Honda Odyssey vs Kia Carnival

What's the difference?

The Honda Odyssey isn’t a bad choice for those looking to ferry around a large gaggle of people, but its far from the best option.

The first two rows are great and are supremely comfortable for those four occupants, but third-row usage will depend on how much those passengers are susceptible to motion sickness.

However, the Odyssey’s biggest weakness might be its sluggish engine and mundane CVT, with rivals like the new Kia Carnival and even Toyota Prius V offering better performance and better economy, respectively.

Still, the Honda Odyssey, and people movers in general, remain a solid option for those that don’t want another SUV or value the practicality and space afforded.

The Kia Carnival in the Platinum grade is our winner as the best eight-seater fit for a family in this close comparison. The Carnival stands out with its unbeatable practicality, great value and easy driving nature.

The Palisade in the Highlander grade impresses with its plushness and comfort, while the Pathfinder scores well for its safety and ownership costs.

Gone are the days where people movers could be considered daggy or uncool. No, please, don’t click away, we’re serious!

The 2021 Honda Odyssey features a new front grille, bumper and headlights that combine for a much more imposing and aggressive front fascia.

The chrome highlights look especially good against the 'Obsidian Blue' paintwork of our test car, at least to our eyes, and between this and the new Kia Carnival, people movers might just be cool again.

The first- and second-row seats are plush and comfortable, while the dashboard also features woodgrain touches to lift the interior ambience.

The 8.0-inch multimedia screen sit proudly in the centre stack, while the shifter is on the dashboard to maximum interior space.

Sure, we’re parents surviving on years of broken sleep and, yes, we sometimes leave the house wearing clothes smeared in banana but that doesn’t mean we can’t drive something that looks half decent. 

Fortunately for us, people movers look a lot more stylish than they used to and the Carnival is a sleek and modern looking van with a little truck-like nose that adds a don’t-mess-with-me toughness that will help you muscle your way through traffic.

Speaking of truck-like there’s the Palisade which looks the beefiest and poshest here with that dining room table sized bonnet, that grandstanding grille and big, blocky but premium styling. 

Measuring 4855mm long, 1820mm wide, 1710mm tall and with a 2900mm wheelbase, the Honda Odyssey is not just an imposing behemoth on the outside, but also a spacious and practical people mover on the inside.

Up front, occupants are treated to plush and comfortable seats with electronic adjustment and individual fold-down armrests.

How practical is this trio? That’s probably the most important question here.

Well, we’ve lived with all three eight-seaters with our families and we can tell you they offer excellent levels of practicality and utility. There is a clear winner, though.

If it's enormous boot space you’re after the Carnival can’t be beaten. Whether it’s with the third row in place or folded the Carnival offers the largest cargo capacity.

For third-row comfort the Carnival offers the best legroom but the Pathfinder offers the best headroom.

For the best access to the third row nothing beats the sliding door of the Carnival. The automatic power sliding door makes it easy for kids to open, and tight carparks aren’t a worry for access, plus getting to the third row is more like stepping through rather than climbing through as it is for the Palisade and Pathfinder.

Special mention has to go to the quick release folding mechanism on the Pathfinder second-row seats to give access to the third row. Also, a special mention to my eight-year old who discovered the button while I almost broke the seat trying to fold it forward.

For second-row passengers the Carnival offers the best leg- and headroom, while the Palisade has the most comfortable second row and the Pathfinder offers excellent visibility for small children with its high seating position.

All our eight seaters are well equipped with power outlets, USB ports and all have wireless phone charging.

Cabin storage is good, too, with all having more cupholders than you’ll ever have drinks for, but parents know they also double as snacks bowls and buckets in which to put toys, rocks, shells and dummies.

The Palisade’s cabin storage up front is excellent with its floating centre console which has a large area underneath and a generous covered area under the armrest.

All have tinted windows and retractable sunblinds, but only the Carnival has sun shades in the third row too. Have a look at the video, they’re cute.

While all three of our eight seaters are practical, the Carnival stands out offering the best access to second and third rows through those electric sliding doors.

The Carnival also has the most spacious cabin - one small children can even stand up and get changed in, plus it offers the biggest boot, by a long way.

In this comparison we have the Nissan Pathfinder Ti which is the entry-point to its line-up, with a petrol engine and all-wheel drive being the only choice. The Ti is also the only grade in the range with eight-seats. This new-generation Pathfinder Ti arrived just last year and lists for $71,490.

The Hyundai Palisade we’ve chosen is the top-of-the-range petrol Highlander with front-wheel drive and has a list price of $75,900.

And then there’s the Kia Carnival which is front-wheel drive only and ours is the highest grade Platinum with the petrol engine and has a list price of $65,580.

The standard features comparison table below shows the equipment lists for the three vehicles.

As you can see all come standard with LED headlights and LED DRLs, plus they all have alloy wheels. The Palisade has the biggest alloys - they’re 20-inch wheels, the Carnival has 19-inch rims and the Pathfinder has 18s.

They all come with roof rails, dark tinted privacy glass for the rear windows and all have power tailgates.

Inside, the Palisade and Carnival both come with 12.3-inch media screens, while the Pathfinder has a 9.0-inch display. The Palisade also has a 12.3-inch driver display but the Carnival and Pathfinder have analogue dials with smaller digital screens. The Palisade and Pathfinder also have a head-up display.

All have three-zone climate control and all have heated seats up front and in the second row, but only the Palisade and Carnival have ventilated seats up front, too. If our Pathfinder was the top of its range Ti-L grade it would have these cooling seats, as well.

The Carnival and Palisade also have sunroofs and again if our Pathfinder was the fancy one it’d have one, too.

All have sat nav, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - which is wireless in the Pathfinder.

The Pathfinder and Carnival both have Bose sound systems - it’s a 12-speaker system in the Carnival and a 13-speaker stereo in the Pathfinder. The Palisade has a 12-speaker Infinity stereo and to my ears sounds the best of the three.

All come with a stack of standard features, but the Carnival offers outstanding value at this price from the big media screen to climate control in the second row.

That said, it doesn't have a head-up display while the other two do; it’s a feature which makes keeping an eye on your speed and sat nav directions easy.  

All 2021 Honda Odysseys are powered by a 129kW/225Nm 2.4-litre ‘K24W’ four-cylinder petrol engine, which drives the front wheels via a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).

Peak power is available at 6200rpm, while maximum torque is on stream from 4000rpm.

Honda diehards might note the K24 engine designation and be reminded of the rev-hungry 2.4-litre unit of the Accord Euro from the early 2000s, but this Odyssey’s powerplant is built for efficiency rather than performance.

Compared to the likes of the Kia Carnival (which is available with a 216kW/355Nm 3.5-litre V6 or 148kW/440Nm 2.2-litre turbo-diesel) the Odyssey is noticeably down on power.

The Australian Odyssey also doesn’t feature any form of electrification, such as the Toyota Prius V, which would excuse the lower outputs and push the Honda people mover more into green territory.

All of our eight seaters have V6 petrol engines. In the case of the Palisade the size is 3.8 litres, while the Carnival and Palisade have 3.5-litre engines.

The table shows how much power and torque the engines produce but the takeaway here is the outputs of the V6s in the Carnival and Palisade are almost identical. Plenty of power, too.

The Pathfinder’s engine is less powerful, but the good news is this SUV can tow more than the Palisade and Carnival.

The Pathfinder is the only all-wheel drive in this comparison, the other two are front-wheel drive. You can get the Palisade with all-wheel drive but it’s paired with a diesel engine and you can’t get the Carnival with all-wheel drive.

The Palisade and Carnival have eight-speed automatic transmissions, while the Pathfinder has a nine-speed auto.

The 2021 Honda Odyssey, regardless of grade, will return a fuel consumption figure of 8.0 litres per 100km, according to official figures.

This betters the fuel economy of the petrol-powered Kia Carnival (9.6L/100km), as well as the Mazda CX-8 (8.1L/100km) and soon-to-be-replaced Toyota Kluger (9.1-9.5L/100km).

In our week with the Odyssey Vi LX7, we managed an average of 9.4L/100km in a mix of inner-city and freeway driving, which isn’t too far off the official figure.

Though the fuel consumption isn’t too bad for a naturally aspirated petrol engine, those who want to save costs at the bowser should look to the petrol-electric Toyota Prius V hybrid, which sips just 4.4L/100km.

An important part of our testing is investigating how much fuel a car uses and we conducted a direct comparison by taking the vehicles in convoy through a 130km loop of every type of road condition you’ll find.

We filled the tanks then headed off though Sydney’s CBD, onto motorways and into the suburbs, then onto some fast and hilly bushland roads, before looping back towards the city just in time to join the 5:00pm peak hour traffic.

Refilling the tanks revealed the real-world fuel consumption of each over the same conditions and distance.

You’ll see in the table below that the Palisade and Carnival came back using almost identical amounts of fuel.

The Pathfinder was thirstier by one litre more per 100km, but remember it's the only all-wheel drive here and generally these drivetrains will increase fuel consumption.  

That’s an interesting finding. If you think an all-wheel drive SUV will use a lot more than a two-wheel drive SUV, then the truth is yes, but not a lot more -  about $2.00 more per 100km.

You’ll also see in the table how much each eight-seater costs to fill.

It’s very close to call here, but the Carnival wins again.

Though the Honda Odyssey looks like a bus on the outside, it doesn’t feel like one behind the wheel.

The Odyssey drives differently to an SUV, which is a good thing, feeling more hunkered down and connected to the road compared to the wallowy and bouncy nature of some high-riders.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t Honda’s best handling model, but there is certainly enough feedback in the steering wheel to know exactly what’s happening underneath, and the Odyssey always feels predictable, regardless of road condition.

And because visibility is excellent all around, the Honda Odyssey is just an easy, no-fuss car to drive.

The second-row is also great while on the move, and might actually be the better place to be.

The seats do a great job at soaking up little bumps and road imperfections, and there is plenty of room to stretch out and relax while someone else handles driving duties.

It’s a shame, then, that there isn’t more going on in the second row to keep passengers happy.

The third-row seats, though, are nowhere near as comfortable.

Maybe it’s the fact they are positioned right over the rear axle, or it’s the thick and vision-obscuring C- and D-pillars – or a combination of both – but time in seats five, six and seven, aren't ideal for those prone to motion sickness.

Maybe kids, or those with stronger stomachs can get comfortable in the third row, but for us, it was not a pleasant experience.

A family car needs to be easy to drive and that includes parking, steering, visibility, how secure it feels on the road as well as comfort over long distances.

The Pathfinder wasn't the easiest for us to drive. We found it more cumbersome to steer with reduced visibility due to a high dashboard. The Pathfinder is also the least civilised in its ride and handling with bumps and rolliness over potholes and through roundabouts. 

We agreed that the Pathfinder’s engine response is a little unpredictable with gear changes from the auto transmission that cause the SUV to surge forward slightly at times. 

Emily and I took turns to be passengers in the second row while the other drove. It's a rare delight as a parent to have somebody do the chauffeuring, and it provided an excellent insight into what our kids experience in the back seat.

Not surprisingly, the Pathfinder proved least comfortable and the Palisade the most comfortable for rear seat passengers.

We’re taking into account not just how much support the seats offer but the degree of head-sway (which causes motion sickness) and amount of jostling back there, too.

The Carnival’s second row seats aren’t as comfy and limo-like as the Palisade, but the ride is refined and settled. An expansive, open space makes the experience less taxing than an SUV’s cabin.

All of our eight-seaters have been awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP rating, but as you can see in the table the Pathfinder’s score is fresher. 

The table also shows what safety equipment is featured from AEB and lane keeping assistance to airbags and how many child seat attachment points are on board.

The takeaway here is that all three of our comparison vehicles have airbags which extend to cover the third row occupants.  

Like all new Hondas sold in 2021, the Odyssey comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with six-years of rust protection assurance.

Scheduled service intervals are every six months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first, but this is much sooner than the industry standard of 12 months/15,000km.

According to Honda’s 'Tailored Service' price guide, the first five years of ownership will cost buyers $3351 in servicing fees, averaging out to around $670 per year.

The Kia Carnival petrol meanwhile, is about $2435 to service over five years, averaging out to be about $487 per year.

The Toyota Prius V also needs to be serviced every six months/10,000km, but the cost of the first five years of ownership totals just $2314.71 – more than $1000 less than the Odyssey.

The Pathfinder is covered by Nissan’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and the Palisade matches it with Hyundai’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, but the Carnival outdoes them with Kia’s seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

All have capped price servicing, but over five years the Palisade is the most affordable with an average cost of about $400 per year, while the Carnival and Pathfinder will cost on average about $500 per visit.

Service intervals for the Carnival and Palisade are 12 months/15,000km, while the Palisade needs servicing every 12 months/20,000km. 

The Carnival and Palisade come with 12 months of free roadside assistance. The Hyundai's is renewed for another year every time you service your vehicle at an authorised Hyundai dealer - up to a maximum 10 years. And the Kia deal is similar, up to a maximum of eight years. The Pathfinder has five years of free roadside assistance. 

So, while the Carnival has the longer warranty and that’s certainly peace of mind, the Pathfinder with its affordable servicing and roadside assistance package wins here.