First Drive Review
Sixteen years have sped by since the old Chrysler Corporation launched the unexpectedly popular minivan; a healthy 17 million copies have been sold around the world, almost half of them from Chrysler, now DaimlerChrysler; and a bazillion wisenheimer remarks have echoed across the landscape disparaging the practical pig usefulness of these carryalls. Can there be any surprises left? That was our question when we said yes to DaimlerChrysler's invitation to drive four preproduction samples of what will be the company's third-generation minivan when it goes on sale in the fall of 2000.
Surprises? The answer is no and yes.
No because the new Dodge and Chrysler minis (the Voyager from the late Plymouth division will become a Chrysler Voyager) are still unashamed to be boxes on wheels. They are slightly larger boxes, and the styling has been tweaked -- pleasingly, we think -- for the new millennium, but you'll still recognize them at first glance. "We're enhancing the formula, not reinventing it," said Gordon Rinschler, head of minivan platform engineering. In other words, no fundamental surprises.
And yet they are surprisingly agreeable to drive. While these still-secret cars were upholstered nose to tail with black vinyl camouflage --call it the "wind noise option" --their interiors were noticeably hushed, both from wind and road sources. The body structure is obviously tauter than before, which yields fewer quivers and rustle-rattle ruckus. We've always thought DC's minis had the sharpest, trustiest control responses in the industry, and the new ones are even better. Engine power is up substantially, too, yet powerplant noise is much reduced.
Rinschler talked of his own goal for the new mini: "Make it the vehicle of choice for your next trip. Not for utility. Because it's the best thing to drive."
A minivan you want to drive? Now that would be a surprise. But if you could combine the seating comfort, silence, and performance of a sedan with the low-flying road view of a truck, and get a minivan's ease of entry and exit in the bargain, why wouldn't you take the mini? Well, okay, some people would rather eat worms than arrive in a mommy shuttle, but that aside, we think Dodge and Chrysler have taken a significant step toward Rinschler's goal.
DC's new boxes are wider than before by 1.8 inches, but only the short-wheelbase version is significantly longer, up 2.8 inches to 189.1 overall. The styling is familiar, particularly in front; grilles carry forward the old themes in new larger openings, eliminating the need for some of the air-inlet slots in the front bumper. The headlights are upsized 50 percent, too, and are said to provide 80 percent more light.
In the side view, the roofline and the beltline have been angled up slightly in back for more of a wedge shape, and the rear pillars are swept forward at a greater angle. The rear bumpers curve upward at the tips, too, to make them higher in the side view. This wedging of the profile gives a "faster" look, said Dave McKinnon, head of exterior design.
The soft blob shape of old has been tightened up by adding a crisp front-to-back line just below the side windows and by carving flares around the wheel openings. Taillight acreage is up, too, and the side crease reasserts itself across the tailgate. There's enough style and flare applied to these minis so that no one will confuse them with shipping containers, something you might not say about the Honda Odyssey.
In our last minivan comparison, we complained about the Dodge's lack of power. For 2001, the anemic 3.0-liter V-6 disappears, and both the 3.3- and 3.8-liter pushrod V-6s have been completely redesigned for quieter operation and more oomph. Output rises 22 hp to 180 in the 3.3 and 35 hp to 215 in the 3.8. Coupled with four-speed automatics that make part-throttle downshifts with little urging, in-traffic quickness is much improved. For those who want even more, a 230-hp version of the 3.5-liter SOHC V-6 from the Chrysler 300M will be optional in some Chrysler models. Bare-bones models get the familiar 150-hp, 2.4-liter DOHC four.
