2010 Road Test: Chrysler Town and Country Minivan is an Ideal Family Hauler

By: Nick Yost
NY Autos Examiner

There are probably some diehard Volkswagen Microbus fans who would dispute this, but to me Chrysler is the manufacturer that came up with the family-friendly minivan.

I was there back in 1983 when the manufacturer took the wraps off those first front-wheel-drive vehicles and I can remember my reaction to this day.

Here was a brilliant concept, I thought, a much more practical replacement for the station wagon. It was designed to hold up to seven or even eight passengers in reasonable comfort and could swallow plenty of luggage. What’s more, it would fit in most family garages.

Not so brilliant was the initial choice of engines.

The 2.2-liter, 86-horsepower four-banger was simply not up to the job, even with the manual transmission that was available in the early years. The optional 2.6-liter, 104-horsepower, Mitsubishi-built four-cylinder engine with automatic shifter was better, but certainly no fireball.

A year later, along with two other journalists, I toured the perimeter of the country in a Plymouth Voyager as a participant in the eight-day, 8.800-mile odyssey that was the first One Lap of America competition.

Unlike today’s One Lap events that include race-track driving and are basically for seasoned drivers with seriously hot cars, the goal of that first competition was to traverse the interstates closest to the country’s borders at a speed as close as possible to the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit and as close as possible to the pre-determined distance on the designated routes.

The Mitsubishi engine worked flawlessly, although it was definitely challenged as the minivan traversed the Rocky Mountains. More importantly, equipped with a prototype Convert-A-Bed, the Plymouth Voyager was the most comfortable vehicle among the 76 competitors as we cruised night and day along the interstates, except for a one-day rest stop in Redondo Beach, CA.

With a lot of luck on our side, our team came in fifth overall and divided a $5,000 prize—and my first impression of the minivan as an ideal family car was confirmed.

For reasons not exactly rooted in common sense, the minivan has lost some of its luster over the years as buyers first drifted in droves to the more expensive, gas-eating sport-utility vehicles.

SUV craze fading

The SUV craze is pretty much over now, replaced by macho-looking, car-based crossover vehicles that sacrifice rugged, off-road capability for more comfortable on-road travel.

Since only a small percentage of SUV owners actually drove their vehicles into the wilderness, the more comfortable and more fuel-efficient crossovers make a lot more sense than SUVs.

But to my mind, they still don’t match the drivability, practicality and comfort of the minivan.

You simply can’t beat the convenience of sliding rear doors, a comfortable ride and storage space that ranges from good to great depending on how the rear seats are configured.

For big cities such as New York, a properly equipped Town and Country is also a sensible choice for buyers needing a small commercial van or taxicab. The minivan isn’t exactly small, but it is easier to drive and park on the traffic-clogged streets of Manhattan than a full-size van.

Unfortunately, Chrysler has lost its long-time reputation as leader of the pack, no doubt in large part because the company itself had fallen on hard times that ended up in its recent bankruptcy and sale to Italian carmaker Fiat.

The result is a vehicle that Consumer Reports magazine surveys have found to have more than an average amount of problems.

However, I recently spent a week with a Chrysler Town and Country Limited and, in that time, could find nothing to complain about regarding the quality, performance or comfort of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, the new Chrysler management is working to convince buyers that its minivans are the equal of any on the road with various incentives to get them back into the showrooms.

Since all minivans are cut out of similar boxy molds, Chrysler and its competitors vie for consumer dollars with an ever-increasing number of features, and slightly different emphases on the car’s driving dynamics.

The Town and Country, for example, came across as an extremely comfortable highway cruiser while a recently tested Honda Odyssey had a suspension tuned for a sportier driving experience and that made it a bit more enjoyable on the two-lane blacktops.

The Town and Country comes in five different levels of trim, starting with a base $25,995 LX outfitted with a 3.3-liter, 175-horsepower V-6 engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission and rising to the Limited, powered by a 4-liter, 253-horsepower V-6 teamed with a six-speed automatic transmission. Base price of the Limited is $35,880.

The vehicle provided for my test was a Chrysler Town and Country Limited outfitted with enough options to raise the price to $41,415.

For the driver, the minivan remains easy to operate and easy to control—even better than it was back in 1984.

The 4-liter engine is smooth, quiet and sufficiently powerful, and the six-speed transmission works its way through the gears unobtrusively.

Should a driver become a bit over-enthusiastic on the back roads, the electronic stability control system will cut in to keep the vehicle under control.

In addition, passengers can feel secure with a long list of otherb safety features that have earned the minivan a five-star rating for frontal and side crashes and a four-star rating for rollovers.

The EPA predicts fuel efficiency at 17 mpg around town and 25 mpg on the open road, but those figures may be optimistic. In a week and more than 300 miles of mostly highway driving with a light load I averaged about 21 mpg.

While the driver will be able to cruise along in comfort, this fully-optioned Town and Country probably offers the most enjoyment for passengers in rows two and three.

Everything from Chrysler’s Swivel ‘n’ Go seating to in-vehicle movies and TV can keep adults and children alike entertained as the Town and Country gobbles up the miles en route from home to a favored destination.

With the $495 Swivel ‘n’ Go, the second-row bucket seats can be turned to face the third row. A circular table, normally stowed in the second-row floor bin, can be installed between the rows of seats for board games, card games or snacking.

To be honest, this is pretty much a kids-only feature because there’s not a whole lot of space between seats and table.

Lots of comfort, convenience features

As for the long list of electronic treats, let’s take a closer look at a few of the available option packages.

For $2,020, you can get an entertainment system with separate nine-inch screens for second- and third-row passengers, a single-disc dvd player, Sirius broadcast TV with one year of free service, wireless headphones and video remote control.

Another $1,300 will get you a navigation system with premium audio, a hard drive with 4,250-song capacity, Ipod connector and Bluetooth phone connectivity.

One particularly convenient feature, for $595, is the power folding third-row seats that expand cargo space at the push of a button.

Another useful option for some buyers is the $600 towing preparation package. With it, the Town and Country can pull boats and trailers up to 3,600 pounds.

With continued improvements and upgrades in each new generation, the Chrysler minivan and its counterparts remain the most practical family haulers on the road today.