1998 Chrysler Town and Country Review

1998 Chrysler Town and Country

Sleek and spacious.

by: Dan Jedlicka

Some people lump all minivans together and call them boring. While high utility, not excitement, is the major role of such vehicles, a few minivans are fairly exciting.

Consider the $26,680-$34,260 Town & Country, which looks sleek, has a spacious interior and makes a driver feel as if he or she is in a nimble, comfortable, large sedan.

The 1998 model has a more-powerful

V-6 and a new classic-looking Chrysler ``signature'' grille and quad headlights.

There also are new luxury features such as heated leather front seats and an automatic dimming left outside rearview mirror that cuts glare from headlights of following vehicles. The available left-side middle bucket seat now has the same tilt-forward feature as the right one for easier access to the third-row seat.

The Town & Country comes with front- or all-wheel drive and with a regular-length or extended-length body, which is 13.3 inches longer. Both have dual sliding side doors. The larger version has more cargo room behind the third seat, but both seat seven passengers in relative dignity.

Chrysler is the acknowledged minivan leader and has had plenty of practice with this type of vehicle. For 1998, the larger of the Town & Country's two V-6s gets 180 horsepower--up from 166 last year--and more torque. The new General Motors minivans have 180 horsepower, so Chrysler had to match that figure.

Still, acceleration isn't lively above 65 m.p.h. even with that 3.8-liter engine because the Town & Country weighs from 3,958 to 4,462 pounds. That means the 3.3-liter, 158-horsepower V-6 in lower-line models delivers middling performance at all speeds.

However, the 3.8-liter Town & Country easily cruises all day at 75-80 m.p.h. if you're out there on an interstate with a tight schedule. Buyers are best off on the open road, anyway, because city fuel economy only is 14-16 m.p.g. with either V-6. Figure on the low 20s on highways.

Depowered dual air bags are standard, and front-drive models have a low-speed traction control system for better grip on slippery pavement that almost makes the all-wheel-drive feature seem unnecessary.

Top-line LXi models have ``automatic'' headlights that turn on and off, depending on ambient light levels, and all models have brighter headlights.

The Town & Country interior is nicely designed, with a good dashboard and comfortable seats. It's easy to get in and out, with just a minimum of extra bother to reach the third-row seat. However, there's no power sliding side door like the one offered for GM minivans.

The lower-priced Caravan and Voyager minivans offer more value than the Town & Country, but just don't have its pizzazz. Few minivans do.

Dan Jedlicka

Dan Jedlicka joined the Chicago Sun-Times in February 1968 as a business news reporter and was named auto editor later that year. He has reviewed more than 4,000 new vehicles for the Sun-Times--far more than any newspaper auto writer in the country. Jedlicka also reviewed vehicles for Microsoft Corp.'s MSN Autos Internet site from January, 1996, to June, 2008.

Jedlicka remained auto editor at the Sun-Times until October, 2008, and continued writing for the newspaper's AutoTimes section, which he started in 1992, until February, 2009. While continuing his auto writings at the Sun-Times, he served as assistant financial editor of that newspaper from 1970 to 1973, when he began his automotive column.

He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, including NBC's "Today," ABC's "20/20" and "The CBS Evening News." He was a host, consultant and writer for Fox-TV Channel 32's 1991 New Car Preview show and that Chicago-based station's 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 Chicago Auto Show Previews.

Jedlicka's auto articles have been printed in national magazines, including Esquire and Harper's. His auto columns have been reprinted in U.S. government publications and economic textbooks and he is profiled in the "World's Greatest Auto Show" history book about the Chicago Auto Show. In late 1975, Jedlicka was host and technical advisor for three one-hour television specials, "Auto Test 76," which aired nationally on PBS and were the first nationally televised auto road test shows.

In 1995, Jedlicka was the recipient of the Better Business Bureau of Chicago and Northern Illinois Inc.'s Consumer Education Award, given annually to a person who has gained distinction in the field of consumer education. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Media category and inducted into the Legends of Motorsports Guild at the Carquest World of wheels custom car show in Chicago in January, 2006.

Jedlicka was a member of the North American Car and Truck of the Year jury, composed of a select number of auto journalists from throughout the country, from 1995 until 2009. From 2010 to 2012, he was a member of Consumer Digest magazine's auto experts panel that gave Best Buy new vehicle recommendations.

He is a 1987 graduate of the Bob Bondurant Race Drivers School and later of the BMW "M" and Skip Barber Advanced Driving schools. He was a member of the U.S. team that participated in the 1987 1,000-mile Mille Miglia race/rally in Italy and has been a race winner at the Chicago area's Santa Fe Speedway.

Jedlicka has owned 25 classic cars, including 1950s and 1960s Ferraris and 1950s and 1960s Porsches, a 1965 Corvette, a 1967 Maserati and a 1957 Studebaker supercharged Golden Hawk. Jedlicka resides with his wife, Suzanne, in the Frank Lloyd Wright historic district of Oak Park. They have two children, James and Michele.

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