The drivers parade however was a processioon of S2000's. Integra Type R's and NSX's. The driver/owners are members of the Honda Sports Car Club from QLD and NSW (and possibly others). I'll try and get a video of it and post it.

 

I'm not knockin on the Odyssey...just the thought of a souped up minivan is quite laughable to me, that's all.

Jay

 

Boys and girls, you can flat drive the hell out of the Odyssey. No, it clearly isn't an S2000, but rather more like a Honda/Acura limo. It has a great motor, solid brakes, precise handling, and if you get used to the body lean, you can scoot through the twisties. Finally, you can haul a lot of stuff, whereas in the S2000 you can only haul ass.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BobRod:
[B]Boys and girls, you can flat drive the hell out of the Odyssey. No, it clearly isn't an S2000, but rather more like a Honda/Acura limo.

 

"precise handling" being a relative term i assume.........correction;biga$$ cube on casters.....

 

LOL

Jay

 

Sure its relative. Compared to some sport utes I've driven, my wife's Odyssey feels like a race car. Compared to my S2000, the Odyssey feels like a bus. The point is this: rather than create a shipping container on "casters", Honda created a practical vehicle that can be driven with enthusiasm because "relatively" speaking, it has it has a great motor, solid brakes, and precise handling. Just my opinion based on many hours of driving the Odyssey over some of the best roller coaster twisties in the Texas Hill Country.

 

Bob I see your point...but don't you think the fact that the mods are Mugen is kinda funny? To say the Odyssey is a good handling minivan is one thing...to soup it up with mods from a division like Mugen is still out of place, IMO.

Jay

 

Jay Li - I absolutely agree with you. But then I think the Mercedes souped up sport ute is funny, so what do I know?

I suppose my response was somewhat defensive and knee jerk. There is a relatively common perception in the U.S. that the minivan is an absurd piece of automotive harware driven by people not cool enough to know that they should drive a sport ute with half the cargo volume and twice the fuel consumption. This touches on the old style/image versus substance/performance issue. (Why drive a Honda "Civic" S2000 when you could drive bmwmercedesporsche and be really cool.) Anyway, if I need to haul six sheets of plywood, or if my wife needs to haul six days of groceries, or if a party of six adults is going to dinner, the Odyssey is a great vehicle. Like the S2000, I think Honda made a serious effort to build the best possible vehicle for its intended use.

Interesting aside. One of the car magazines wrote an article about a year ago comparing the performance specs of the '99 Odyssey to several mid 50's performance cars such as the Vette and Tbird. As I recall, the Odyssey's numbers were comparable or better. I've said a number of times that a professional driver could probably hustle the Odyssey around a race course of moderate length faster than some of us, me as an example, could drive our S2000's.