Not bad, but not great

Author's Rating:

Pros: Comfort and convenience
Ride quality is good
Nice interior

Cons: Cruise control operation and performance
Fuel efficiency
Turning radius

The Bottom Line: 
It is about as good as a minivan gets here in the USA, but where alternative engines are available, this van would get closer to 40 mpg and not 20.

Author's Review
I have a 2009 EX-L with no additional factory supplied options.  The van is well made and the fit and finish seems to be pretty decent.  The leather seats are comfortable and the controls are fairly well laid out.  I like that the van has 3 zone climate controls.

Cruise control issues:  I'll never understand why cruise needs to be turned "on" and then set  I'm used to cars where you press the set level and it is set, you don't have to turn cruise on first.  It works but I think the set up in the Odyssey is kind of lame.  The cruise is also very ineffective.  It would seem with modern technology they could get a cruise control to hold within a mph or two of the set speed (of course very steep hills might not apply).  The van will slow about 5 mph before the computer realizes it isn't still going the speed set on the CC and then the gas pedal is floored to try and catch back up.  Annoying to say the least. 

Also I am not impressed with the terrible fuel efficiency.  Come on Honda, my 2005 Dodge Sprinter full size van (the size of a small school bus) gets better fuel mileage than my new '09 Odyssey.