ignorant wrote:ManofFewWords wrote: Ignorant I see a minivan in your future. I'm not kidding.There is no god.
LOL. When my first son was born, I hadn't quite adopted my new identity: Dad. We sold the old honda and bought a 1 year old Expedition. A very manly wifey mobile. By the time number two came along I already had the van. Lots of cool toys have come home in that thing,
Fifty: the van is rated at 3500, the trailer is 1800, the car is 840. That leaves enough cushion for spare wheels, tools, etc. I'm also pretty convinced that the 2007+ Oddities are underrated, as they have the Ridgeline tranny (and engine) which has a 5k rating.
I have towed close to 5k with another pre-2007 Odyssey, and that one didn't even have the tranny/ps coolers.
Wowak....don't worry, still have lots of toys, just have to have something practical and the Xterra wasn't cutting it.
For events where I'm representing GRM with a booth (like Nats) I'll probably just grab our E250 van, as that makes more sense on many levels. But, the Odyssey will be great for local event towing here in flat Florida.
Opus wrote:kevinSC1 wrote: My friend calls hers the "Odysexxy"Pictures will help prove that.
She is both odd, and sexy... I can ask her permission to post a picture.
"....slowly turning beige." - Jeremy Clarkson
The Odyessy part is forgivable. The beige part, I'm not so sure.
Per finally has VTEC. It's a good thing.
They call it 'Mocha Metallic' I like it. It goes well with the 'Hot Chocolate' MINI Clubman. Mmmmm...Chocolate.
Per Schroeder wrote: They call it 'Mocha Metallic' I like it. It goes well with the 'Hot Chocolate' MINI Clubman. Mmmmm...Chocolate.
You could scratch off a few letters and it would be "Mo Metal". That might make it a little cooler. Granted, not as cool as RPF1's, bigass flares, and a turbo.
Oooh, RPF1s. That would match the MINI.
http://classicmotorsports.net/staff/Per/man-van/
COngrats?
The only minivan I want is either a slammed custom Astro or my dad's 5 speed turbo Plymouth. But my wife'd kill me if I showed up to the house in a rolling womb.
I like that the automated URL-maker thingy converted "Man With The Van" to "man-van"
Scott Lear wrote: Per finally has VTEC. It's a good thing.
He can roll with the Honda crew down on OBT and Pop VTEC after leaving every red light. DO IT.
I like the A-team treatment. 
New Odyssey looks pertty cool...
^ They're getting rid of the sliding doors (a la Ford Flex)? Sorry, sliding doors, especially powered ones make so much sense with little kids, tight parking spaces, etc.
procker wrote: New Odyssey looks pertty cool...
As the owner of a 2004 Oddy, it's interesting to me to see the possibility of them going away from sliding doors.
Yea, honestly, I saw the spy photos and decided it wasn't worth waiting for.
The beige you know versus the beige you don't.
fastEddie wrote: ^ They're getting rid of the sliding doors (a la Ford Flex)? Sorry, sliding doors, especially powered ones make so much sense with little kids, tight parking spaces, etc.
I think that's just the JDM/Euro version, as they haven't ever had the sliding doors. This one's a 2005 model:
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=57654
For example, when we got this Odyssey:
japan and Australia got this one:
For a lot of years I swore we would never own a mini van...then we bought one for the wife. It is by far the best, most versatile vehicle ever made. Drives like a car, hauls like a truck, and hauls a$$ as well. Have towed a 3000# boat with it. Hauled two 4.2L GM I6 engines from south Florida to South Carolina in the back and still got 27MPG. Hauled more kids than the law allows (literally). I can honestly say we will probably never be without one again. It's even beige. We got the Chevy rather than the Honda. The next one will be a Chevy as well. That 3.4 v6 is awesome.
Toyman01 wrote: For a lot of years I swore we would never own a mini van...then we bought one for the wife. It is by far the best, most versatile vehicle ever made. Drives like a car, hauls like a truck, and hauls a$$ as well.
Only people who are not secure in their own manhood hate minivans.
dyintorace wrote: I just discovered that there is a forum for Ody owners!I had no idea. Ody Club
Yep, pretty decent forum....not many engine upgrade possibilities though.
Good forum for diy fixes as well.
My Legrand hauler is beige too (actually Mineral Grey). Heck, even the enclosed trailer is beige. But I get some manly points back for the turbo oil burner under the hood. Luckily beige is immune from the light colored dust that sticks to dark cars and the dark colored dust that sticks to light cars. They have not invented dust that sticks to beige yet.
When the kids were born we went from a black 5.0 Mustang to a beige Mercury Sable wagon. Found out that the more room you have, the more stuff you pack.
Good move. The minivan will fit most people's needs, but sometimes they don't want to admit it.
The Ody and Sienna are much more comfortable for passengers in the wayback seats than any SUV I've ever been in.
We've had a 2007 Ody since Dec. '06. I like it a lot, but it is the wife's daily driver. We live in almost the exact middle of the country, but we've taken it to Houston, Gulf Shores, AL, and Rochester, MN. I've driven it for 15 hours straight from Gulf Shores to home. No big deal. Pretty quiet and comfortable, and the DVD player keeps the kiddos happy. I added the tow package myself, but the only thing I've ever put on the hitch was a bike rack.
Gas mileage is just OK. I'm a little too "destination oriented" to drive for fuel economy, but we get an honest ~23 mpg at 80 mph. That is pretty good for such a large vehicle. The rated MPG fell from 2006 to 2007 when they put in the "4 shaft" transmission. It fell again in '08 when the EPA changed the rules.
Ours is silver, the same color as water spots! I had to add a "Racing Revolution" (Honda F1) sticker to the front and rear so we could find it in the parking lots around here.
Question for Per: Why get the fancy bump stops for $200 when you can get helper air springs for $90? I don't know much about them, but I know some people on Odyclub were adding air springs. Your post was the first time I'd ever heard of the bump stops.
I love my mini-van, even if it ain't beige (below).
It has a ton of events (about 40-ish, I think), including lots out to the Pittsburgh Vintage/BeaveRun, Summit, the Glen, Shannonville, Lime Rock and Pocono. It's comfy, gets great gas mileage and Chez' Freestar be used like a "normal" car when not pulling.
And, I drove it 1000 miles in one weekend, through a lake-effect snow storm earlier this year to retrieve my lastest ~Vintage Racer~ (which actually IS beige). 
But not for long....it'll soon be Speedwell Blue like ~This One~
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