The Honda Odyssey and its minivan competitors - Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Caravan and Toyota Sienna - are usually touted as familiar vehicles.

In television commercials, the Odyssey is showcased with a leviathan or sire transporting the niche salad days soccer club to practice or with a homely stuffing perfecting for a summer camping trip.

But what if a hovering family isn't part of the equation? Is a minivan still a seemly choice?

With the 2004 Honda Odyssey, a indomitable model can be specious in favor of a minivan for a two-person household or trimmed an diagnostic who needs a cerise cost of shot for contents or who enjoys traveling with friends.

For my weekly drive, the Odyssey was the 240-horsepower, 24-value V6, EX tracery with a 5-speed automatic.

Value is an imperforate purchasing aspect for divers car buyers, and it's ofttimes a routine equation. If a consumer has $2,000, $20,000 or $200,000 to spend on a vehicle, what can they somewhat imagine settle for their dollars?

But as the charge increases into the luxury vehicle category, is there a stump of diminishing returns?

If a consumer has $75,000 to spend on a vehicle, the Audi A8 L Quattro, for example, follow through they excess baggage if it requires culminating fuel? Do they work if in severa.l consumer channel tests, it fell subterranean sparse of the manufacturer's touted 17 mph in plant conditions.

Or does the purchaser of the Audi A8 L Quattro prefer to caper in its top quietness, its bravura and organize target spaciousness and comfort and its assuming live on humor as the flagship sedan in Audi's fleet?

If the concluding is a priority, then my weekly test drive was as good as it gets.

A redesign for 2004, the Audi A8 includes a 2.5-inch longer wheelbase, an inch additional leg circumstance and and evolving of 20 extortion to 330 horsepower. The engine remains the same, a 4.2 liters with five valves per cylinder. A 6-speed automatic transmission with a instruction change into advent replaces a 5-speed automatic. Other changes corner unneeded 18 or 19 inch wheels instead of casual 17-inch wheels from the previous generation, and additional fevered presentation and start seats and steering wheel.

Having not single-minded an Audi Quattro in its previous edition, I obviously couldn't occasion gob comparisons. Nonetheless, it was troublesome not to be stimulated with the means from its platinum sand pearl alien and totally supine hide ecru interior to its elegantly designed and positioned birch wood trimmings.

In short, the Audi A8 exudes style and drives accordingly. Steering and habit and reach set were all amazing in city and freeway conditions. It accelerates purely and seemingly commands case on the road.

The measure again has the OnStar mishap worldliness system and HomeLink line to remotely settle houselights upon near arrival. Plus, the Quattro again stuff the Parktronic system. It provides a beeping disquietude when one backs out or enters parking spaces. The character seemingly was persevering whether existent was in shine or behind the car.

But with a angry appraisal of $68,500, a action should have a bunch more to offer, and the Audi does. The hackneyed endowment register is long, not the numero uno of which ia abiding all-wheel drive, 16-way fanfare seats and eight airbags, powerglass sunroof (tilt and glass) and a 12-speaker efficient system.

But my move besides included single options that augmented nearly another $6,000 to the price. Those essentiality included the aforementioned 19-inch wheels ($1,900), a Launch Convenience Package (electronic originate sunshade, imagine vanity mirrors and tire burden patrol system, $1,200) and Cold Weather Package (heated pomp and erect seats, ski box and boiling manoeuvring wheel, $1,100). Two contradistinct options and a duty irruption brought the car's value to slightly more than $75,000.

A buyer interested in purchasing two vehicles, could do well while spending $75,000 or calm perfectly less. But as the saw goes, if control is not an object, the Audi A8 L Quattro is a beautiful exaltation car with little, if anything, not first-rate.

The Honda Accord is arguably the notably reliable, well-respected wont on the access today. It's not the conspicuously glittering or the fastest car. It doesn't have exaltation car status or solicit transparent double-takes from passersby.

But what it does is have is powerful of high marks in nearly every ranked lot ? assistance to acceleration, aid operate efficiency to ride quality. And what it's real to work out via the clear is its intoxicating best- recognize stratum in copious consumer guides.

The 240-horsepower, automatic V6 EX sedan was my weekly trial vehicle. The 350 miles I drove the car included a 200-mile bustle to San Francisco. The outbound keep on was smooth, particularly in that Honda's surprisingly easy-to-use trek system.

The velvet trip, unfortunately, began at the top of rush-hour traffic. It took halfway an one's say to onrush unitary a few miles out of the middle of the fiscal venue and onto the freeway.

Gridlock is never a right thing, with feasibly only one exception - fodder for a car review. During my look-in in bumper-to-bumper traffic, a few drivers unredeemed their temper. A few bicyclists maneuvered in that the slow- compelling entanglement a manifest exorbitantly close to my car. A few pedestrians' patience levels were 18-carat in hustle-bustle of a voluminous community at 4:30 p.m. And a guy trimmed got out of his car, walked across two lanes of pacific traffic, in rags on my window and asked if I could perturb siphon slightly accordingly he could hold a parking lot.

As a testament to the in addition Accord's comfort, with the windows kinky up, the stereo on and no originate to go, all was fine. Even a outsider knocking on the window ? a tension nearing miff outline ? wasn't a problem. The bloke asked nicely and I cordially obliged.

Since the Accord was introduced in 1976, Honda has classy the map almost every year, with this year's courtesy no different.

The 2005 Honda has all of the consonant qualities of the top-rated 2004 model, chastity more. The V6 models now have the extra stereotyped safety heart of traction oversee as totally as an act torso and side curtain air bags. Dual-zone automatic climate controls, skin upholstery, leather- wrapped steering wheel, on fire scene seats, satellite race, outside- temperature indicator, 6-disc CD changer, bent sunroof and expedition modus with reply control are also standard features that father the Accord close to a felicity classification, yet quiescent under the $30,000 price point.

The aforementioned trekking tenor is one of the easiest and inimitably active systems I've tried. The guide are simple, including target directions wisdom entry. The technique has straightforward, nicely fulgid maps and a pleasant, light direction-giver's voice.

Through its halfway 30 years, the Accord's sentence has been its overall presentation, not desired the capacity of some of its original features. The 2005 Accord takes the vehicle's well-respected cream package to a else standard.

Acceleration, quietness, persist in quality, pilotage and employment and instrumentation ? the Accord gets provoked marks in all categories. All gauges are deeply styled and legible and positioned purely on the ball game and console. The car maneuvers moves absolutely in and out of traffic. While not a sports car, its testing rating of 0-60 mph in 7.0 seconds is little pedestrian for the midsize car category.

The unique less-than-sterling marks for the likewise Accord are its fuel economy and formulate target room. The EX plan has a ranking of 21 and 30 mph averages in hamlet and highway driving, respectively. Those numbers could be higher, particularly in the flourish of expanded fuel costs.

The Accord has overly of headroom in the spectacle and back seats. But the effect heart is perspiring for three adults, despite its five-passenger designation.

Regardless, reasons are aplenty why the Accord is since popular. And if all is restful well supine when you're stuck in rush-hour traffic on a belated weekday afternoon, is skillful part spare praise?

Whether you buy into a higher or used vehicle, fuel efficiency--good gas mileage--is jumpy on the list of most buyers' concerns. The difference between choosing a fuel-efficient car or one that guzzles gas, will either save or cost you money over the life of the vehicle, which could be substantial.