Gotta take the kids to school? You should stop at the track first. A collection of madmen from Honda’s Alabama plant built a humble Odyssey into a race car, and I see absolutely nothing wrong or sacrilegious about this plan. Come to think of it, every minivan would be better with a roll cage inside.
Here’s a Honda Odyssey of all things tearing it up at a National Auto Sport Association weekend alongside more traditional racing fare. The Odyssey is run by Team HMA, which much like Ohio’s Honda of America Racing Team, is based out of the Honda Manufacturing of Alabama plant. They build Hondas, and then they race them. That definitely beats your lame office bar trivia squad.
It has the V6 from a Honda Accord up front, good for 278 hp—an 38 hp increase over the van’s stock version of that J35 engine. The body was stitch-welded, and a roll cage and all the other safety gear was added. It’s been converted to a six-speed manual, has a Cusco limited-slip differential, and the team modified the front suspension geometry with custom axles. A custom exhaust also makes it sound way better
Look, no one would balk at the idea of getting a minivan if they all came in race car guise. Your cool factor would be intact and then some. Just buy the minivan! (And then strip it out and take it racing.)