Yahoo Autos The Chrysler Pacifica Is the Strongest Car on Sale
Go into a BMW dealership, and there will be not just a couple of 3-series sedans, but also rows of coupes, SUVs, coupe SUVs, and sports cars mixed among the four-doors. A Jeep dealer won’t have only Wranglers, and even a Mini dealer will have range of various convertibles, hatchbacks, miniwagons, and crossovers. Want a new Chrysler? You’re getting a Pacifica. That’s it.
That is, of course, looking at things kind of backward. People don’t want a Chrysler and end up with one of the best minivans; those who want one of the best minivans end up with a Chrysler.
Some of this is due to the weakness of Chrysler as a brand. We lost the 200 economy car a while back. Same with the Aspen SUV. Even the 300 is dead. After all, those vehicles became redundant. The Charger did what the 300 needed to do, plenty of Jeep SUVs have stepped up to fill out the Stellantis U.S. sales sheets, and, well, nobody is missing the 200.
Otherwise, some of this is down to the type of vehicle under consideration here. Minivans are spectacular. This is the second of two weeks I have been down in Florida, shuttling my wife, my brother-in-law, his wife, my mother-in-law, and her friend across Alligator Alley, down to Miami Beach, and all up and down the strip and the city at large. Without issue, the Pacifica, gigantic egg that it is, gobbled up all of these people and their stuff, plus a few bags of snacks, a cooler, and a few bottles of wine for the hotel room. (Have you seen what they charge for a drink in South Beach? Better to bring your own along.) This is with a six-footer sitting in the back-back behind another six-footer in the middle row, for hours at a time, with plenty of legroom and no complaints.
It’s not a mere people mover, either. When Road & Track does multicar, end-of-year tests, Pacificas come along in support. This is a do-anything vehicle. It will carry so, so, so much stuff. The seats fold down perfectly and effortlessly. If on-track pictures or videos are needed, we empty out a Pacifica, stuff a couple of photographers in the cargo area, and rip around the track with the hatch open. Hell, we track-tested a bunch of them a few years ago. If we did the same thing in a body-on-frame pickup truck, we’d die.
The Pacifica is a veneration of all the values held dear for a utilitarian, everyday automobile. Look at the tires on this rental. The sidewalls are huge! They’re 65-profile 17s. This thing rides so well. It’s comfortable, soft enough that it sort of bounds over undulating pavement, almost hopping like a bunny. It’s also almost what you'd call a one-box design. There’s hardly a hood. Of its 204.3 inches of length, 121.6 of those are the wheelbase. Its volume is for the humans inside.
There are better minivans, I suppose. I don’t know whether any are in the States. The Chinese and Japanese markets are full of luxury hybrid minivans. I certainly wouldn’t mind the Lexus LM coming here, kind of like the fanciest Sienna a person could buy. Nor would I turn away a Buick GL8 PHEV or various offerings from Chinese automakers not sold here.
The Pacifica is a rare vehicle on the American market: It’s made by an American carmaker that absolutely gave a shit. Everything works and feels well-made. The infotainment syncs instantly, the seats are unquestionably comfortable, and the V-6 is fast and economical. I’ve been seeing 22 mpg in this rental-spec model over the past few hundred miles, and I don’t think I dipped below 80 mph between Naples and the Sawgrass Expressway. For drivers experiencing saner states than Florida, Road & Track’s sibling publication Car and Driver got 33 mpg with the optional plug-in-hybrid powertrain while keeping things steady at 75 mph.
Chrysler knows the Pacifica is going toe to toe with vehicles such as the Toyota Sienna and the Kia Carnival. I like the Pacifica as much as any other minivan I’ve driven. It might not look as exciting as a Carnival or have a Toyota badge on the hood, but the Pacifica is as good as it gets. It doesn’t even undercut its rivals on price. A Sienna can be a couple grand cheaper than a Pacifica, which starts at $41,095. All Siennas are hybrids, but a plug-in-hybrid Pacifica will run you $11K more than a base model. Stellantis sells the Pacifica to people who actively want one, not just people buying them just because.
That’s the other part of this whole equation. The Pacifica is, in itself, a great vehicle. I mean, a plug-in hybrid! Even the Sienna is just a regular hybrid that doesn’t plug in. Stellantis is actually trying with this thing. The Pacifica is strong enough to hold an entire marque on its shoulders, albeit one reduced in scope. If the Pacifica weren’t good, we wouldn’t have a Chrysler to talk about at all.
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