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Introduction
It may have given up some ground over the years to a host of
ever-improving rivals, both foreign and domestic, but Dodge's Caravan and
long-wheelbase Grand Caravan are still the 800-pound gorillas of the
minivan world. They, and their upmarket cousin, the Chrysler Town &
Country, are the highly evolved results of 20-plus years of family-hauling
mastery from the company that coined the term "minivan." And though
they're a bit long in the tooth on the mechanical side, their interiors
are still near the top of their class, as little has escaped the
consideration of the Chrysler engineering team in its obsessive quest for
supreme space-efficiency, user-friendliness, and occupant protection.
  
      
      
      
Exterior
The Chrysler Group made a daring decision when its Caravan and Town &
Country minivans were due for a redesign: It invested its limited funds in
a new platform that would accommodate a game-changing new seating feature
called Stow 'N Go. This meant that much of the vehicle that's seen by
consumers would remain little changed from when this iteration was
introduced in 1996. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but robust sales
have proven this strategy to be sound. A key to pulling it off is that
both the short-wheelbase Caravan and the long-wheelbase Grand Caravan are
nicely proportioned and cleanly detailed. An attractive monochromatic
paint job is standard on all but the base Caravan SE, and top-trim SXT
models get handsome 16-inch alloy wheels.
Interior
Both the Caravan and Grand Caravan feature three rows of seats that
comfortably accommodate a maximum of seven passengers. Finding room for
those passengers' luggage, however, is a different story: The standard
Caravan has very little cargo space behind the third row, so it isn't the
best choice for long road trips with the whole brood. The Grand Caravan,
however, carries all of its extra length behind the third-row seats, so it
can handily consume a week's worth of luggage for seven. Moreover, the
Grand Caravan offers the Stow 'N Go seating system, which can transform
the interior from a seven-passenger people-hauler to a two-passenger
cargo-hauler with a completely flat load floor. Standard on SE Plus and
SXT models, Stow 'N Go features a pair of second-row captain's chairs and
a 60/40-split third-row bench that tumble forward and backward,
respectively, into lidded wells under the floor--no more wrestling with
removable seats. With second- and third-row seats in the upright position,
these under-floor wells augment the Grand Caravan's storage space by a
significant 12 cubic feet--the size of a compact-car trunk. And if that's
not enough space, the Grand Caravan also can be had with a clever overhead
rail system consisting of a trio of movable (and removable) hanging bins
for small odds and ends.
The seats themselves are
notable for their use of a NASA-developed super-high-density foam for
comfort and packaging efficiency. However, astronauts may be more tolerant
than we are, as we found the second-row seats too small and soft for
sustained comfort. The second-row seats slide fore and aft, and their
seatbacks recline up to 40 degrees. All in all, the Grand Caravan offers
some 250 possible seating configurations.
From the driver's seat,
it's tough to fault the Caravans' user-friendly dashboard layout; gauges
are bright and legible, and controls are intelligently arrayed. Interior
plastics, although too often of the hard-and-shiny variety, are certainly
durable, and fit and finish are quite satisfactory, but not quite up to
the level of some of the Caravan's rivals, notably Honda and Toyota.
Safety
In addition to having an admirably crashworthy structure, the Caravan and
Grand Caravan boast standard multi-stage front airbags and a driver's-side
inflatable knee-blocker. Full-length side-curtain airbags are available.
All outboard passengers get three-point seatbelts, and front-seat
occupants get seatbelt pretensioners. An anti-lock braking system is
standard equipment on all Grand Caravan models, but is still an extra-cost
option on the Caravan SXT--and not available at all on the four-cylinder
Caravan SE (all the more reason to avoid it). All models feature an alert
that notifies the driver when the sliding side doors (either manual or
optional power-operated) are in motion. Electronic stability control is
starkly absent from the list of options
Powertrain
Since the demise of the value-leading Chrysler (née Plymouth) Voyager, the
base Caravan SE has assumed the role as the Chrysler Group's entry-level
minivan. As such, it features a 2.4-liter DOHC inline four-cylinder engine
(also the base powerplant in Dodge's Stratus). Woefully unsuited for
minivan duty, the overworked four meets a four-speed automatic
transmission and coughs out 150 horsepower and 165 lb-ft of torque. Adding
insult to injury, it returns just 20 mpg in town and 26 on the highway,
only marginally better than the optional V-6. That engine, an
overhead-valve unit displacing 3.3 liters, motivates the uplevel Caravan
SXT and the Grand Caravan SE and SE Plus. Also matched to a four-speed
automatic, the 3.3 is a cast-iron antique next to the state-of-the-art
multi-valve sixes in several of the Caravan's Japanese rivals.
Nonetheless, Dodge's six-cylinder workhorse is reasonably quiet,
reasonably willing, and undeniably easy to live with, producing 180
horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque and returning 19-city/26-highway mpg.
The top-trim Grand Caravan SXT upgrades to a somewhat larger, but no more
sophisticated, 3.8-liter OHV V-6. Through its four-speed automatic, the
3.8 delivers 207 horsepower and 238 lb-ft of torque--adequate, but
significantly short of the standard sixes in such prime rivals as the
Toyota Sienna (230 hp), Nissan Quest (240 hp), and Honda Odyssey (255 hp).
It's worth noting that all Caravans and Grand Caravans are
front-wheel-driven; the all-wheel-drive option disappeared with last
year's wave of revisions to make room under the floor for Stow 'N Go
Behind The Wheel
Although hardly the standard-bearers of the class, both the Caravan and
Grand Caravan, among minivans, are thoroughly effective on the road. At
highway speeds, they're both quiet and composed, though the longer,
heavier Grand Caravan has the edge in straight-line stability. Steering is
accurate, albeit typically overboosted, and body control, while hardly
sporty, is at least predictable. The vans' around-town maneuverability
pleasantly masks their considerable bulk, and the four-speed automatic's
short gearing affords a degree of off-the-line alertness that belies the
V-6 engines' general gutlessness.
Ownership
The Caravan starts well under $20,000 and the Grand Caravan at less than
$24,000. For such relatively modest cash, Dodge's duo is surprisingly well
appointed. Standard equipment includes air conditioning, a four-speaker
AM/FM/CD stereo, and a lockable storage bin under the front-passenger
seat. All Caravans are protected by Dodge's generous warranty coverage,
including three-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper and
seven-year/70,000-mile powertrain. The Caravans' massively reconfigurable
passenger compartments and raft of innovative features help them standout
in the crowded segment. While the IntelliChoice Ownership Cost Value
Rating may be Average, there are often factory and dealer incentives to
sweeten the deal, ensuring that the minivan that started it all still has
what it takes to hold its own in this fiercely competitive segment of the
market.
Final Word
The Caravan and Grand Caravan continue to hone the minivan formula they
created over two decades ago, offering comfortable, safe family transport
with innovations to enhance the journey and adapt to daily transportation
needs.
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