The Honda Odyssey is a minivan manufactured by Japanese automaker Honda and marketed for the North American market, introduced in 1994.

The Odyssey was conceived and engineered in Japan after the country's economic crisis of the 1990s, which constrained the vehicle's size and concept and dictated its manufacture in an existing facility with minimal modification. The result was a smaller minivan, in the compact MPV class, that was well received in the Japanese domestic market, but less well received in North America. The first-generation Odyssey was marketed in Europe as the Honda Shuttle.

Subsequent generations diverged to reflect market variations, and Honda built a plant in Lincoln, Alabama, United States, that could manufacture larger models. Since 1998, Honda has marketed a larger (large MPV-class) Odyssey in North America and a smaller Odyssey in Japan and other markets. Until 2005, the North American Odyssey was also sold in Japan as the LaGreat (ラグレイト, Ragureito). Both versions of the Odyssey were sold in Japan at Honda Clio dealership locations. Both versions of the Odyssey are sold in the Middle East.

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First generation (RA; 1995)

The 1995 Odyssey was introduced in 1994 as Honda's first minivan. It was based on the Accord platform, with a 4-cylinder engine, all-disc anti-lock braking, all wishbone suspension, and a four-speed automatic transmission with a steering-column-mounted shifter and a hill-hold feature marketed as Grade Logic. This class of vehicles would subsequently become known as Compact MPV. The design featured unibody construction, dual airbags, dual gloveboxes, dual zone heating and cooling with 20 percent greater capacity than an Accord's system (overhead rear fan-speed adjustment control, and main control switch over the front-seat passenger), conventional rear swing-open rather than sliding doors, and a third row seat that could fold and tumble into a compartment beneath the floor — the spacesaver spare tire carried inside, on the right, rear wall of the cabin.

Honda marketed the first-generation Odyssey in two trim levels. The LX accommodated seven passengers with two front buckets, a removable three-seat middle bench, and a 2-seat third row bench. The EX accommodated six passengers (using two removable second row captain's chairs in lieu of the bench) and offered additional equipment including a roof rack, alloy wheels, power driver's seat height adjustment, power moonroof, remote keyless entry system, fog lights (for later model years), body-colored side moldings and mirrors, map lights, and 200-watt AM/FM/cassette six-speaker audio system. The Odyssey was only sold with four-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive in North America; in Japan the four-cylinder models could also be had with four-wheel drive and a V6-engined version was introduced in October 1997.

Isuzu offered a rebadged version of the Odyssey from 1996 to 1999 as the Isuzu Oasis.

Development

The Odyssey was engineered by Kunimichi Odagaki, then a chief engineer at Honda's Research and Development Center, along with a team of 20 members — in the wake of Japan's recession of the early 1990s and the possibility of a 25-percent tariffs if the minivans were imported to the U.S. as light trucks. In the course of developing the Odyssey, it became paramount to circumvent these obstacles and conceive a feasible interior package that could use existing manufacturing facilities with minimal investment.

Odagaki traveled to the U.S. in September 1990 with a small sub-team to conduct a review of the U.S. minivan market. At the project's inception, the team was considering variations for the project from 4-cylinder to V6 alternatives, when the project was canceled.

Odagaki continued working with an "underground" team, using as its design credo the concept of a "personal jet" — which in turn led to the car's original PJ concept code-name. Odagaki conceived the idea of the third-row seat folding into a floor compartment, and he worked with his team to include a "center aisle." The team determined a minimum interior height of 1.2 meters to retain the aisle and favored a design with a low floor — to provide ease of passenger entry and exit, easy garage-ability, low roof-loading height, as well as enhanced productivity on the assembly line.

The team worked to convince management of the project's viability, using extensive illustrations, a one-quarter scale model and a full-size foam model. By April 1991, Odagaki won permission to develop a prototype.

After bringing the right-hand drive prototype to the U.S., Odagaki won the support of American Honda. Production was officially launched on October 20, 1994 — the first Honda model in to be released at the same time through Honda's three Japanese distribution channels (Primo, Clio, Verno), marketing the Odyssey through the three channels under the same name.

In addition to being named after the epic, it also shares its name with a series of Honda ATVs, the reusing of Honda Motorcycle trademarks being a common way of naming new cars. The Odyssey name was previously considered for a new SUV, but the focus group found the journey themed name puzzling and was named the Honda Passport instead.

At its debut, the Odyssey won the Japan Car of the Year Award (Special Category) and the RJC New Car of the Year Award. By September 1997, the Odyssey had sold more than 300,000 units, becoming Honda's fastest-selling new car and breaking the Civic's record.

Taxi service In 1996, New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) expanded the number of licensable automobiles, approving the first generation Odyssey for use in the city's taxi fleet — the Odyssey having been recommended by the seven-year-old grandson of a TLC advisory commission member. Initial test riders identified advantages over then-prevalent Chevrolet Caprice and the Ford Crown Victoria taxi models — including greater height (for a better view of the road), headroom, rear legroom, rear footroom (the front-wheel-drive Odyssey having a flat floor) and cargo space over the sedans, as well as air-conditioning vents in the rear, which the sedans did not offer.

Isuzu Oasis

In December 1992, Isuzu announced its exit from passenger car market in 1993. In 1994, Isuzu negotiated with Honda to sell a version of Honda Odyssey by its U.S. dealers.

The Isuzu Oasis was a minivan marketed in the United States by Isuzu from 1996 to 1999 as a rebadged variant of the first-generation Honda Odyssey, the only minivan marketed by Isuzu.

After the Honda Odyssey was redesigned for 1999, Isuzu continued to market the Oasis for another year with minor changes. Later Oasis models came with a 2.3L VTEC engine similar to the engine found in the sixth generation Honda Accord.

Second generation (RL1; 1999)

The second generation North American market Odyssey was first assembled in Canada as a 1999 model mainly for North America between 1998 and 2004 — and exported to Japan as the LaGreat between 1999 and 2004. The television ad campaign for the new Odyssey evoked moments from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly the extended space-station docking and lunar landing sequences to the soundtrack of The Blue Danube waltz.

By its second generation, the Odyssey was considerably larger than its predecessor, and adopted sliding rear doors instead of hinged ones, simpler front strut suspension in place of upper and lower control arm front suspension of the 1995–1998 model, and a V6 engine instead of the original four-cylinder. The Odyssey offered two sliding doors as standard equipment, whereas some minivans of the time only offered one, a second door being optional on lower trims. It offered power sliding doors for the EX trim and manual ones for the base LX trim. It kept the fold-into-the-floor rear seat, an innovation adopted by many other minivans. This generation also introduced the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System (including Point of Interest (POI) search, which allowed drivers to locate businesses and landmarks by category, name, or phone number), for the 2000 model year, as an option for the EX trim, which became the first navigation system ever offered in any minivan or Honda vehicle. However, the power moonroof from the previous generation's EX trim was removed.

The 2004 model was the only second generation Odyssey model year to receive reliability ratings of five out of five according to Automotive Information Systems. IIHS gave the Odyssey a Good rating in the Frontal Offset Test from 1999 to 2004.

The second generation was praised for its powerful V6, its handling from its four-wheel independent suspension, and its features such as a large cabin, power sliding doors (manual sliding doors on LX models) and the stow-away third-row seat. Some found it noisier than competitors. It won consecutive Edmunds.com Editors' Most Wanted awards from 1999 to 2003 in the minivan category.

This is also the only generation of the Honda Odyssey where the power windows are only on the driver's and front passenger's doors.

2002 facelift

The Odyssey received a significant increase in power from in late 2001 for the 2002 model year. Some major upgrades included the addition of a third trim, EX-L, introducing leather seats to the Odyssey for the very first time, shifting the Navigation option from EX to EX-L, as well as a DVD-based entertainment system option for EX-L models without navigation. Also added was a five-speed automatic transmission, side torso airbags (not side curtain airbags), rear disc brakes, and a few minor cosmetic improvements on the outside as well as the inside. Other than an automatic power driver's window and a revised 5 speed transmission introduced in late 2003 in the 2004 model year, the Odyssey remained unchanged for 2003 and 2004, before being replaced with the third generation model.

Transmission problems The 4-speed automatic transmission in 1999 to 2001 models had serious problems with transmission durability. Honda spokesman Mike Spencer stated that four-speed models were afflicted with a bad bearing that could break apart, scattering fragments of metal that clogged fluid passageways in the transmission, causing it to shift erratically. Honda responded to the problems by extending the warranty on the transmission on American 1999–2001 models to 7 years or . A class action settlement further extended coverage to or 93 months for some 1999–2001 Odysseys in the US.Honda Transmission Settlement Canada is not included. The five-speed automatic was first installed in the Odyssey for the 2002 model, but general reliability of the 1999–2004 transmission was poor according to Consumer Reports. Spencer said that the five-speed models typically were damaged by premature wear of the third-gear clutch pack. As the clutch friction material abraded, it scattered bits inside the transmission case, clogging fluid lines and causing erratic shifting. Drivers might suffer slipping, poor or no shifts, or sudden down-shifts from fifth gear to second gear.

Under some conditions, a different 5-speed transmission problem arose. Second gear could overheat and break, causing the transmission to lock. An oil jet was added to lubricate this gear but this did not solve the third gear clutch problem. The addition of the Honda transmission cooler with the towing package still allows transmission fluid temperatures that are too high. But it was required along with a power steering cooler for any towing, or the warranty would be void. The Acura CL, TL, MDX, and Honda Accord suffered similar problems.

Third generation (RL3/4; 2005)

Honda introduced the third generation of the Odyssey for the 2005 model year. It grew in width and weight but retained the previous generation's length and interior space.