First Drive Review
Freshened inside and out for 2015, the Toyota Sienna minivan is a versatile family vehicle, chockablock with brood-friendly features and refinements. It’s also the only minivan that still offers an all-wheel-drive option. Beyond that, it also embodies Toyota’s bedrock strengths: quality, durability, and reliability.
So why don’t we love it above all the others in this thinly contested tournament? It comes down to three little words that sum up a trait that may not be perceived as important to many in this segment, but which is always at the top of the charts at our house. We’ll get back to that. But first, here’s what’s new for this freshened family freighter.
As part of the 2015 update, the grille has been revised on the LE, XLE, and Limited models, while new LED daytime running lamps flank restyled headlights on SE and Limited trims. Still, the face of the 2015 Sienna will look familiar. This also applies to the going-away view, where redesigned taillights for all but the SE are the only change from 2014.
The interior was given more attention, getting more soft-touch surfaces, sophisticated color schemes, upgrades to the various Entune audio systems, and a 4.2-inch color TFT info display nestled between the tachometer and speedometer on everything but the L and LE, which make do with a 3.5-inch black-and-white piece. The base L features a 6.1-inch touch screen and Bluetooth connectivity; the rest get a seven-inch screen and Bluetooth. The entire dashboard has been redesigned, too, in part to accommodate relocating the center stack more than three inches to the left, making it much easier for the driver to access the audio, HVAC, and other secondary control functions. Those functions are logically placed and easily interpreted thanks to more modern aesthetics and the reintroduction of knobs instead of buttons for key functions.
A rearview camera is now standard on all models, and a novel touch is the new Easy Speak system, which amplifies the driver’s voice for the benefit of those in the second- and third-row seats. It occurred to us that the system should also allow for sending canned messages like, “Yes, we’re almost there” and “Don’t make me come back there!” or “Pass the Swedish fish.” If the Sienna’s nether spaces happen to be occupied by adults—a football tailgate crew, for example—the system could also give the driver an important decibel edge in any raucous sports debate.
Sitting in the Sienna’s second and third rows isn’t a bad thing, by the way. There’s plenty of room back there, including adult-size third-row legroom. A 16.4-inch screen moored in the ceiling above the front-row seatbacks is capable of simultaneously displaying two different video inputs, and the 2015 model gains Blu-ray, HDMI, and SD card capability. A power liftgate is standard on the SE and above, while front-drive Limiteds have a power-folding feature for the third-row seats.
The Sienna’s standard 3.5-liter V-6 (266 horsepower, 245 lb-ft of torque) and six-speed automatic are straight carry-overs from 2014. Toyota has tinkered with the van’s overall structure, adding 142 new spot welds to the assembly process for increased rigidity, but the company refrains from quantifying any improvement those welds have made.
The 2015 version certainly feels solid and well-assembled while you’re on the road, though, an impression fortified by what seemed to be a watchmaker level of fit-and-finish. Toyota also invested in NVH upgrades, moving the side mirrors slightly outward to reduce wind noise, adding 20 percent more sound-deadening coverage in the floor, adopting damped engine mounts, and making myriad smaller changes. The changes pay off in a very quiet cabin. The chassis engineers made some tweaks to the suspension tuning to damp out the hint of harshness that afflicted the Sienna in a 2011 comparison test. Mission accomplished on that front.
So reduced noise, improved ride quality—what’s the problem? It’s those three words we referred to up top: fun, to, and drive. Compared with the pace-setting Honda Odyssey, the Sienna’s responses to directional changes are a little deliberate and the output of its V-6 not quite as vigorous as we’d like. Also, the steering is a little more numb than the Honda’s, particularly in the first five to ten degrees off-center, although steering feel isn’t an Odyssey strong suit, either.
We should note that our emphasis on fun to drive doesn’t mean we’re focused solely on driver gratification. The components—agility, abundant power, decisive braking—that make something enjoyable to pilot also are key elements in active safety, traits that help any driver avoid employment of the vehicle’s passive safety features. The Sienna’s eight airbags, for example.
In our 2011 minivan shootout, we summarized the Sienna’s dynamic character as “milquetoast.” While its dynamics aren’t vastly improved for 2015, they’re certainly competent, including a braking package that feels exceptionally strong. So let’s upgrade the dynamic assessment to “crème brûlée,” which also happens to be on the 2015 color palette.
Toyota has revived its “Swagger Wagon” marketing theme to comedic effect for 2015, and why not? If the freshened Sienna is only midpack in terms of athleticism, it’s at or near the front in everything else. Pricing ranges across five trim levels, from the basic Sienna L that starts at $29,485 to the $43,665 price of entry for the beautifully stitched and leathered Limited Premium AWD.
Up-to-date in terms of infotainment and connectivity, quiet, comfortable, roomy, versatile—the 2015 Sienna has an almost bewildering array of appealing attributes. It’s not the class athlete, but, as ever, it’s a strong candidate for most likely to succeed.
