The 2016 Honda Odyssey SE Has Arrived!View our Honda Odyssey inventory The HondaVAC: The Auto Industry’s First Built-In Vacuum Cleaner It’s a small wonder that nobody thought of it before, but the 2014 Honda Odyssey is actually the first vehicle in the U.S. to be available with a built-in vacuum. Since minivans are most often used as family vehicles – and family vehicles tend to get a bit messy now and then – the addition of a vacuum to the new Odyssey is a common-sense innovation that helps set it apart from the rest. The HondaVAC is built into the driver’s side of the Odyssey’s cargo area, and comes with a hose and two attachments designed to help you clean all of the minivan’s nooks and crannies. You can run the HondaVAC continuously while the engine is running, or you can use it for up to eight minutes when the engine is off. Why Add a Vacuum to a Minivan? Honda says the idea came from one of their engineers – or, more specifically, from his child.

The story goes that the engineer noted the crumbs and other material that builds up during a long family drive, and his child suggested that the car should have a vacuum cleaner. The rest is history. It’s a simple idea, but the HondaVAC will have a big impact in terms of helping you keep your new Odyssey clean. To see how it works up close, come visit us at Brilliance Honda of Crystal Lake! 680 W. Terra Cotta Ave. • Crystal Lake, IL 60014Supersized 2016 Honda Pilot delivers more of just about everything Redesigned SUV is larger, more powerful, and better finished Honda traditionally embodies efficiency in design. But the typical consumer doesn’t always appreciate such modesty, tending to always want more. Redesigned for 2016, the new Honda Pilot aims to please, providing more in almost every conceivable way. This is a shift for the Pilot. Introduced in 2003, the original was basically a station wagon on steroids, one of the first family-friendly three-row crossovers.

Topping CR’s ratings, it was also a runaway sales success. Honda didn’t recapture the same lightning in the bottle with the second generation, introduced in 2008 as a 2009 model. Its boxy old-school styling and cheap interior missed the mark in an increasingly gentrified market. Houses For Sale Knockraha Co CorkAlso, in a nation with big driveways and garages, not many people appreciated the Pilot’s efforts to cram the most interior space into a relatively compact footprint.Homes For Sale In Woodcliff Lake Nebraska The new Pilot is bigger, measuring 3.5 inches longer. Puppies For Sale In Lasalle County IllinoisIt also looks and feels more premium, starting with the styling that bears more than a passing resemblance to the popular CR-V.

Unusually, the rear three-quarter angle is arguably the best view, being reminiscent of a Mercedes-Benz GL. That upright greenhouse affords great visibility for a modern SUV, with large windows all the way around, even in back. For a new vehicle, the windshield pillars are freakishly narrow—a refreshing change. Growing in size didn’t make the Pilot profligate. Not only did it not gain weight, it shed almost 300 pounds. Despite this reduction, Honda strengthened the structure, aiming for a Good in the challenging IIHS small overlap crash test. This remedies a major shortcoming of the outgoing Pilot, which lost its Consumer Reports recommended status after scoring Poor in that test. And unlike most competitors, you don't have to buy a top-trim version to get key safety gear such as forward collision warning, lane departure warning, or collision mitigation. The Honda Sensing system is available on EX trims and above. “More” also applies to the 2016 Pilot’s powertrain.

A new 3.5-liter V6 makes 280 horsepower, up 30 hp from before. The outgoing Pilot was one of the last holdouts from any manufacturer to still have a five-speed automatic transmission. Standard now is a six-speed, with a nine-speed on swanky Touring and Elite versions. That’s a mixed blessing, likely to improve performance and fuel economy but at the cost of gaining an unintuitive pushbutton shifter. Smooth power delivery motivates the Pilot. Most shifts from the nine-speed are unobtrusive, but a few bumps show up at low speeds as the transmission figures out which gear to pick. Top-trim models have a start-stop system that shuts off the ignition to save fuel when stopped; restarts are smooth but can feel slow in some traffic situations compared to better systems of this type. For the first time, we dare to use the word “quiet” to describe the Pilot—at least on the luxurious Elite trim, which benefits from additional sound-deadening measures. Wind and road noise are hushed.

We did notice some suspension noise thumping through, a discordant note. Don’t expect sporty reflexes. Not only does the Pilot look more regal, but it also feels bigger when steering through the corners. Agility isn’t part of the equation, even compared to the Hyundai Santa Fe and Toyota Highlander. While the suspension does a decent job of absorbing bumps, ride comfort doesn’t stand out. Inside, the Pilot is spiffed up with more soft-touch materials and nice details, including stitching and a slick sliding console top. But there were still more hard panels than we’d expect, especially for the price of the loaded top-level Elite model we tried. While the Elite is packed with equipment, it still misses some modern upscale touches expected at $47,000, like an electric parking brake or height-adjustable lumbar support. Family friendly accommodations are a highlight. There’s plenty of room in all three rows, although adults won’t care for the too-low third-row seat. Second-row seats fold out of the way for third-row access with the push of a single button—a tremendously handy feature.