2021 Honda Odyssey ages gracefully with midlife refresh

The 2021 Honda Odyssey is getting its midlife refresh and biggest update since it was totally redesigned for the 2018 model year. Honda says we’ll receive more information and photos at the New York Auto Show, but the preview today is pretty comprehensive.

From a design perspective, the Odyssey gets a new blacked-out grille, eschewing the chrome, blocky design on the current car. Now, there’s a small chrome strip atop the grille, making for a much cleaner look. The lower front bumper was redesigned, in conjunction with the fog light housings. New LED headlights are said to be more powerful and efficient than the last ones, too. We only have the one photo for now, but it already looks more handsome than the previous design. Honda upped the black trim even further by using it around the rear window, too. The photo doesn’t show the back, but Honda says there’s a chrome strip just above the black trim, mimicking the front grille style.

Honda didn’t do a whole lot with the interior, but there are some noticeable changes and improvements. Once again, the single photo limits our visual perspective, but we’ll relay Honda’s description of the changes. It gets new climate controls on the dash, and the second-row seat backs now fold flat, making for easier removal from the car, according to Honda. For EX-L and higher trims, you’ll get redesigned seats with contrast stitching and power lumbar support. Both the Touring and Elite trims add new piano black trim on the dash and doors, while EX trims get new tri-color floormats and illuminated USB ports for easier finding.

The full suite of Honda Sensing driver assistance tech is also standard on every trim of Odyssey now. Honda also says it has improved the adaptive cruise control system, adding low-speed follow capability and pedestrian emergency braking. A new rear-seat reminder system also makes its debut on the 2021 Odyssey. Like other systems of its kind, the Odyssey will now prompt the driver to check the rear seating area before exiting the vehicle with an audible warning and message in the instrument cluster. However, Honda has introduced a twist to this one. In addition to the warning, Touring and Elite trims will also use the CabinWatch system camera to display a view of the rear seating area on the infotainment screen. Presumably, that’ll save you a twist of your head to check for kids in the backseat.

There’s nothing new on the powertrain front for 2021, as Honda continues to power its minivan with a 3.5-liter V6 and 10-speed automatic transmission. It’ll go on sale later this year after the New York Auto Show, and pricing will be available nearer the on-sale date.

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