The Stream is coming

[K.C.]

Honda Stream flows to the U.S. Market for 2009

What do you think of the Stream coming to the U.S. market?

[buyacargetacheck]

Excellent. We need more fuel-efficient alternatives (4 cylinders - low to mid 20s city) in the midsize family wagon market (5 pass plus at least 30 cubic feet of cargo space).

After Honda, hopefully GM will have an EpII alternative, Toyota a Camry wagon and Ford a 4 cyl Fusion wagon or Edge.

[the_yellow_dart]

Wow. That's a really nice design!

Especially compared to the CR-V!!

[PurdueGuy]

a good looking vehicle.

[Robert Hall]

The Stream is GO!

[Paolino]

Wow, for a station wagon, I like it. And I HATE station wagons.

[Dsuupr]

Not bad looking. It will be a hit as far as the magazines are concerned, because of the h.

[Cadillacfan]

One of the better looking vehicles to come out of Honda NA in the past few years.

[AxelTheRed]

Impressed I'm not.

[regfootball]

i've always like the stream. this one's alright. not a fan of the new one's dash.

here's the deal....the original odyssey never sold here...so i wonder if this one will be a market dud too.

honda's got another CUV type rig that looks like an aztek/x5 mating accident and they sell it in europe. that might be alright vehicle here too.

maybe honda thinks the stream will be profitable in niche quantities here. if so, then what the heck.

[ZL-1]

Smaller MPVs/wagons make sense with high gas prices: utility and better fuel economy together.

[dimitri0917]

OMG... that thing is PURE SEX It's nice, but Journey has a problem. I wish the grille was more Accord-ish.

[cire]

The timing for this vehicle is appropriate. It is nice enough, but it doesn't really hit high on the excitement meter. Then again, it is a people mover and isn't designed to set the automotive world on fire. I think it could find a small audience here and augment Honda's sales performance.

The smaller, original Odyssey was introduced at a time when gas was cheaper and bigger was mostly considered better. The auto climate has changed quite a bit since those "good old days".

Edited August 29, 2007 by cire

[ehaase]

It looks like a new version of the original Odyssey.

[pow]

Because it's a Honda, people will buy it, which is good, because we need to see greater acceptance of these MPVs here. Then perhaps we will get Tourans and S-Maxes and Zafiras.

[Intrepidation]

It's quite good looking.

[MyerShift]

Wow! That is a sharp looking wagon!

I am not sure about the name though... there's a urine joke in that somewhere, lol.

[thegriffon]

It looks like a new version of the original Odyssey.

No, that's a different vehicle (and still called the Odyssey for markets outside NA). The Stream is a compact (not midsize) 7-seat wagon like the Peugeot 307 SW. The previous Stream was a compact monospace MPV similar to (but predating) the Toyota Wish. Both were longer but lower than the segment paradigm created by the 1st-gen Opel Zafira (which in response to Renault's 5-seat Scenic revived the 7-seat compact MPV segment created by Mitsubishi and Nissan in the early '80s and then abandoned). The Wish is JDM only, and while the Stream was offered in Europe it was soon dropped in favor of the taller, wider 2.5 row FRV. More critical than the low seating position and roofline was probably the JDM small-car class body width—try seating 7 in a vehicle no wider than a Corolla—and restricted access to the back seat.

[Camino LS6]

Oh joy another minivan- yipee.

As exciting as a loaf of bread.

[thegriffon]

Oh joy another minivan- yipee.

As exciting as a loaf of bread.

The previous one was a minivan (a very low and long one), but this one has abandoned the monospace/cab-forward form and is, realistically, a station wagon with a third-row seat (even less exciting, especially without a turbo engine like the Caldina GT-four or Astra Caravan OPC). A Peugeot 307 SW (SW for Station Wagon) is more of a minivan than the current Stream.

For a real cause for "Oh joy another minivan- yipee. " here are Toyota's:

1.bB/Coo/Materia (A-segment built by Daihatsu)

2.Avanza (7-seat B-segment for developing markets)

3.Ractis (5-seat B-segment)

4.Porte (5-seat high-roof B-segment)

5.Sienta (lwb 7-seat B-segment)

6.xB (5-seat C-segment)

7.Corolla Verso (5-7 seat C-segment)

8.Wish (7-seat C-segment)

9.Isis (7-seat D-segment)

10.Ipsum (7-seat D-segment)

11.Noah/Voxy (7-seat D-segment)

12.Estima (7-seat D-segment)

13.Alphard (7-8 seat E-segment)

14.Sienna (fullsize)

15.Hiace/Regius Ace (Japan) (cab-over 3-12 seat medium van)

16.Hiace (Europe) (forward-engine 3-12 seat medium van)

And under the Daihatsu brand:

17.Move/Move Custom (Keijidosha)

18.Tanto/Tanto Custom (keijidosha)

19.Atrai/Hijet (keijidosha)

And that doesn't count the Raum (a Yaris station wagon with dual sliding rear doors and no B-pillar), or the TownAce/MasterAce (the last version of the ancestral Toyota minivan in hiatus awaiting the new generation—some of you may remember an earlier generation sold in the US), which would make 20. And that's after cutting the Atrai7, Funcargo, Nadia and Corolla Spacio, and merging the bB with the smaller Daihatsu YRV.

Edited September 2, 2007 by thegriffon

[Camino LS6]

My God!

What a slew of Toyota!

I have a question, Mr. Griff.

How is it that you have such an encyclopedic knowledge of the world's minicars?

Just curious, as it is impressive.