Matthew DeBord/BI
PROS: Suave styling; scads of space for people, pets, and stuff; robust drivetrain, fuel economy, sneaky good Uconnect infotainment system.
CONS: Apart from being a minivan, none really. Lacks an onboard vacuum cleaner in hybrid trim and doesn't have all-wheel-drive.
In minivan land, the question of which versatile family hauler often distills to a simple choice: Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna?
Both those minivans are fine and dandy, though different. There is, however, a third choice: go Chrysler.
When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles was just Chrysler, it created the minivan under its Dodge brand, back in the 1980s. The original minivan was a wild success, and although the segment is frequently stigmatized, and although minivans have given ground to SUVs of late, the Big Three minivans still sell.
In fact, Chrysler's new minivan, the Pacifica (replacing the Town & Country), is now outselling both the Odyssey — all-new for 2018 — and the Sienna, which is due for a redesign pretty soon.
We've checked out the Odyssey and we've sampled the Sienna. To complete our minivan roundup, we tackled the Pacifica last. We can't really make a fair comparison because our tester was a $47,885 Pacifica Hybrid Platinum. Yep, that's right: a plug-in hybrid minivan, the only one currently for sale.
A bit of an odd wrinkle, by the way. Our Odyssey was built in Alabama, and our Sienna was made in Indiana. The Pacifica hails from Ontario, Canada (but just so you know, the town is Windsor, just across the Detroit River from Motown).
We put the Pacifica through its paces in suburban New Jersey. Here's how it went.
The Pacifica arrived wearing a handsome "Granite Crystal Metallic" paint job. BI's Ben Zhang had briefly driven the gas-powered version and was underwhelmed. Would the hybrid be different?Matthew DeBord/BIThe design is actually quite elegant, stately even. Far more eye-catching than the Toyota Sienna and not quite as flashy as the Honda Odyssey. The lines flow into each other nicely, as typified by the the suave proportions of the front end.Matthew DeBord/BI
But ... the Pacifica is still a minivan, and there's no hiding that huge rear hatch.Matthew DeBord/BI
The Pacifica used to be the Town & Country, but that nameplate was dropped. The Pacifica name had been used on a discontinued Chrysler vehicle — and it was also the name of Chrysler's California design studio.Matthew DeBord/BI
Our tester was the plug-in hybrid version of the Pacifica. It has a 3.6-liter V6 yoked to a hybrid electric system whose two electric motors provide 260 total horsepower. Other Pacificas get a straight 3.6-liter V6, making more hp: 287. The hybrid has a CVT transmission, while the non-hybrid has a nine-speed automatic.Matthew DeBord/BI
So, what's the story with the MPGs?
On gas alone, the Pacifica's combined city/highway number is 32 mpg, while "MPGe" in 84, a consequence of being able to run the minivan on electric power alone for 33 miles, according to FCA.
Those are all good figures for a large vehicle that can haul up to eight adults and plenty of stuff. The Pacifica is also the only hybrid minivan currently on the market.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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SEE ALSO: I put the Toyota Sienna minivan to the test and it did not disappoint
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