2009 Honda Odyssey JDM official images

By George Skentzos | October 18th, 2008

Honda has released the first official images and details surrounding its latest Odyssey people mover, clearly aiming to continue its reputation as a family car without the family car look.

While this model is destined for the Japanese market, the local version is expected to be relatively identical, seemingly borrowing many of its design features from the FCX Clarity.

Under its slightly longer body and reworked chassis, the new Odyssey boasts agile recalibrated double wishbone suspension at all four corners.

It will also be available with an optional all-wheel drive system mated to a 2.4-litre four-cylinder i-VTEC engine producing 127kW or 152kW in the flagship Absolute model for the Japanese domestic market.

The interior features a futuristic Star Trek-like console layout with many gadgets to keep the occupants amused including a new multi-positioned camera system that allows drivers to get a bird’s eye view of the vehicle to assist with parking.

It also features a versatile seating layout which can be arranged in a multitude of ways much like the current Honda Jazz.

http://none Ray Edwards

Looks like they just chopped up a hatchback and added a extra set of seats :p

All wheel drive is nice but those rims and the chrome twin exhausts just make it look…cheap, like something will fall off it in 6 months.
RoFlmaTiC

The double negative about the dissimilarity hurt my head
Cupid Stunt aka No Name

Not a bad effort apart from the grill/bumper line. Looks like a droopy bottom lip on some fish.
O

i think the rear is a step down it looks more vanish than current.Other than that it looks great i hope we get the mugen varient lol
http://www.ihatemycar.com.au ihatemycardotcomdotau

Looking good…I like it.
Hondacar

I suppose if people don’t like the look of the new Odyssey they can go for the KIA carnival or the SSangYong Stavic people movers.
Now they are real “lookers” aren’t they?
Sam

Hondacar that is a good point. While it isn’t quite as garish as a Stavic, that rear end is a mess if you ask me. The wood grain inside is a bit strange looking too. Should be a good car though for those who dont want a bus.
Myke

I quite like the look of the Odyssey. If anything I hope they improved the safety, VSC as standard and a proper seatbelt in the middle, second-row seat.
Foggy

The new “Jazz-style” seating looks like a much better use of space than the current model, and there are some interesting innovations which would be desirable for many families…. but they seem to have hired Subaru’s exterior design team…. I’ll think stick with my C4 Picasso for a bit longer.
Buckles

I love them for an MPV (more so the last shape) but they need bigger wheels to really set them off i think.
realcars

Don’t get this as a people mover?

Rear most seats are useless.Ok for toddlers perhaps.

Isn’t a proper wagon or people mover.What is the point of it?

Looks, well Grand Carnival looks ok to me. No uglier than most 4 by 4 seven seaters getting about. Only so much u can do with the style of something that has eight full size seats.
Spitfire

When I see things like this I am glad I had a vasectomy.
Tim

Very dissapointing, he current gen Odyssey looks way better. Its like Honda tried very hard to make the car look better….yet failed horribly.
Alan

I quite like it actually, and if i need to carry 7 people around this would be my number 1 choice. The only 7 seater MPV that doesn’t make you feel like a soccer mum driving it. At least what that’s what i think of this car.
crouchy

meh i dont mind the front end but that rear is just too common at the moment… im thinking tribeca, escape… all with those awkwardly small lights >
.

2.4 ltr? Underpowered crap …Still no ESP? the current one has no ESP, even as an option..It is 46,000$ car!! What a joke!!
MichaeJ

Can’t wait fot thr 4WD Version!!! Beautiful
JamesL

A quick look through these photos suggests that Honda is still not offering a Lap/sash seatbelt for the second row middle passenger and is still offering anchor points for child seats in the roof and the tailgate, rather than on the backs of the seats. That means that the third row will be useless if you have a child seat in the second row. That’s a real shame and will likely make the difference in whether or not I buy one – there’s no point in having a third row of seats if they can’t be used.
Mike

We have a current shape 2005 Odyssey. It looks like the basic body structure and interior panels (eg shape of boot sides) o the new car is the same. The subtle styling changes make it look to my eye more like a slightly taller Accord wagon than the low-riding semi-MPV style of the current one – I like it. But the new dash is a mess: the simple, elegant sweeping lines of the current design have been lost to a frenzy of silly details and the so-common V-pattern of the vents in the centre. It also looks like the middle row of seats don’t go as flat as in ours. Agree with JamesL about safety tethers to the roof can make 3rd row difficult to use, but I disagree with Realcars comment about the 3rd row just being for children – it’s actually pretty spacious in the back and the seats are proper comfortable, not just cheap benches – passengers have been surprised by the comfort back there. My wife sees it as a spacious 7-seater that drives like a car, to me it’s a quality, practical wagon that’s a bit different.
P Molloy

Amazed at some of the negative stuff. I’ve been drving (hard) for 40+ years and never needed ESP yet so the current fashion for it is just part of the ongoing dumbing down – expecting the car to get the driver off the hook for utter incompetence. Criticism about the baby seat anchors is valid and Honda should be listening to that. Criticism about the rear seats is badly misplaced – they’re best in class by far, at least in the current model. The Odyssey drives far better than any other 7 seater and is hugely more reliable than the US, European and Aus SUVs and more economical. Don’t buy it as a performance car, but for its purpose it has pleny of power. Judging the new looks from pohotos alone is a mistake – wait til you see on in the flesh. But this is definitely an evolution of the current shape rather than a revolution. Is the windscreen steeper? On the old model the screen continues well past the beginning of the front wheel well. The new one, the screen is almost immediately above the beginning of the wheel well, which is how they’ve managed to eliminate the vent window. But the front overhang seems the same. So either the wheelbase is longer, or the screen is steeper? I like the looks overall, but my 2006 will do me for a few years yet.
Mal

I currently drive the 2001 model with the beautiful 154kW V6 which performs well and deliver excellent fuel economy. When you are lugging the whole family around this is a little underpowered for us (and yes we have all been for a drive).
Stereo is also very tinny compared to all of the oposition and SatNav is not an option in fact the salesmen said “not even possible aftermarket” but I find that hard to believe. How SatNav can not be an option in 2009 has got me beat as in many cars like the Tribeca they are standard. I was talking to an Audi salesman who had sold 15 Q7s on which SatNav was an option and all 15 customers ordered it. Apparently its an option on the Odyssey in just about any other country in the world but some ratbag at Honda Australia decided to skip it. Go figure?
guesto

horrendously ugly dash console with 15yr old looking dbl-din unit, does the depreciating of the aussie dollar warrant the removal of most luxury-type features like satnav, reverse cam / park assist. luxurious items like reverse-tilt door mirror, auto-dimming rear view mirror, front passenger electric seats ought to be considered above the base model. a thorough beauty on the exterior and awfully disappointing interior comfort features
JENNIFER

Do the doors still slide? It doesn’t look like it in the pics. That would be a huge negative for me. Otherwise, I like the style. Can’t wait to see pics of the luxury model.
Erin

Uh, this is not an Odyssey for sale in the U.S. this is a JDM Japanese Domestic Model. Yes different than U.S Odyssey. I looked it up because I am not impressed with the U.S made one anymore.