Chrysler Reinvents the Minivan with the new 2017 Pacifica

[rage2]

http://www.beyond.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2017-Chrysler-Pacifica-NAIAS-2016-6-550x310.jpg

http://www.beyond.ca/chrysler-reinvents-the-minivan-with-the-new-2017-pacifica/54461.html

[Xtrema]

Nice. But looks like the platform didn't change from last gen.

[Kloubek]

Hard to be too excited about a mini-van, but I must say it's a decent looking one. Chrysler has come a long way in a short time.

[dirtsniffer]

My parents had a mini van when I was a kid. I don't get the hate for them. You can pack so much stuff / people in them comfortably.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Nice. But looks like the platform didn't change from last gen.

Should be all new. In fact it's 300lbs lighter.

More power and torque, 3 more gears.

[Ferio_vti]

Funny they still call them 'mini' nowadays

[eglove]

Looks good except for the circlular opening for the camera in the front :rofl:

[blownz]

Definitely a huge improvement, especially on the interior. I like to see that AWD will be an option. Not sure about the idea to stop making the Dodge version though.

That said, still happy not to drive a minivan. :)

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
My parents had a mini van when I was a kid. I don't get the hate for them. You can pack so much stuff / people in them comfortably.

Yea, I guess if you are a dead-on-the-inside parent with three little bastards running around, that'd be all that matters.

We grew up using my dad's 1972 Chevy 1/2 ton that was restored as his daily driver. We never seemed to have any issues. :dunno:

[dirtsniffer]

4 little bastards. and a dog. lots of great memories.

Even when I was 18 my buddy had his parents minivan. great road trips and ski trips with 5 or 6 people.

[Ca_Silvia13]

Originally posted by dirtsniffer
My parents had a mini van when I was a kid. I don't get the hate for them. You can pack so much stuff / people in them comfortably.

Drive one. They are terrible on every level. The only thing I think drives worse than a minivan in a Jeep Wrangler.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Ca_Silvia13
Drive one. They are terrible on every level. The only thing I think drives worse than a minivan in a Jeep Wrangler.
Yea, I've rented a minivan before, and driving at the highway taking a turn at 60% of what I'd do in my car, I was able to squeal the tires and realized I'm cornering at the damn van's limits lol. Seriously, wasn't even going fast. I've driven SUVs much faster than that, which is sad.

With that being said, Chrysler claims that the new Pacifica has been re-engineered to offer superior handling compared to anything else in the segment. They didn't really say WHAT they changed to achieve that, so it's anyone's guess if it's true or not until the road tests comes out.

[A790]

I hope it doesn't use the same abortion of a nine-speed transmission that's in my Trailhawk...

[speedog]

To be fair though, rage, most people who drive minivans do not normally try to drive them at or near what you might be used to driving your MB's at.

We had a couple of Chev Astro's while the family was young and quite enjoyed them. Granted, thy weren't exactly minivans and we took them off-road in ?C.'s back country where they probably had no business being but they could haul an a zing amount of stuff a family would require on a holiday and still have lots of room on the inside for the passengers. What was really great was when the kids got old enough to drive was that I could quite comfortably stretch out in one of the seats that wasn't in the front and have a good sleep.

When we eventually moved to an SUV, yeah we had a better handling vehicle but the lack of interior space was immediately evident. Hell, I'm considering another minivan as my work vehicle just because of ease of access to get stuff in and out.

Now I realize that many are very anti-minivan but in reality, they are pretty much the ideal vehicle for transporting a family.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by HiTempguy1


Yea, I guess if you are a dead-on-the-inside parent with three little bastards running around, that'd be all that matters.

We grew up using my dad's 1972 Chevy 1/2 ton that was restored as his daily driver. We never seemed to have any issues. :dunno:

I'll bet that worked real well for taking a family of four/five camping for the weekend, or to all the kids sports, or on a road trip through a couple provinces on summer vacation, or......

I don't get all the hate for them, they're perfect for family travelling/camping/ski trips/whatever. My dead on the inside (apparently) parents always had one (once they could be convinced to move away from the full size vans). They're utilitarian, you don't buy them for high speed handling or any kind of sport performance. :dunno:

[revelations]

The hate only exists in North America. The rest of the world realizes the practicality of a wheeled box with sliding doors vs SUV. Wife has a Mazda5 van which is just awesome in our double garage for egress/unloading.

Good looking van though, someone was allowed to be creative this time.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by rage2

Yea, I've rented a minivan before, and driving at the highway taking a turn at 60% of what I'd do in my car, I was able to squeal the tires and realized I'm cornering at the damn van's limits lol. Seriously, wasn't even going fast. I've driven SUVs much faster than that, which is sad.

Did a trip driving to Vancouver with one. It's so unforgiving and tiring, I rather drive a bus.

The only minivan that's ok on handling is Odessey. If this improved this to that level, I guess that's an achievement.


Originally posted by A790
I hope it doesn't use the same abortion of a nine-speed transmission that's in my Trailhawk...

Didn't they have new software for that?

[HiTempguy1]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE


I'll bet that worked real well for taking a family of four/five camping for the weekend, or to all the kids sports, or on a road trip through a couple provinces on summer vacation, or......


Actually, we totally did. I remember lots of road trips, towing the 24' foot trailer through the mountains with 4 people in it.

Those were the days! ;)

I have nothing against mini-vans, for some, they are exactly perfect. But (and this is just my opinion), a family of 4 doesn't need one.

[rage2]

Originally posted by speedog
To be fair though, rage, most people who drive minivans do not normally try to drive them at or near what you might be used to driving your MB's at.

We had a couple of Chev Astro's while the family was young and quite enjoyed them. Granted, thy weren't exactly minivans and we took them off-road in ?C.'s back country where they probably had no business being but they could haul an a zing amount of stuff a family would require on a holiday and still have lots of room on the inside for the passengers. What was really great was when the kids got old enough to drive was that I could quite comfortably stretch out in one of the seats that wasn't in the front and have a good sleep.

When we eventually moved to an SUV, yeah we had a better handling vehicle but the lack of interior space was immediately evident. Hell, I'm considering another minivan as my work vehicle just because of ease of access to get stuff in and out.

Now I realize that many are very anti-minivan but in reality, they are pretty much the ideal vehicle for transporting a family.
I'm not even talking about driving fast. The cornering limits of a minivan is just terrible. It's not just me though, people are voting with their wallets, and minivan sales have dropped over 60% since the peak in 2000. People ARE choosing style, handling over practicality. Remember, these are family vehicles and typically the only vehicle where you need that practicality only 10-20% of the time. You're making compromises when you're not driving kids around.

Let's just see if Chrysler actually revolutionized this segment or not once the Pacificas hit the road.

[Aleks]

Our Odyssey is coming off 4 year lease at the end of this month. I've tried to get my wife to look at some SUVs, but she refuses to give up the Odyssey. So first time ever, we are making it to end of lease and buying one out :rofl: This Pacifica does look pretty sweet so may check it out once its on sale. No current offering makes it worth upgrading at this time.

As far as driving dynamics: I had a previous gen Pilot as a loaner when van was in for service and to me the van actually drove better. I'm sure purpose built performance SUVs or something like a Mazda CX-5 is much better though.

[speedog]

Yupp, style so you have to add some sort of roof mounted storage system and then not be able to park in your garage.

[dino_martini]

Why Chrysler chose to revive a lack luster mid 2000's product name for this I will never understand.

[revelations]

I drove one of the previous model Chrysler minivans for about 5 weeks for work. I did about 20,000km on highway and dirt roads just fine - even fully loaded with gear.

Didnt notice anything out of the ordinary and we drove through some winding roads in northern Michigan and through lots of bad weather.

The fit and finish however, was appalling - sea tbelts hitting the plastic C pillar for eg. rattling away for hours. Easily fixed if someone cared, but a lack to attention to detail was obvious (as with many American vehicles).

[Thaco]

not sure where the line is between minivan and stationwagon, maybe the sliding doors? looks like a stationwagon more than a minivan to me..

[BokCh0y]

Wasn't the Pacifica similar to an SUV like the Toyota Highlander and not a minivan? I thought the Chrysler minivan is known as the Town & Country, for Dodge it was the Caravan.

Regardless, I'd still rather an SUV over a minivan. I've driven minivan's at times, and although they have great storage, like Rage says, it handled horribly. Still would rather have style and handling over practicality, but that's just me.

This one looks way more minivan than SUV to me.

[carson blocks]

The Beyond article could use a couple edits.


Soccer moms seems to be happy with a chic image than getting their kids through the day with ease.


This sentence is the worst Engrish, but there are a few other tough spots and the whole thing really needs a proofread. Not busting balls, honestly trying to help. The articles are usually pretty well written and this is a bit of an outlier.

[rage2]

Originally posted by dino_martini
Why Chrysler chose to revive a lack luster mid 2000's product name for this I will never understand.
Everyone thought they were going to call it the Town and Country, which is a way worse name haha.


Originally posted by carson blocks
The Beyond article could use a couple edits.

This sentence is the worst Engrish, but there are a few other tough spots and the whole thing really needs a proofread. Not busting balls, honestly trying to help. The articles are usually pretty well written and this is a bit of an outlier.
If you look on my facebok, you'll see that I was drinking because we had to take a train due to a cancelled flight, and I was writing it drunk. :rofl: It also means I can't handle alcohol anymore. :(

I'll go and fix it now. Really should proof read my own shit, but it's been honestly stupid busy here covering the show.

edit - holy shit that article was painful to read. :rofl:

[ExtraSlow]

We love our Honda Odyssey, and every Chrysler minivan I've driven in the last ten years has felt like total shit.
If this is the same quality as the Honda, it should do fine.

Wife wouldn't even consider an SUV when we were buying, Minivan beats it in every way that she cares about.

[A790]

Originally posted by Xtrema
Didn't they have new software for that?
Yea. It kinda sorta helped...

If it weren't for that stupid tranny I'd have nothing but good things to say about the Trailhawk. :(

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by BokCh0y
Wasn't the Pacifica similar to an SUV like the Toyota Highlander and not a minivan? I thought the Chrysler minivan is known as the Town & Country, for Dodge it was the Caravan.

It was a 6/7 seater, 3 roll, FWD wagon.

Some even say that's how Mercedes got the idea for R class.

[ExtremeSi]

I drove the last gen Pacifica and it drove better than a lot of other minivans and had a nice interior. It was built in collaboration with Mercedes using the R-Class chassis if I remember correctly. So I'm not sure if they're using some MB parts from that still or not, but if they are then this should be decent.

I would never buy a Chrysler, but I'm happy to see that they are at least trying to style this thing and not make it look like every other van out there.

[rage2]

Pacifica was based on the Caravan/Town and Country platform. R Class was based on ML class platform. FWD vs Rear biased AWD. Completely different.

[01RedDX]

.

[corsvette]

It looks fantastic imo. A little confused with the name change too, Caravan was iconic and instantly recognizable, kinda like if Honda changed the Civic name.

Anyway...Bring on a hellcat version and I'll be first in line to buy one!

[BokCh0y]

Originally posted by Xtrema


It was a 6/7 seater, 3 roll, FWD wagon.

Some even say that's how Mercedes got the idea for R class.


Originally posted by rage2
Pacifica was based on the Caravan/Town and Country platform. R Class was based on ML class platform. FWD vs Rear biased AWD. Completely different.


Thanks for the info from you both.

I always thought the R class was very close to the Pacifica and that the R class was based on the Pacifica, clearly not the case then.

[ricosuave]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/news/we-arent-the-only-ones-who-want-a-chrysler-pacifica-hellcat/ar-BBoPiNL?ocid=spartanntp

:drool:

[rage2]

It's front wheel drive in case anyone forgot.

[rage2]

Hellcat renders haha.

http://i.imgur.com/ug6yJ7k.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AkFLgzd.jpg

I mean if they can pack in 700hp and AWD and make it actually decent levels (and by that I mean Honda Accord levels) of cornering, it might be an interesting machine.

[killramos]

Hellcat looks like a fit lol

[A2VR6]

Oh man a hellcat Pacifica would be hilarious. Here's to hoping they actually do it .

[Darell_n]

The first photo is nearly identical to my red '08 WRX if you just changed the wheels.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by A2VR6
Oh man a hellcat Pacifica would be hilarious. Here's to hoping they actually do it .

From Ralph Gilles (head of design of Fiat/Chrysler) Intsagram account:
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Ralph-Gilles-Hellcat-Pacifica-Chrysler.jpg

[n1zm0]

Most of the fullsized luxury MPVs in Japan already look like this, just that we don't get them here, we get boring Siennas and Odysseys. 2 of my aunts have a Toyota Alphard in SE Asia. One of them has it all black and kind of has this VIP look going on, which is apparently a car sub culture over there.