SOME MINIVANS I HAVE KNOWN (AND LOVED?)
Late in 1983, I saw my first Chrysler minivan--it was a well-loaded Plymouth Voyager, white with the wood "packing crate" trim and wire wheelcovers. I had done a U-turn in the middle of a busy street after driving past the dealership on the way to a dinner date with my wife (who was none too pleased about looking at cars instead of going directly to our favorite Chinese restaurant!). I swung into the dealership's lot with my decade-old AMC Gremlin that had its share of "Rambler Rot" by that time. After about 2 minutes of looking the new Voyager over, I was hooked. And believe it or not, so was my wife. Here was all that we wanted in a vehicle--reasonable size, impressive interior room and comfort, decent economy of operation, and good handling for a "van".
Alas, we couldn't come up with the $10,000 necessary to buy a new Voyager or Caravan in those days--it wasn't until 1989 that we were finally able to get one of our own, a leftover '89 Grand Caravan that was going at a decent price because the 1990s were already on the lot. Since September of 1989, we have always had a Caravan or Voyager in our driveway. In fact, we are now on our 5th minivan--an '02 Dodge Caravan Sport. Have a look at our various vans through the years:
FINALLY--Here's our '02 Dodge Caravan Sport!
I didn't think it was possible, but the new van has an even quieter ride than did our '99 Voyager Expresso. Amazing! Handling is just as impressive as the previous van's as well. And the sound system is unbelievable.
The only engine available for the standard wheelbase Caravan Sport models in 2002 is the Chrysler-built 3.3L V6. This engine is rated at 180 HP and 210 lbs/ft of torque, providing plenty of urge for all of the situations we have encountered so far. Fuel economy appears to be improved slightly over earlier versions of this engine--in 1500 miles of in-town, commute-style driving, our Caravan is averaging 18.7 MPG. I think this is impressive, considering the vehicle has not seen any highway driving yet AND the engine isn't fully broken in. I'll update the fuel economy info once we get the chance to take a highway trip--hopefully soon!
UPDATE 11/1/02: We're coming up on 9000 miles with the '02 Caravan Sport as of this writing. It's been used for mainly around-town type of duty, with a couple of relatively short trips of 200 miles or so. Fuel economy is averaging just over 21 MPG, with one tank netting 25.8 MPG during a trip consisting of mainly highway driving with speeds between 72 and 80 MPH and the A/C operating and three humanoids on board. Performance of the 3.3L V6 is plenty lively, with decent torque in the lower RPM ranges and a lot of punch in the mid-range. The Caravan is a heavy vehicle, weighing approximately 4100 lbs., so the engine has its work cut out for it. I think it does an admirable job.
We've experienced no mechanical problems with the van so far, though for a few days the steering wheel would vibrate ever so slightly during low speed turning maneuvers. I'm guessing the drive belt for the power steering pump might not be quite tight enough--though the "problem" has disappeared for now.
One very noticeable thing about the '02 Caravan is how solid & tight the structure seems to be. No rattles or squeaks have developed at all. The ride continues to be very quiet; almost serene. Also, the 41TE transaxle shifts very smoothly AND responsively--they seem to have tamed this beast over the years.
UPDATE 12/10/03: Wow, the past year has just sailed by. The Caravan now has 22,000 miles on it and we've yet to experience any real problems with it. The power sliding door occasionally doesn't shut all the way by itself and needs to be reset--probably some kind of alignment issue (my daughter and her friends like to slam the thing shut HARD so that might explain it). This is only an infrequent issue so I'm not too concerned about it. Other than that, the vehicle has been flawless.
The 3.3L V6 continues to give decent performance and fuel economy. We're averaging 21.3 MPG, which is very good considering that the vehicle gets driven mainly in town for commuting and taking kids to/from school.
Our Previous Minivans
This is our first new car ever--an '89 Grand Caravan LE. We got one heckuva deal on it because the new 1990 models were already on the lot when we were dealing on this one. It was equipped with the 3.0L V6 & the new-for-'89 4-speed overdrive automatic tranny (A604). The 3.0L V6 was upgraded to 142 HP and 173 lbs/ft of torque for the model year. The 3.0L/A604 powertrain was standard equipment on the Grand LE models in '89. This van also had heavy duty suspension and cooling system, but NOT the trailer tow package (note the 14" wheels--15" wheels came standard with the trailer tow package). We drove this van for 90,000 with no mechanical problems whatsoever. I replaced the tires & brakes at about 60,000 miles but otherwise, spent very little money on the vehicle. Performance was very good. The 3.0L V6 provided plenty of punch and we used to get about 25 MPG on extended trips.
We had a 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager Sport from November of 1993 through February of 1996. Unfortunately, I cannot find a picture of this van. It was a dark green model with the 3.3L V6 and all heavy-duty options, including the trailer tow package. It was a very good handling van and had marvelous straight-line performance too. However, it also had a rough-shifting version of the A604 4-speed automatic transaxle, something that never was really cured during the time we had the van. We traded it in right before the warranty expired and wound up with the following van:
This was our '96 Voyager SE. It had the 3.0L V6, newly rated at 150 HP and 176 lbs/ft of torque for 1996. This engine was hooked to a very smooth A670 3-speed automatic transaxle. The Voyager was equipped with power windows & locks, and the dual sliding doors. It did not have any heavy duty options. Performance was surprisingly good, especially when overtaking other vehicles. Fuel economy? Though rated at 19/25 MPG, this van regularly returned 27 MPG on highway trips, and only rarely dipped below 20 MPG with in-town driving. The only mechanical difficulty we experienced with this van in the 42,000 miles/3 years we had it was the tensioner pulley for the serpentine accessory belt self-destructed at about 30,000 miles. It was replaced free of charge and within 1/2 hour at our local dealer.
Here's our '99 PLYMOUTH Voyager Expresso that we leased from March of '99 through February of 2002. This one had all the bells & whistles, including the "N" package which dressed up the interior just like a Town & Country. We even had the quad seating option with a built-in child seat in one of the middle-row buckets. Very comfy! This van was powered by the 3.3L V6 and 4-speed 41TE transaxle. It was very torquey and the fuel economy wasn't bad--on a trip that consisted of highway driving and a fair amount of heavy stop & go city driving in Chicago, we averaged 24.8 MPG. That is certainly nothing to complain about!). The Voyager also rode smoothly and VERY quietly. It was a great long-distance cruiser!
Chrysler Minivan Powertrain Tables Hey you--join the Yahoo Minivan group!! Christophe's French Voyager/PT Cruiser Site--parlez-vous Francais? Helmut's European Voyager Site--very cool! Hank's '93 Dodge Caravan! Hank started the 3.3L/3.8L V6 Webring, by the way... Dan's 1990 Plymouth Grand Voyager Site--it's grand! Carleton's Minivans. Lookit that list of vehicles he's owned... Rob's site--another Mopar Minivan fan. Howz he do dat with a 3.0L V6?? Paul's Extremely Fast Minivan. Roger's Mopar minivan site, with a good background of how these vehicles came to be. Gus's "Mean Mini" Caravan (& Also a Stunningly Fast Acclaim)Chrysler Minivan Powertrain TablesReturn to My Main Site