In addition to powertrain improvements, Honda wanted the redesigned Odyssey to offer a sportier driving experience coupled with a ride quality approaching that of a luxury sedan. New from the ground up, the 2005 Honda Odyssey’s chassis and body structure provide substantial improvements in torsional and bending rigidity, which translates to more responsive handling and reductions in noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). The redesigned MacPherson strut front and double wishbone rear suspension has been tuned to reduce dive and squat as well as provide better wheel control over the bumpy stuff. Because the rear suspension is mounted to a floating subframe, road vibration is more isolated from the cabin. Honda also firmed up the steering to provide better on-center feel and more linear response as the driver twirls the wheel.
Our first turn behind the wheel put us on smooth Alabama blacktop driving 20 miles down the freeway in the 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L. Pulling away from a parking lot, we determined that the steering requires more effort than we’d like at slow speeds, but the brake pedal feels good underfoot and responds quickly without any dead travel upon application.
