Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Video highlights of this vehicle

Every week, we get new vehicles to test. And every week, our road test coordinator, Neil Chirico, is the driver responsible for extracting the most performance possible out of them. You could say he's our own in-house Mario Andretti. He owns Mustang SVOs and races them during his free time. He's single with no kids. He lives and breathes sports cars. So what Edmunds.com long-term vehicle did we saddle him with this month? The Dodge Grand Caravan.

Having Neil spend time with our DGC was a good way to get some commentary about the minivan's powertrain and handling prowess. Neil said he was impressed by the 3.8-liter V6's smooth power delivery. With 215 horsepower and 245 foot-pounds of torque, he said the engine "moves this vehicle with authority."

Neil also commented about the transmission. "Downshifts from the four-speed automatic transmission are executed with perfection, and it's hard to catch this transmission off guard," he said. He was less enthralled with the AutoStick option on our minivan. He found that placing the transmission in AutoStick mode has little effect on the transmission's behavior. "When I tested the Grand Caravan for acceleration, it was interesting to note that leaving the starting line in first gear, it would finish the quarter-mile in third gear without my ever touching the AutoStick switch. It will hold the lower gears by toggling the switch, useful for when you are driving down a hill. But you can do the same with any automatic by manually shifting it to the lower gear. So where's the benefit to AutoStick? Maybe it should be called Autoschtick instead."

Neil did say that the gearing in the transmission allows for brisk acceleration and quiet freeway cruising. "Some wind noise does get in the cabin, but it is minimal," he said. "For such a large, bulky vehicle, this van's 0.35 coefficient of drag is amazingly low. In addition to the lack of wind noise, its cabin has proven to be squeak- and rattle-free, allowing the Infinity sound system to shine."

Being a racecar driver, Neil likes to keep his hands on the wheel. Is it a surprise then that he liked the steering wheel-mounted controls for the audio system? Neil was able to figure out the operation of the buttons within minutes without having to reach for the owner's manual. He wishes he could say the same for the cruise control operation. The first time he got in the vehicle was at night, and he was trying to operate the cruise without the benefit of lighting. He had to turn on the dome light to figure out how to engage the system. Once he got a chance to see the cruise control system buttons in daylight, he knew why he was so confused.

On the left side of the steering wheel are three buttons, two that actually have a function and one that is a dummy button labeled "cruise." On the other side are three more buttons with one of them being a "cancel" button. For Neil, this seems like two too many buttons. "Dump the dummy switch and get rid of the cancel button," he said. "You can defeat the cruise control by either stepping on the brake pedal or turning the system off just like every other cruise control system on the market."

Neil also talked about the climate controls. Other staff members have commented that the controls are too complex, but Neil felt otherwise. "They are really simple to use. Just set the temperature in one of the three climate control areas and then set the fan control to auto-lo or auto-high and forget the rest of the switches on the panel." Even in the heat of the day, Neil never bothered with the rear setting, unless he had rear seat passengers, and then he just set it to rear control, so they could set it themselves.

When the outside temperature drops, heated front seats are sure to please. Even Neil found them useful on chilly mornings here in Southern California. Although toasty with its two different temperature settings, Neil said the driver seat gave him the weird sensation of sitting on top of the seat instead of in the seat. But he still found it to be both comfortable and supportive, especially on his longer commutes.

Neil had a few other comments concerning the interior. He said the faux wood attached to the instrument panel looked lonely without some accompanying wood elsewhere, like on the window switch plates. And he mentioned that whoever designed the cupholders need not be in charge of anything more important. "They can't even hold a 20-ounce water bottle without the bottle wanting to fall out during every turn."

Hmm, do you think this problem is due to the cupholders or Neil's driving? "The suspension is great. It transmits to the driver exactly what the vehicle is doing and never feels like a top-heavy minivan. If you drove someone around some twisty roads blindfolded and asked them what vehicle they were in, they'd be wrong every time."

Despite the few gripes, Chirico really enjoyed his time in the minivan. He spent the better part of one month driving all over Southern California in a Dodge Grand Caravan and "loved it." Wow, who woulda thought?

Current Odometer: 6,928
Best Fuel Economy: 21.1 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 16.6 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 17.8 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: None