Let's be honest. Escalating fuel costs, airline price increases and security lines at airports are enough to make any family consider driving rather than flying to a vacation destination. If you've ever been on a long roadtrip with pre-teen passengers, you know the best friend you have is anything that occupies their attention.
As the bigger brother to the Caravan, the creator of the minivan class, the Grand Caravan has always promised to be bigger, better and bolder than its sibling. Dodge has never failed to deliver on that promise, and the newly redesigned 2008 model will not disappoint.
Not unlike any class struggle in the industry, the truth is that the minivan class is constantly aggressively competing to top the previous bar for innovation. When you are talking about family vehicles, especially big people movers such as the Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna, it is clearly less important to have stunning exterior looks as opposed to amazing interior features.
The Dodge Grand Caravan is offered in two trims: SE and SXT. The Grand Caravan has good looks and the redesign certainly has enough curves to feel contemporary, but it is boxier than the previous model and that's okay for me because the payoff is better interior spaces. With a descending roofline moving from the A-pillar back to the D-pillar, the new model provides a wind-cutting design that is most appreciated not while looking at the minivan, but while sitting in its very quiet cabin.
Inside the cabin is where the Grand Caravan earns its kudos. My tester was the upscale SXT model. It featured soft leather seating and an expansive interior space that looked capable of hauling 10 persons. The generous glass surrounding the Grand Caravan opens up the space and helps the driver see everything around the vehicle.
Chrysler and Dodge minivans have always been innovative when it came to the minivan class. While Toyota, Honda and Nissan have certainly made impressive contributions to minivan conveniences with their own designs, nobody can top the innovations of the Chrysler group. From the first driver's side sliding doors to the amazing Stow 'n Go seating design, you almost expect every new generation to have something ground breaking. This year, it's Swivel 'n Go seating.
Swivel 'n Go seating offers second-row captain's chairs that turn 180 degrees to face the third row. If you have not seen the commercials, it shows a family on a road trip eating lunch and playing games together while facing the same center table. For the modern-day family, if anything can bring them closer, you have to look into it, right?
I think the Swivel 'n Go is great for kids, and it certainly fills a void in minivan interior space innovation, but adults will find the quarters much more cramped than the kids. Nonetheless, the kids are the ones who really will find the most use, and that's probably good enough ... until someone else figure out how to make it accommodate adult bodies more comfortably.
Perhaps the really great part of any minivan is the way the kids take to it. Does it occupy their bodies -- and their minds? This Grand Caravan makes a great effort to keep the kids occupied for short- or long-term trips. Entertainment options are everywhere in the new Grand Caravan. My tester had the three-zone video entertainment system, which permits front, middle and rear-seat passengers to view (or listen) to three different information sources. Probably the biggest kick I got out of the system was the Sirius Backseat TV option. This is real TV programming available on the cabin's 7-inch screens.
Three different engine configurations are available on the Dodge Grand Caravan. This is one of the things that make it such an attractive option to so many families with varied budgets. The SE models offer a standard 3.3-liter V-6 (175 horsepower), paired with a 4-speed automatic transmission; the standard engine on SXT models is a 3.8-liter V-6 (197 horsepower), matched with a six-speed automatic transmission.
These two base powerplants for the SE and SXT were available on previous-generation Grand Caravans. I find them both adequate, though underpowered when you have a full capacity seating and the air conditioning cranked. Here's the good news, my SXT tester had the new optional 4.0-liter V-6 (251 horsepower). This engine is only available on the SXT and it is also mated to a smooth-shifting six-speed transmission.
As a passenger, I found the Grand Caravan's ride to be soft and comfortable. You won't spill many drinks or splash many javas inside this stable platform. For the driver, depending on your other family vehicle, there may be a spongy responsiveness to the steering. I thought it was a bit spongy most of the time I was driving around town on short trips.
As for safety, the Grand Caravan provides plenty with Electronic Stability Control, front-seat torso airbags, antilock brakes and side curtain airbags for all three rows as standard. Integrated child seats and a rear-view backup camera are optional.
Overall the 16/23 mpg city/highway fuel mileage is par for this class of minivan. Other than that, it really steps up in many areas from the competition. My SXT with the upgraded engine was $37,390. |