The all-new US-market 2018 Honda Odyssey has been
revealed at the Detroit motor show. In terms of its design, the new American Odyssey is somewhere
between the model sold here and the catfish-looking previous-generation car
that was sold in the States.
The US-market car also appears wider and lower than
the tall and upright look of the model sold locally, and features a 3.5-litre
V6 petrol engine under the bonnet developing 280 hp. Honda is offering two
transmissions with its latest people mover, a nine-speed automatic transmission
in entry-level models and a new in-house developed 10-speed automatic
transmission which is claimed to provide a more refined drive.
Honda has put the Odyssey on a
diet. Thanks to a new body and chassis design, it’s up to 43.5 kg lighter than
the model it replaces, while torsional rigidity is up by 44 per cent. Other
highlights for the 2018 Honda Odyssey include full-LED headlights, new LED
tail-lights, heated and ventilated front seats, heated side mirrors and
steering wheel, automatic high beam, and the HondaVac in-built vacuum.
The new Odyssey will also be offered with the Honda
Sensing safety suite (on select models), which comprises of numerous driver
assistance technologies including autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane keep
assist, road departure mitigation and adaptive cruise control.
Several other safety features will also be
available, such as front and rear parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert and
blind spot monitoring.
Inside, the new Odyssey features a new 8.0-inch
touchscreen infotainment system with a WiFi hotspot along with Apple CarPlay
and Android Auto, a new rear entertainment system with the ability to stream
video, along with a new ‘Magic Slide’ second row seating system which offers
several configurations for extra versatility and practicality.
The 2018 Odyssey is the second generation of the
company’s MPV to be designed and developed in North America and is the fourth
generation to be exclusively made there.
