Honda Odyssey

Engineers tried to strike a balance between practicality and sportiness in the 2011 minivan-and succeeded.

Though it certainly won't be mistaken for a sports car, the redesigned 2011 Honda Odyssey-dubbed the “driver's minivan” by company executives-was surprisingly sporty and responsive on a capabilities course set up in a large parking lot near downtown San Diego.

And the vehicle looks the part, too, with a new “lightning bolt” beltline (which improves sight lines from the third row) and exterior design that takes inspiration from a sleek airframe-specifically, the Piaggio P180 Avanti was pictured to illustrate the point.