Compare the2024 Honda OdysseyVS 2024 Toyota Grand Highlander

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Odyssey are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Honda Odyssey has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the Odyssey deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The Odyssey’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Grand Highlander’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Both the Odyssey and the Grand Highlander have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

A significantly tougher test than their original offset frontal crash test, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH small overlap frontal offset crash tests. In this test, where only 25% of the total width of the vehicle is struck, results indicate that the Honda Odyssey is safer than the Grand Highlander:

The Honda Odyssey achieved a “Top Safety Pick” rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2024 model year. This recognition was based on its impressive performance in the small overlap frontal crash test, updated side impact crash test, headlight evaluations, and pedestrian crash prevention testing. The Grand Highlander is not a “Top Safety Pick” for 2024.

The engine in the Odyssey has a single overhead cam for simplicity. The engines in the Grand Highlander have dual overhead cams, which add to the number of moving parts and the complexity of the cylinder heads.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Odyssey second among minivans in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The Grand Highlander isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Honda vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Honda above average in initial quality. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated below average.

As tested in Motor Trend the Honda Odyssey is faster than the Toyota Grand Highlander:

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Odyssey’s fuel efficiency. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Odyssey’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. If the conditions warrant or the driver wishes, the system can be manually disabled at any time for the duration of a trip. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Honda Odyssey uses regular unleaded gasoline. The Grand Highlander Hybrid Max requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Odyssey has 2.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander Hybrid’s standard fuel tank (19.5 vs. 17.2 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Odyssey has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Grand Highlander’s standard fuel tank (19.5 vs. 17.8 gallons).

The Odyssey has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Odyssey, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Grand Highlander.

The Odyssey stops shorter than the Grand Highlander:

The Odyssey’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Grand Highlander XLE’s 65 series tires.

The Odyssey has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Odyssey’s wheelbase is 2 inches longer than on the Grand Highlander (118.1 inches vs. 116.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Odyssey is 2 inches wider in the front and 1.8 inches wider in the rear than on the Grand Highlander.

The front grille of the Odyssey uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Odyssey uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Odyssey has 10.3 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Grand Highlander (163.6 vs. 153.3).

The Odyssey has 2.1 inches more front hip room, 2.9 inches more front shoulder room, 1.4 inches more rear legroom, 7.8 inches more rear hip room, 2.8 inches more rear shoulder room, 1.1 inches more third row headroom, 4.6 inches more third row legroom, 2.7 inches more third row hip room and 2.5 inches more third row shoulder room than the Grand Highlander.

The Odyssey’s cargo area provides more volume than the Grand Highlander.

The Odyssey has a standard One-Motion Magic Seat third row seat, which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

The Odyssey EX-L/Sport/Touring/Elite’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Odyssey’s standard sliding doors can be opened with less than three inches side clearance. The Grand Highlander’s standard rear swing-out doors are bulky and make loading in tight spots difficult.

The Odyssey’s power side sliding doors make it much easier to load and unload kids and cargo. One touch opens the door, before you even get to the van. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a power rear door.

The Odyssey EX-L/Sport/Touring/Elite’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Grand Highlander has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Odyssey Touring/Elite has a standard center folding armrest for the third row rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and can provide a barrier between children. The Grand Highlander doesn’t offer a third row rear seat center armrest.

The Honda Odyssey has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

The Honda Odyssey outsold the Toyota Grand Highlander by 56% during 2023.