Honda Elysion

The Honda Elysion (ホンダ・エリシオン) is a seven- or eight-seat minivan initially sold only in Japan as a competitor to the Toyota Alphard and the Nissan Elgrand. The Honda LaGreat, marketed in the US as the Honda Odyssey, featured popular styling but was impractical in Japan due to its relatively large size. Subsequently, the Elysion was designed with styling cues from the LaGreat, but was made smaller to be competitive in the Japanese market.

The Elysion was introduced to the Chinese market in June 2012. Japanese production of the Elysion ceased in October 2013, but it continued to be manufactured and sold in China.

Honda was inspired to name the vehicle the "Elysion" from the classical Greek word Elysium, or heaven.

First generation (RR; 2004)
The first generation Elysion appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show, in October 2003 as the "ASM", and was released for sale on 13 May 2004. A mild body restyle was introduced 29 September 2005, introducing an "Aero" and "VG Premium" trim level. 13 January 2006 saw the introduction of the "G Aero HDD Navi" and "VG HDD Navi Aero" editions. Another styling change was introduced on 21 December 2006, including an interior update.

The Elysion was offered with either the 2.4 L DOHC direct injection K24A with i-VTEC producing 160 PS or the 3.0 L SOHC J30A V6 i-VTEC producing 250 PS. The V6 was also available with "VCM" or Variable Cylinder Management. The upper trim level "Prestige" model was available with the J35A V6 used in the Honda Legend, producing 300 PS and available with AWD. However, vehicles equipped with all AWD had their engine power reduced to 279 PS. For two-wheel drive vehicles, this was more power than that was available in the Toyota Estima, which was quoted to be 280 PS.

Concept
The Elysion was first seen as a concept car called Honda ASM at Tokyo Motor Show in late 2003 and made into a production half a year later with some cosmetic adjustments to its headlight, front grill and interior to make it more commercially friendly. It officially launched in mid-2004 for Japan's domestic market.

Design
At 4840mm, the Elysion's length is identical as the 3.0L second-generation Odyssey RA6 or about 1 cm longer than XV50 Toyota Camry. Its 1830 mm width is about 3 cm wider than the RA6 or about 2 cm wider than the Camry. The difference is in the clever space management making 70% of total space available as a cabin plus the 1790 mm height, which is about 18 cm taller than the RA6 or about 24 cm taller than the current Odyssey.

Safety
The combination of a new 30% stronger high-rigidity steel, the Honda G-CON technology and the unique double platform with low central gravity floor, first seen on Merc A-class, allowed Elysion (one box car) to achieve the highest 6 stars rating by Nasva and become one of the safest Japanese passenger cars production ever, even higher than the competitor's luxury three-box (hood-cabin-boot) sedans.

The high-rigidity body also benefited to the overall comfort as the car handles any rough roads with poise, free of squeaks found in many older Honda vehicles.

The top-of-the-line VZ model is equipped with an IHCC (intelligent highway cruise control) and CMS (collision mitigation sensor) that works with radio-wave radar installed in the front grill to warn the driver if they get too close to the car ahead, automatically tightening the seatbelt and readying the brake, similar to the pre-crash system in the S-class. The radar doubles as night vision (a similar concept to the infrared night vision introduced in BMW) as it gives picture in a form of a graphic of objects ahead displayed on its built in 8 inch navigation system at the dash.

Other safety equipment includes ABS (anti-lock brake), VSA (vehicle stability), TCS, sideslip, and AFS (adaptive front lighting) on its projector HID Xenon headlight.

Engine and brake
At launch, two choices of engines are available. The 2.4L i-VTEC K24A that is used in the current Odyssey produces about 160 horses and 22.2 kg-m of torque. With virtually the same specs and gear ratios, it behaves and drives very similar to the current Odyssey and sips about 10,2 km/L in 10–15 Japan standard test (3 times variable city driving stop and go and 1 time highway driving with 120 kg extra weight of two passengers and without a/c).

The compression ratio of 9.7 couples with an anti-knocking sensor and intelligent timing control makes it easy to take RON 95 grade. A similar 2.4L engine but with different overhead and higher compression ratio of 11.0 that produces 200hhp that is used in Honda JDM Odyssey Absolute is not yet available at this time for Elysion.

The other is an all new 3.0L V6 i-VTEC J30A with the VCM (variable cylinder management), shutting-off 3 cylinders on one bank of the V6 when reduced power is needed such as during cruising or driving down hill. The only tell-tale sign that the engine is running on 3 cylinders is when the ECO green light at the panels light up.

All Elysions are equipped with ventilated 4-disk brakes with ABS and EBD.

Prices
Although Honda have released few versions of Elyson, the engine capacity haven't changed at all until the new Honda Elyson which has a capacity of 3,471cc.

Trims and specifications
There are 6 different trim and grades plus 2 special AERO HDD editions. Three grade of 2.4L front-wheel-drive models are available, described as M, G and X. There are also three 3.0L front-wheel-drive models, VG, VX and VZ. Four-wheel-drive is optional on all models.

Chinese market
Honda announced to introduce the Elysion to the Chinese market in 2012. The Elysion was launched on June 7, 2012. The vehicle comes with a 2.4L i-VTEC K24Z5 engine, 5-speed auto transmission and is assembled locally by Honda's Chinese joint-venture Dongfeng Honda. It is positioned as a corporate people-mover.

Second generation (RC; 2015)
Previewed by the Honda Concept M MPV concept during the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show, the second-generation Honda Elysion for the Chinese market based on the fifth-generation Odyssey was unveiled at the Guangzhou Auto Show on 20 November 2015, and launched on 9th January 2016. It is 20 mm longer in length and 100 mm lower in height compared to the previous generation.

The second-generation Elysion is produced and sold exclusively in China by Dongfeng Honda, and was sold alongside the fifth-generation Odyssey produced by Guangqi Honda.

The Elysion Hybrid went on sale in September 2019, with redesigned grille and bumper.

The model received a facelift in December 2021, with the hybrid variant renamed to e:HEV Sport Hybrid.