The 2020 Honda Odyssey gets a 10-speed auto for its 25th birthday
Buyers will also get standard auto stop/start for improved fuel economy.
It's hard to believe that Honda's Odyssey minivan has been around for a quarter of a century, but here we are, and the big H announced on Monday that it's celebrating that in two ways.
First, it's offering the 2020 Odyssey with a 25th Anniversary Package that features a bunch of chrome accents and some special badging along with available 19-inch wheels. Next -- and probably more importantly -- the entire Odyssey lineup is getting Honda's 10-speed automatic transmission as standard.
The rest of the Odyssey goodies you know and love like HondaVac and CabinWatch are still available, and Honda is also introducing standard auto stop/start (which it calls Idle Stop) to help its minivan sip a little less fuel.
Honda's 25th Anniversary package will set buyers back a cool $1,500 and it's available on all of the Odyssey's six trim levels as a dealer-installed option. That price bumps up to a not-so-cool $2,800 if you want the 19-inch wheels as well.
Honda's 3.5-liter i-VTEC V6 engine returns for 2020, as does its totally respectable 280 horsepower figure. The combination of this engine, the Idle Stop feature and the 10-speed box means that the Odyssey is now good for 19 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway and 22 mpg combined. That figure is just a hair better than the FWD Toyota Sienna, significantly better than the Kia Sedona and tied with the nonhybrid Chrysler Pacifica.
The base-model 2020 Odyssey LX starts at $31,780 including destination, while the top-tier Elite trim goes for $48,415 and includes goodies like LED headlights, heated steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, wireless phone charging, power-folding mirrors and ventilated front seats, among other sweet, sweet luxury touches.
The 2020 Honda Odyssey will hit dealer showrooms on Aug. 13.
