First Look: 2018 Honda Odyssey

Honda has given its hugely popular Odyssey minivan a makeover for the 2018 model year, with the result being altered styling on the interior and exterior and a number of new technological advances for passenger convenience. 
Exterior changes to the Odyssey are subtle, with a more sculpted look on the sides and a front end that is more squared off, to align it more closely with the Pilot SUV and Ridgeline pickup truck. A roofline appearance that seems to be lower also makes it look a bit sportier.  
On the inside, one of the biggest innovations is the Magic Slide second-row seat, which lets you remove the center part of the seat and slide the outer parts of the seat for more versatility. The outer seats can come together or remain separated with varying amounts of space in between. One of the advantages of that is allowing easier ingress and egress to the third row of seating. Another is to separate pain-in-the-behind fussing kids. The third row seat can fold into the floor for extra cargo space. 
The new display audio system is among the technological improvements, making it easier to customize and identify icons for features you need to use.  
There are also new CabinWatch and CabinTalk systems. CabinWatch lets passengers up front see passengers in the middle or rear seating on an optional 8-inch screen on the dashboard. CabinTalk lets the driver speak to middle and rear passengers with a microphone and the van's speakers. 
A new smartphone app, CabinControl, lets you access some systems such as climate control, the rear entertainment system and the navigation system. You can also upload songs to a playlist.
The rear entertainment system can link up to the internet with built-in 4G LTE, public Wi-Fi or using your mobile phone's data plan. 
The Odyssey has a 3.5-liter V-6 engine that makes 280 horsepower and is linked to a nine-speed automatic transmission or a new optional 10-speed automatic. 
Fuel economy has improved to 19 mpg city, 28 highway. 
The Odyssey is priced starting at around $31,000 and topping out just short of $50,000. 
For a reliable and surprisingly stylish family vehicle with lots of cool technology, it's hard to beat the Odyssey.