Honda Odyssey Luxury 2004 review

What better voyage home than in the one car – all seven – for a post-party odyssey?

Two of the more petite in our gang took the back seat but all passengers declared it a comfortable ride, with superlatives about leather, leg room and comfort embellished only slightly by the party mood.

A true testament of this tardis-like vehicle – the latest model is shorter on the outside but larger on the inside – is that it doesn't look like a people mover. Lord knows how they manage to tuck the 2.4-litre engine neatly away but it certainly responds when it's asked to, and handles smoothly and reliably.

With more utility than a Swiss army knife, Odyssey stored the back seats away with the push of a button, leaving roomy wagon space for pram, portable cot and numerous shopping bags the next day.

Wide, too, with baby seat and two generous derrieres easily able to sit together on the back seat.

Parallel parking is challenging but wide windows allow for easy panoramic vision when reversing.

I chose full automatic mode but for drivers wanting more performance, the Odyssey has a five-speed gear-shift option.

There's nothing lacking on the features front – leather upholstery, split airconditioning for front and rear, sunroof, vanity mirrors with lights, sunglasses holders and cup holders galore.

Honda designers' only fogy faux pas is the plastic walnut wood-grain trim – perhaps an acquired taste.

I do find it amusing that TV ads for this car try to sell it as sexy. The scene of a parental couple pashing in the front seat while their wide-eyed children stare on in disbelief is supposed to show just how arousing the style and feel of the car can be.

Why do advertisers try to convey the impossible, or is this possibly packed with irony?

From where I stand, the Odyssey is all about being sensible, not sensual, from the low chassis clearance to its very unsporty length.

After all, it's what the rapidly procreating generation Xers want these days, isn't it?

Honda, already with its own hybrid model on the road, heads down the green path, with Odyssey classed as a "low emissions" car.

While I'm not quite sure what this means, fuel economy on this four-cylinder car seems good.

I got one week's worth of baby ferrying and work commuting done on half a tank of petrol.

The only disappointment with Honda's clever people mover was the look on the birthday boy's face when we cleared the dance floor in one swift manoeuvre.