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By Steve Trautlein

Kings for a day

The Honda Elysion is master of all it surveys

Beaches, mountains, lakes-we had a full schedule planned for a recent weekend away from Tokyo. Our only problem was how to get there. We knew we'd be taking lesser-traveled roads and open highways, climbing hills and descending valleys. We'd need a strong vehicle. We'd need a nimble vehicle. We'd need a vehicle that would let us curl up in the back and go to sleep when stuck in traffic.

Thanks to a friend in Honda's PR department, we scored the perfect transport: a new, almost-top-of-the line Elysion VX.
The Elysion comes from the Bigger is Better school of design and performance. Inside, it has three rows of seats, which fold and spin into a variety of combinations, including one in which the second and third rows can face each other-the better, one assumes, for kids to play patty-cake. When configured for maximum space, children could also play hide-and-go-seek, as the Elysion has a 1,050-liter-capacity storage area. Our puny overnight bags didn't even begin to test that limit. We have, in fact, seen smaller apartments in Tokyo.

After picking up the Elysion downtown, our first task was plotting a course to the beach. This should have been difficult because we forgot our atlas. Not to worry: The van's GPS is a marvel of simplicity and user-friendliness. It's also set in a wood-grained dash that has easy-to-read dials and ergonomically pleasing control locations. Our only beef with the cockpit was the too-small storage cubby between the front seats, which couldn't even manage to hold our cell phones.

The Elysion shows off its stately posterior

On our way out of town, the crawl through mid-Friday traffic was made bearable by the excellent view out of the cabin. We truly felt like kings of the road, a self-impression confirmed by the many passersby who gaped admiringly at the apple-red behemoth gliding past. We were tempted to give them a regal wave, but contented ourselves with fiddling with the GPS.

Once on the highway, the Elysion proved an amiable companion-and an occasionally strict one, as a female voice reprimanded us for any lapses in our driving. The suspension was more forgiving, minimizing surface bumps, while the 3.0-liter V6 engine, which cranks out a neck-snapping 250PS, allowed us to pounce on gaps in the relatively light traffic. We made excellent time down to Shimoda, with the GPS gleefully-and verbally-pointing out each exit and turn.

After giving the Elysion the night off for good behavior, we put it through its full paces the next day. An entire morning of navigating the Izu Peninsula's winding coast roads proved that the minivan was as nimble in the turns as it was steady on the highway-no mean feat for a two-ton (1,890kg) titan. Nor does the Elysion's heft prevent it from attaining a very decent fuel efficiency rate of about 10km/l. This number is surely helped by the snazzy i-VTEC engine, which switches between three- and six-cylinder output, based on throttle condition, speed and power needs.

Next up was a twisty mountain road leading from the beach to the hills. It certainly looked like a major thoroughfare on the GPS, but was in fact not wide enough for even two keijidosha to pass each other. With hairpin turns that hung scarily over steep pine bluffs and sheer rock cliffs, this back-lane road gave us ample opportunity to try out one of Elysion's neatest features: the rear-mounted video camera. Whenever we met another car traveling in the opposite direction and couldn't squeeze by, we'd easily-though gingerly-back up to an area where the road widened.

Electronically operated side doors can swallow passengers whole

During this leg of our trip, we were reminded that the Elysion's a van and not a car; the heavier steering wore us out. Finally, with our driver's arm muscles aching from exertion and our passenger's feet sweating from anxiety, we emerged from the switchback with all our faculties intact. All of them, that is, except the GPS, which lost its way in the forested hills and had to be reprogrammed.

We were able to breathe easier in the clean mountain air of the Fuji Five Lakes area. Stopping for pictures, we realized that the minivan doesn't have a bad angle. The Elysion's snout, compared to its competitors, isn't as distractingly avant-garde as the Nissan Elgrand's, and it comes off a lot friendlier than the Darth-Vaderesque Toyota Alphard. Its profile, too, is more attractively streamlined.

With seating for eight and a base price of around ¥3 million (our test car, with all the bells and whistles, topped out at ¥4.5 million), the Elysion is perfect for urban transport, for weekend excursions, or, considering all that space, for use as a second home. See honda.co.jp/ELYSION/ (Japanese) for more information.

Photos by Carlo Niederberger

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