the rear liftgate closes on it's own at the push of a button when you are done unloading the Honda Odyssey. In the Toyota Sienna you will need to pull on a strap to get the liftgate to close. Pull hard, it's not for the faint of heart. At that point, you may as well close it yourself!

Score: Toyota Sienna

Electronics and Entertainment:

Both models were similarly equipped with DVD, Navigation, Rear View cameras, Auxilliary inputs and CD and Satellite radio. The problem was getting to it all in the Honda Odyssey. The auxilliary input , DVD player and car charger location were placed on the center console below the pull out cupholders. Technically you did not need to use these cupholders, but if you do, you'll need to get someone to ride shotgun to plug in your cell. And their cell had better be fully juiced. There's only one jack up front.

The Toyota Sienna is also challenged. The DVD needs to be loaded into the console in the ceiling, closer to the second row than the first. It would be a challenge, even at a stoplight, to get a video loaded for your wee offspring. You'll need someone with DVD loading experience, to sit in the second row to handle this. Fortunately most four yr olds have that skill. Unfortunately they don't have the height to accomplish this without unbuckling! The good news, Mom and Dad can both charge their cells at the same time.

Score: Honda Odyssey

Appearance:

My test model Toyota Sienna was a dukey tan. Which has got to be my least favorite minivan color. Sure it's practical and does not show dirt. But I'm not one to be thrilled about "not showing" how dirty I am.  I tried not to let it color my opinion of the vehicle.  The Honda Odyssey, on the other hand, was a sleek black. Sleek like Shamu, anyway. I think any way you slice it, a minivan looks like a minivan. It's not cute, sporty or sexy. It is what it is. Neither of the two tested vehicles made me look like I'd lost ten lbs and both probably aged me at least five years. Something I was willing to accept in return for a key fob that flung all the doors open from across the street.

Score: Neither!

Cargo Space

We did not notice a difference in how many kids, grocery bags or strollers fit into either of the models tested. Both were formidable in their ability to haul our large family and mountains of stuff. Technically, according to the specs however, the Toyota holds more.

Score: Toyota Sienna

Final Analysis:

There was no clear winner in this article. Ultimately it's up to you to choose - but knowing the "little things" like where the sunglasses cases are located - can sometimes be just the thing to swing your vote.

Our family is currently planning for a road trip and gathering supplies. We'll be travelling in our brand new black Honda Odyssey van which we adore. Sadly, so do all the little birdies. It's as if they were waiting for us to get as large and as black a vehicle as possible, so they could do their thing. Usually on the way home from the carwash.

Much as I adored the 101 Dalmations series I'd rather not drive around in a vehicle that looks like it should be chasing a firetruck. Which is why I was overjoyed to find the Red Hot Shop at Target, filled with road trip supplies for the month of July.

While perusing the selection of limited time boutique items ( this months' theme has everything from cute Orla Kiely journals to retro cameras and game tins) I came across the Grumpy Girl Auto Bird Turd Emergency Removal Kit .  Ahem. Hallelujah!

What a stellar find! As if I did not have enough reasons to spend time in Target stores and perusing their site, it's brilliant finds like these road trip gems that have me writing less and shopping more.

We're travelling to the Pacific Northwest on our vacation but we're sure to make a few Target pit stops along our route for whatever we've forgotten to pack. Lets start a Target tally now. How many Target stores will we drive by and how many of them will we stop in?

And how about you? How many Targets did you shop at during your last road trip?

The New York Times reports that yesterday the first Honda FCX Clarity rolled off the production line in Takanezawa, Japan.

The hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle costs more than $100,000 to produce but is available to lease (only in California) for $600 per month. Honda officials chose California because of the high availability of hydrogen pumping stations.

The FCX Clarity looks like a cross between a Prius and a Mercedes CLS, is around the same size as an Acura RL, gets the equivalent of 74MPG, and can go 0-60 in under 9 seconds. One can expect to get 280 or so miles on a tank, and the best part: the only thing coming out of the tailpipe is steam.

Honda President Takeo Fukui handed Hollywood producer Ron Yerxa the keys to Clarity #001 and actress Jamie Lee Curtis will be receiving hers next week.

What's next? Got any ideas you'd like to see integrated into a minivan?

Here's car news on some family-friendly favorites from the Detroit Auto Show last week:

• Volvo reveals its R-Design sports styling for the XC-90 [Car Scoop]
  
• Saturn Vue 2 Mode becomes world's first front-wheel-drive compact hybrid SUV [Jalopnik]
• Lincoln MKT Concept Car Shows Off the Highend Potential for Crossovers [Autopia]
  
• Dodge Caravan R/T Concept Car [Auto Blog]
• Motherproof at Detroit - Part 1  |  Part 2  |  Part 3
• Surburban Dad chimes in on next-gen Honda Pilot concept [Kicking Tires]
  
• See Toyota's first crossover - the 2009 Venza [video via Automotive News]
• Cadillac gets into the crossover scene with it concept model - Provoq [Auto Blog]
• The top 12 cars that stole the show [AutoSpies]

My first car was a 1981 Chevy Caprice Classic. No, I'm not that old. It was a hand-me-down from my grandmother when I turned 16 and I think she's still looking down from heaven laughing at the image of my trying-to-be-cool self driving that cruiser around town.

I drove it through college, at which time I graduated and got a used Toyota Corolla. I drove that until I was pregnant with my first in 2003. At that time, I turned to Hubby and told him enough was enough - for my third car, I deserved to drive a cool car, and I wasn't going to be pigeonholed into a Mom-mobile. Not yet anyway. We did a lot of research that fall, and when I was 8 months pregnant, I picked up my first "new" car - a 2004 Honda Pilot. I love it.

Here's why: Space

For our four-person family, there's ample enough room. It has an optional third row that we open when we're carpooling anyone else, but most of the time we have the seat folded down. Without the third row, it's a significant-sized trunk. I keep a single Baby Jogger in there and do frequent diaper changes with baby laying straight down in the back.

Smooth ride:

It drives like a car. We test drove many other SUVs and so many of them drove like a "truck" to me. I felt like I was driving something big and bulky, and I wasn't confident driving them. I didn't have that feeling at all with the Pilot and I still don't - of course my husband tells me it's because it has the makeup of a car under the hood - but I really don't care. I'm comfortable driving it and that's important. Soup it up... or not It has all the usuals you'd expect in SUV - option for a sun roof, child locks, DVD players and a navigation system if you so choose.

What I would change:

It's amazing how everything that was once so big, now seems so small as our family has grown. Our four bedroom house, once full of empty rooms, is now overflowing with toys and odds and ends. I have to say I feel a bit of the same way with the Pilot. I didn't feel that way until I had my second son - and most of the time it's fine - but if we're trying to drive an additional adult or two around, it does feel cramped. And because both of my boys are in Britax Marathons (big car seats), it's a tight squeeze for someone to get in and out if they want to sit in the middle of the second row. So what do I want? I want the inside of a mini-van in the body of a mini Cooper. But since that's only possible in my uber-universe where my 14-month old changes his own diaper and my 4-year-old does the dishes, I'll sticking with my Pilot. It's a good car for a family of four.

Whitney Wingerd is the owner/originator of Mommies With Style. She lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband and two young sons.  

Useful Links:
The Honda Pilot Website
The Honda Pilot on Edmunds
Honda at Edmunds
Honda Pilot Gets #1 Ranking from US News
Motherproof on the Honda Pilot