Our view: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

Source: Our view: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

The judgment: Like a diaper bag, minivans are typically big, unwieldy, and dated, but pack all the gear your family needs. For 2017, however, Chrysler’s van turned into a Kate Spade bag: the new eight-passenger Pacifica is sleek, stylish and even more family-friendly, with extra space and innovative convenience features.

Versus the competition: Many minivans have drivers sacrificing style, power and maneuverability for a living room on wheels – not so with the 2017 Pacifica. Stunning good looks and polished road manners make it a standout vehicle in its class.

Seating seven or eight in three rows, the 2017 Pacifica minivan replaces the Chrysler (Dodge) Town & Country minivan and revives the Pacifica name last used by Chrysler for a major crossover from 2004-2008. Compare the terms and conditions and the new Pacifica here. It competes against Honda Odyssey, Kia Sedona and Toyota Sienna; compare the Pacifica to them here.
Like the mom who shows up to kindergarten drop-off in a suit instead of yoga pants, the Pacifica easily outperforms other minivans, even the handsome Kia Sedona. The Pacifica’s sleek silhouette and polished face is a radical stylistic departure from the Town & Country’s stale breadbox look.

It sports a version of the curvaceous, sleek grille of the Chrysler 200 sedan and horizontal taillights accented by LED light pipes reminiscent of the automaker’s SUVs. Something is missing from the profile, but I doubt you’ll really miss it. The minivan’s telltale sliding door rails are gone. Unlike some other vans, the Pacifica’s door rails are hidden under the side window in the rear quarter.
Long and heavy minivans aren’t known for their handling, but Chrysler made big strides with the Pacifica. It’s much less onerous to drive than the previous model, with improved handling and maneuverability, especially when parking. It feels firmer and more composed in corners, and the ride quality is better too – most bumps don’t bother it. The Pacifica is also much quieter than the Town & Country, as well as the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna; Wind and engine noise are better dampened.

Power comes from a new version of the 3.6-liter V6 that powers the Town & Country, mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. In other applications, the automaker’s nine-speed was problematic, particularly when mated to a four-cylinder. Our longtime Jeep Cherokee shifted into gear with awkward shift timing, and the transmission was one of the shortcomings cited on the Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade during the Cars.com Subcompact SUV Challenge. In the Chrysler Pacifica, the V-6 engine and the nine-speed are a better combination. Power from a standstill is ample and delivery is smooth and linear; Midrange power on the highway is provided quickly and naturally. At low city speeds I did notice the occasional harsh, abrupt downshift under deceleration, but for the most part the nine-speed was unremarkable. Fortunately, so were the brakes. With their smooth, linear action, the Pacifica’s brakes feel more natural than the Town & Country’s, which tended to throb disconcertingly.

Chrysler gets kudos for the Pacifica’s more polished powertrain, but the lack of an all-wheel-drive model is a downside. The Toyota Sienna is the only minivan to offer one. What the Pacifica will offer in late 2016 is a plug-in hybrid van, the only one in a class that has never offered a hybrid, even without plug-in capability. Chrysler estimates it will offer 30 miles of all-electric range before returning to gas-electric hybrid operation.

The gas-powered version is no slouch. The Chrysler Pacifica’s EPA-estimated gas mileage is 18/28/22 mpg city/highway/combined, significantly higher than the Town & Country’s 17/25/20 mpg. In combined driving, it matches the Honda Odyssey, beating the Kia Sedona by 2mpg and the Toyota Sienna by 1mpg.

The Town & Country’s sleek, well-appointed cabin is replaced with a cleaner, more modern design that still exudes an upscale vibe despite the lack of wood paneling. A fluid, horizontal control layout replaces the previous model’s blocky, stacked setup. The cabin’s color palette ranges from muted caramel and tan tones to high-contrast black and cream tones, with pops of color accenting the seats and control panels.

The real highlight of the cabin is behind the first row. Though the Chrysler Town & Country tanked in nearly every category in the Cars.com Ultimate Minivan Challenge (conducted before the Pacifica existed), its floor-folding Stow ‘n Go seats earned it significant points. For 2017, Chrysler improved the second-row Stow ‘n Go system with wider, more comfortable seats and an improved folding maneuver. It’s so easy I can fold them with one hand. You used to have to open the front doors and slide the front seats forward to clear the way before you could stow the second-row seats, but now a one-touch button on the B-pillar moves the front seats automatically. Also, the second row seats now fall over without first removing the floor mat. I tested a seven-seat model with second-row captain’s chairs. On the eight-seat model, the outboard seats are Stow ‘n Go and the middle seat is removable.

There’s a catch: the Stow ‘n Go seats no longer slide fore and aft. The new Easy Tilt feature makes up for that, though, and should come in handy for families with kids in car seats (and a blessing for anyone who’s ever had to clamber past a car seat to get into the third row). With Easy Tilt, the captain’s chairs slide and rise, creating another passage to the third row. It also works when an empty child seat is installed. We look forward to testing this feature in our car seat check.

Both second- and third-row headroom and legroom are available for 2017, and taller third-row windows offer better visibility and a less cavernous feeling for passengers. The Chrysler Pacifica offers more third-row headroom than the Odyssey and Sienna, but not quite as much as the Sedona. In terms of legroom, the Pacifica’s third row is roomier than the Sedona and Sienna, but not as roomy as the Odyssey.

Numerous convenience goodies are also new. First of all, this year the sliding doors open in different ways: the traditional buttons on the front row and on the van’s B-pillars, as well as a new button on the exterior door handles, similar to a keyless lock button. A new option is foot wipe activation of the power sliding doors and tailgate. Finally, there’s a vacuum in the top trim levels. Developed with tool company Ridgid, the second-row vacuum can vacuum up forgotten fries and Cheerios in all three rows.
An outdated, clunky multimedia system plagued the Town & Country for years, and the Pacifica finally gets Chrysler’s optional Uconnect system with an 8.4-inch touchscreen. On the Pacifica, it’s flush-mounted and slightly tilted toward the driver for good visibility. Graphics are crisp and the screen responds quickly to touch. The menu structure is uncluttered, so things like setting up and canceling a navigation route or changing audio presets can be done in seconds. It’s easier to use than the multimedia systems in the Odyssey and Sienna, and matches the Sedona’s user-friendly system. Compatibility with AppleCar Play and Android Auto is not available.

My rides in the Chrysler Pacifica were quiet, thanks in large part to the optional Uconnect Theater entertainment system in the rear seats. The dual 10-inch high-resolution touchscreens in the second row have built-in apps that kept my talkative preschooler engaged. Math, checkers, an apple word game and tic-tac-toe were the favorites. Every once in a while, she switched to the Are We There Yet app, which tracks the car’s progress in real time as a destination is entered into the satnav. Smaller kids might have trouble reaching the screens, though — I pushed the passenger seat all the way back and reclined a little — and after a full day in the van, they asked Chrysler to add more apps, particularly one for coloring.

If yours is anything like mine, families travel with a lot of stuff; the Chrysler Pacifica can take it. Up front, the center console is huge and full of functionality with plenty of built-in compartments, cup holders and sliding dividers.

Behind the third row there’s 32.3 cubic feet of space, a bit less than the Town & Country and less than the competition. For the seat behind the third row, the Sienna is the cargo champion. However, the Pacifica’s third row folds easily, opening up 87.5 cubic feet of space, more than the outgoing model and more than both the Sedona and Sienna. Here the Odyssey tops out at 93.1 cubic feet of space. With both rows down, the Pacifica has 140.5 cubic feet of room, putting it behind the competition.
That The Chrysler Pacifica was not crash tested at the time of publication. A rear camera is standard; a surround-view camera system is optional. Other safety options include blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, automatic cruise control with fully autonomous stop, forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and cross traffic warning with automatic braking. Click here for a full list of security features.

That Chrysler Pacifica delivers more for less; It starts at $29,590 including a $995 destination fee. That’s $1,400 less than Town & Country; it also starts less than the Odyssey and Sienna, but it’s about $2,000 more than the Sedona, the Ultimate Minivan Challenge Champion.

The Sedona received the highest accolades for its combination of refined road manners, generous comfort and affordability. With the new Pacifica, the Sedona may have found its opponent.

The Cars.com editorial team is your source for automotive news and reviews. In accordance with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers do not accept gifts or free rides from automakers. The editorial team is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

Via: toplistreviewstips.com

from toplistreviewstips.com https://ift.tt/UjYEzpm
via Toplistreviewstips.com