Compare the2024 Volkswagen AtlasVS 2024 Honda Odyssey

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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The Atlas has a standard Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Odyssey doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Atlas offers optional Maneuver Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Odyssey doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Atlas offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Odyssey doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line has a standard Area View to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Odyssey only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the Atlas and Odyssey have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Atlas has Rear Traffic Alert (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Odyssey’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

Both the Atlas and the Odyssey have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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 and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volkswagen Atlas is safer than the Honda Odyssey:

	Atlas	Odyssey
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	57	66
Chest Movement	.5 inches	.5 inches
Abdominal Force	48 lbs.	83 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	39 G’s	70 G’s
Hip Force	527 lbs.	709 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	279	369

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Volkswagen Atlas is safer than the Odyssey:

	Atlas	Odyssey
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	42	127
Neck Tension	156 lbs.	201 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Deflection	.83 in	.87 in
Torso Max Deflection	1.1 in	1.26 in
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	5 MPH
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.43 in	.98 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	312 lbs.
Torso Max Deflection	1.54 in	1.81 in
Torso Deflection Rate	10 MPH	11 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Pelvis Force	848 lbs.	915 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Warranty

The Atlas comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Odyssey’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The Atlas’ corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the Odyssey’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Reliability

The Volkswagen Atlas’ engine uses a cast iron block for durability, while the Odyssey’s engine uses an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Atlas’ engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Odyssey’s camshafts. If the Odyssey’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Volkswagen vehicles are more reliable than Honda With 13 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks Volkswagen higher than Honda.

Engine

The Atlas’ 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 11 lbs.-ft. more torque (273 vs. 262) than the Odyssey’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Atlas’ front brake rotors are larger than those on the Odyssey:

	Atlas	Odyssey
Front Rotors	13.2 inches	12.6 inches

The Atlas’ standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Odyssey are solid, not vented.

The Atlas stops much shorter than the Odyssey:

	Atlas	Odyssey
70 to 0 MPH	174 feet	184 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	121 feet	127 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Atlas has larger standard tires than the Odyssey (245/60R18 vs. 235/60R18). The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Odyssey (265/45R21 vs. 235/60R18).

The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Odyssey Sport/Touring/Elite’s 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Atlas SEL Premium R-Line has standard 21-inch wheels. The Odyssey’s largest wheels are only 19-inches.

Suspension and Handling

The Atlas has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Odyssey doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

The Atlas’ drift compensation steering can automatically compensate for road conditions which would cause the vehicle to drift from side to side, helping the driver to keep the vehicle straight more easily. The Odyssey doesn’t offer drift compensation steering.

Chassis

The Atlas is 4.5 inches shorter than the Odyssey, making the Atlas easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Atlas has .6 inches more front headroom, .8 inches more front legroom and .9 inches more rear headroom than the Odyssey.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Honda Odyssey is limited to 3500 pounds. The Atlas offers up to a 5000 lbs. towing capacity.

Standard trailer stability control on the Atlas uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Odyssey doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

Servicing Ease

The Atlas uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Odyssey uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Atlas SEL has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, navigation instruction and driver assistance information readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Odyssey doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The power windows standard on both the Atlas and the Odyssey have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Atlas is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Odyssey prevents the driver from operating the rear windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Atlas’ rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Odyssey’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the Atlas SEL to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Odyssey doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Atlas’ headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Odyssey’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Atlas offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Odyssey doesn’t offer cornering lights. The Atlas also has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Atlas has standard extendable sun visors. The Odyssey doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Both the Atlas and the Odyssey have standard heated front seats. The Atlas SEL/SEL Premium R Line also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Odyssey.

The Atlas has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel is only available on the Odyssey Elite.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Volkswagen Atlas has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Only the Odyssey Elite offers wireless charging.

The Atlas SEL Premium R-Line’s Park Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Odyssey doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Atlas owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Atlas with a number “5” insurance rate while the Odyssey is rated higher at a number “10” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Atlas is less expensive to operate than the Odyssey because typical repairs cost less on the Atlas than the Odyssey, including $27 less for a fuel pump.

Recommendations

The Volkswagen Atlas outsold the Honda Odyssey by 28% during 2023.