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قديم 20-06-2011, 08:30 AM
ahmed_2011 ahmed_2011 غير متواجد حالياً
التخصص العملى: ترجمة
هواياتي: الرسم
 
تاريخ التسجيل: Jun 2011
الموقع: القاهرة
المشاركات: 125
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افتراضي 2011 Honda Odyssey Touring and Accord Crosstour EX-L 4WD NAVI Review

Honda. As I say it out loud here in my home office, I can't help but feel confused, sad and partially frustrated. In my so far brief 12-year career as an auto critic, I have still managed to evaluate nearly three dozen Hondas. In that period of time, I've test driven three generations of the Civic, two of the Accord, CR-V, Pilot, Fit, Insight and Odyssey and one of the Ridgeline, Element, CR-Z and Crosstour.







Every time I complete a week-long or more road test in a Honda, I come away with a sense of general satisfaction. Yes, Honda deserved the reputation of building good, reliable and fun cars. To this day, this remains partially true as the dedication for quality and engineering from Honda still shines through in all of its products.

However, the fact is that Honda made some mistakes in the last decade and they are really feeling it today. Their sales are in a freefall with no end in sight, at least until the 2012 Civic arrives. I'll tell you more about it shortly.

Recently, I was called upon to review two Hondas back to back. One is the well-established Odyssey which, despite being a minivan, adheres to Honda's credo of sporty driving and engaging styling (for a minivan). The other is, well, the family member you do not want around when company's over, the Crosstour. A mistake?

I've decided to roll these two cars into one review because, although they are different on the outside, like siblings, they share much of the same DNA.

It's a well-known fact that tastes and preferences cannot be discussed. Fine. But when countless people say that a car is "not pretty", to put it kindly, and it does not sell, it is safe to assume that a majority of the buying public is not a fan of the Crosstour's styling. The Odyssey, on the other hand, has never looked as focused and sharp.

We can thank Honda's interior designers for keeping most of their cabins business-like and well appointed, crafted and always well assembled.

Commonalities in both cases are large living spaces, great big seats for all butt sizes for the first two rows and modern sweeping dashboard designs. In both cases, the sheer width of the pane of plastic makes for some controls that are difficult to reach from the driver's position. A minor headache, but one nonetheless.


The obvious difference here is that the Odyssey can accommodate more souls if need be, up to eight. Its trunk is also larger but given that the average family has about two kids, the Odyssey could be overkill. Certainly, ingress and egress are easier thanks to the dual sliding doors but for that, you'll have to live with the fact that you own a minivan. Can you?







The Odyssey's cabin is nearly infinitely adjustable. With the 3rd row stowed in the floor, load space is huge. And yes, you can fit a sheet of drywall back there but how often will that happen? As far as wagons go, the Crosstour's trunk is capacious enough to handle 99% of 99% of people's needs.

I love hatches as they make loading and unloading a breeze. A word of caution, though, for the Crosstour: its enormously heavy hatch is just that, heavy. Honda needed to counter that weight with powerful struts in order to aid in the raising and sustaining of the lard-ass door. It works fine in clement weather but the moment a snowflake or a sugar-grain-sized piece of ice happens to be on it, the hatch opens slowly and doesn't rise to its max height. If you don't have eyes behind your head when you pull out of the trunk, you will knock your noggin on the lower part of the hatch. I did so five times in a week. #$&!*£@!!!

Now, getting back to how a Honda drives. In either case, you'll be hard pressed to find anything, and I mean anything, wrong. From 1999 on, when I first test-drove the Odyssey, I've always been blown away by how greatly it handles. In fact, this van has been referred to as the "Honda" of minivans. That says quite a bit. The Crosstour behaves like an Accord that weighs 400 lbs more. Typically, this avoir-du-poids would snuff any and all driving pleasure. Not so. In part, at least. The ride is comfortable but the chassis is slow to react with tedious girth transfers.

Both vehicles have light steering, perfect for city dwellers. Hand and forearm efforts change very little at highway speeds. I found this to be especially true in the Crosstour at 90 km/h and more.



Mechanically, the Odyssey and Crosstour share a huge amount. They are powered by Honda's much used 3.5L V6 featuring Variable Cylinder Management and i-VTEC technologies. They are in different states of tune as the Crosstour surfs on 271 hp while the Odyssey coasts on 248.

As far as transmissions go, a smooth-shifting 5-speed automatic handles power delivery. In the Odyssey, this is true in 3 out of 4 cases. My tested Touring is "special" as it is the only one to sport a 6-speed automatic. This divergence I cannot explain. What I can tell you is that the 5- and 6-speed boxes behave in the same faultless if not slightly lazy manner, programmed to deliver fuel efficiency and cloud-like operation.







About fuel consumption, I managed just over 12L per 100 km in mixed driving with the minivan. This number is far greater than the suggested average 9.2L by Honda. My week-long test did take place on snow-covered roads with a median temperature of -5 degrees Celsius.

Tipping the scale at 330 lbs less than the Odyssey, I had expected the wagon to fare better. Not. In similar conditions, it gulped nearly 15L of black expensive gold per 100 km. I'm still not over it.

I suspect that in both instances, an owner would experience, over a far longer period of time, lower numbers. I wouldn't go so far as saying 25% better but more likely in the 10 to 15% improvement range.

At this point that I've shown that both vehicles can carry people and gear, are well built, have the same engines, are heavy drinkers and are good drives. You might be thinking that there has to be other differences than simply their body styles. Yes.

In my books, the Crosstour has one serious advantage, being available with AWD. Incidentally, both have a common platform. In fact, it is shared with the Accord and Pilot as well. This then means that the Odyssey could theoretically be fitted with Honda's Real Time 4-wheel drive system. The issue here would be cost.

A base Odyssey retails for $29,990. The lowest-priced Crosstour is $34,900, but compares equipment-wise to the EX RES-trimmed Odyssey which has a $35,490 sticker. Here, swap the leather for the rear entertainment system (RES) and you're just about even. At $36,900, an AWD Crosstour with many trimmings can be yours.



Stepping it up a few notches, to the cars I've driven and another reason why I've chosen to compare these two, we get the $46,990 Odyssey Touring and the $38,900 EX-L AWD Navigation Crosstour. I understand that the van has power doors, the RES and a 6-speed transmission, but is it worth the $8,000 premium?

If I take an average family into consideration, I'd say no. That money can serve many other purposes. Also, minivans are un-cool but then again, the Crosstour is... un-cool. Something else to consider is resale value. The Odyssey retains its value whereas the Crosstour may not. $8,000 worth? Tough to say.







As this is my review, I will say that I would drive off the Honda dealer's lot with the Crosstour in large part for its lower price (bang for the buck) and AWD. As well, it looks like a station wagon...

The Odyssey is an incredible minivan but sometimes all that space for "just-in-case" situations is not worth it.
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