Honda's 2026 Odyssey Will Make You Rethink Minivans

Minivans are used as punch lines in hackneyed jokes about domestication and family life, but it's impossible to deny their usefulness. They're one of the best-equipped tools when it comes to jobs like comfortably hauling around passengers or transporting maximum gear in an enclosed space. More than just spacious, the 2026 Honda Odyssey appears to be designed with maximum utility and convenience in mind. And while it doesn't exactly make SUVs feel completely unnecessary, the Odyssey does prove the point that you don't need a hulking three-row crossover for most family-hauling tasks.

Powered by a strong V6, the Odyssey is gutsy and more entertaining to drive than you might expect. The expensive, range-topping Odyssey Elite turns the convenience dials all the way up and adds a bit of luxury in the form of abundant creature comforts. The top trim also offers all sorts of features to help with rowdy (or sleeping) children, making road trips more comfortable, and making everyday life with a big family easier.

There are four trim levels available for the 2026 Odyssey: EX-L, Sport, Touring, and Elite. At the bottom of the ladder, the EX-L has an MSRP of $44,290 (including $1,495 destination fee), and offers a long list of standard equipment like tri-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery, sunshades for the second-row windows, heated front seats, power-sliding side doors, and a power-lift tailgate. The base EX-L also gets a full list of driver aids for the Odyssey, including forward collision mitigation, lane-departure warning (and assist), adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot monitoring.

The Sport trim has an MSRP of $45,390, and it adds a few small items like USB-C charging ports in the third row, different ambient lighting for the interior, and 19-inch wheels, but not much else. Where things get a bit more upscale is with the Touring model. It has an MSRP of $48,990 and adds front and rear parking sensors, Wi-Fi hotspot capability, sun shades in the third row, a 12.8-inch rear entertainment screen, and a cabin-watch rear seat monitor for keeping an eye on your rowdiest second- and third-row passengers. 

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The top Elite trim (the one we tested) has an MSRP of $53,190 and it comes with all the bells and whistles. It gets rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, an upgraded stereo (more on that in a bit), and adds hands-free activation to the power liftgate.

Like a number of other family haulers in the Honda lineup, the Odyssey is powered by a 3.5-liter V6. It produces 280 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. Front-wheel drive is the only choice you get, regardless of trim level, and every Odyssey uses a 10-speed automatic transmission. Acceleration is strong with the Odyssey, definitely stronger than I expected and more than enough for a minivan. Around town, it feels genuinely quick, and passing maneuvers on the highway are dealt with easily. If you find yourself needing to pull a trailer, the Odyssey can tow up to 3,500 lbs; that's a strong number for the class.

The Honda's power and punchy engine and impressive towing capacity, however, come at the cost of fuel economy. According to the EPA, the Ridgeline will return 22 mpg combined (19 city/28 highway) which is almost an exact match for the large three-row Honda SUV, the Pilot. It's also worth noting that the Odyssey only slightly edges out big family SUVs like the massive Ford Expedition, which is rated at 19 mpg combined. Where it gets even worse for the Odyssey is when it's up against hybrid minivans. The Kia Carnival hybrid is rated at 32 mpg combined and the Toyota Sienna is way up there at 36 mpg combined.

A bit like its strong V6 powertrain, the Odyssey's handling capabilities offer more entertainment than you might expect from a minivan. It's stable and relatively flat through corners, with well-weighted steering. That steering doesn't feel particularly direct–and I wouldn't take the Odyssey out to my local autocross event–but if there's a curvy road on your commute, it's unlikely that you'll be disappointed in the Odyssey.

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Whether you're on a long highway journey or doing your daily driving over rough city streets, the Odyssey is extremely comfortable. The ride quality is smooth and unbothered by most road imperfections. For the driver and front passenger, the front-row seats are supportive and reasonably well bolstered. The seat padding in all three rows is soft enough to keep fatigue at bay for hours on end. On the top Elite trim, there's acoustic door glass on both the front and rear doors, softening exterior noises of all kinds. Most three-row body-on-frame SUVs wish they could provide this kind of comfort, but it's simply out of reach.

On top of the premium comfort levels, the Odyssey is also ultra spacious on the inside, with all its square footage expertly laid out. Adults have room to sit comfortably in all three rows (getting in and out of the third row is easy) and plenty of places to store their stuff. With the rear seats folded and interior capacity maxed out, the Odyssey Elite has as much as 155.7 cubic feet of storage on the inside — near enough to rival any three-row body-on-frame SUV. 

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There are cupholders everywhere you look in the Odyssey. If you count the spaces in the doors that are designed to hold things like water bottles (and I do), there are 17 places to put your beverages. Naturally, eight passengers with two drinks each is probably unlikely, but storing smartphones and other small items can be done in those spaces too. Like any proper family hauler, the Odyssey also has a massive center console: an ideal place to store that ultra-functional fanny pack you've been bragging to everyone about.

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The Odyssey Elite also offers a seemingly endless set of ways to connect with or charge your devices. There are USB-C ports available for just about every seating position, plus the wireless charging capability upfront. By my count, there are 9 different places to charge your devices, plus the HDMI port for connecting to rear-seat entertainment.

The Odyssey's cabin is well-constructed, using a number of high-end materials. It doesn't feel particularly plush, but I get the sense that it will hold up well over time. The plastics don't feel hollow, and the buttons all seem sturdy to the touch: all good signs for taking long-term abuse. 

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The dashboard itself is relatively well laid out, with important controls that are easy to find (and, more importantly perhaps, not buried in the touchscreen). To look at the button-heavy dashboard, it might seem intimidating at first, but after just a few minutes behind the wheel, things feel very intuitive. 

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The Odyssey's dashboard is low, as are all the window lines. This gives the cabin a big, airy feel from the moment you sit down. Getting in and out is easy, thanks to wide-opening front doors and wide spaces in the sliding side doors. 

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Honda's "Magic" third row seats fold down in a hurry with the simple pull of a strap, and the second-row seats can slide from side to side, provided the center seat has been removed.

The center display on every trim level of the Odyssey is a 9-inch touchscreen with quick reactions to inputs and an easily-understandable set of on-screen controls. Like a few other Hondas I've tested recently (the Ridgeline and Civic Type R come to mind), the Odyssey's screen is a bit lower resolution than some rival screens. The 7-inch driver display has similar ease of readability, but ultra-crisp graphics aren't its strong suit.

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Particularly strong, in contrast, is the 500-watt, 11-speaker stereo that the Elite trim level offers. The standard stereo is only 160 watts and has 7 speakers, so the system with the Elite is a big upgrade, and audio quality with the top-trim stereo is excellent. Multi-zone audio is standard on the Elite (and just below it on the Touring trim), which allows for audio being played in individual rows, or for just the driver; it's an especially useful tool if you want to let the kids sleep in the back while you listen to music in the driver's seat.

As someone who was often relegated to the third row of family SUVs and minivans on road trips during childhood, I can personally attest that the worst place in the world is often the rearmost seating in a family SUV or minivan. Thankfully, modern minivans like the 2026 Odyssey do a great job of easing that pain: even in adulthood, I wouldn't mind occasional third-row relegation in the Odyssey. The Honda minivan is no penalty box for the driver, either, who gets a powerful V6 at their disposal and entertaining driving dynamics for the class.

The biggest drawback of Odyssey ownership is the middling fuel efficiency. The recently-updated and efficient Toyota Sienna offers much better fuel economy and a number of impressive convenience features of its own, as well as the option to get all-wheel drive, a rare feature amongst modern minivans. The Kia Carnival is another frugal choice in the minivan class, though it lacks the gusto that makes the Odyssey a bit more fun to drive.