The New 2017 Chrysler Pacifica

It has been more than 30 years since Chrysler unveiled the first minivans. The Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan were considered modern day family haulers and they dominated the car market. At their peak, more than a million were sold a year and nearly every major manufacturer has made an attempt to play in the minivan "sandbox." It wasn’t long before the term “soccer mom" became a derogatory term that was synonymous with minivans causing the practical family transporters sales to plummet by half as families turned to a new rugged-looking sport utilities.

But Chrysler has too much invested to leave the market now and they see a potential new market for minivans as millennials start having children. For those reasons, Chrysler has somewhat reinvented the minivan with the Pacifica, which started going on sale in mid-April. The Pacifica is so different from the Chrysler Town & Country that Chrysler deemed it worthy of a new name, or at least a name it hasn't used in some time.

The Pacifica looks a bit different from the boxy minivans of the past.  The body is sleek and aerodynamic, with soft sculpted lines with hints of a sport-utility styling that is most noticeable in the shape of the side rear window. The Pacifica has double sliding doors, a feature that defines a minivan and provides a practical way for loading kids, their safety seats and cargo. In addition to pushing buttons on the key fob or interior buttons above the windshield, the Pacifica's sliding doors can be opened with a light push of a button on the door handle, allowing children to easily open the doors themselves. Also there is a hands-free lift gate and sliding side doors that can be open with a wave of the foot while the key fob is near you is optional.

The Pacifica comes with seating for seven or eight. Behind the third row is a deep well for carrying groceries, cargo or strollers. A new feature in the Pacifica is the second-row seat that can be tilted forward with the push of a button to allow third-row passengers to board while leaving the child safety seat locked into place in the second row. The third-row seat folds into the floor for an even larger flat surface. For transporting even bigger items, such as plywood, the pair of second-row bucket seats can be stowed instead of removed (as some competitors' vehicles require). You just have to lift the floor mats, pull a lever and strap, and the seats will stow into the floor.

Pacifica models are equipped with USB and HDMI ports. A mobile Internet hot spot is also available. You can option up to the U-connect Theater that includes 8.4-inch touchscreen displays in the second-row seats with a premium audio system. Some models also are available with a large panoramic sunroof that spans to the rear seats. The central vacuum installed in the Pacifica allows you to clean up the popcorn acquired at the zoo with a snap. The Honda Odyssey was first to market an in-minivan vacuum, but Chrysler upped the cleanup game with more than 14 feet of hose inside the vehicle and an additional 14 feet that can be added to suck up Cheerios in the vehicle parked next to the Pacifica!

The Pacifica has an extremely quiet interior, because it is built around a completely new body structure to achieve this silence. The stiffer body also gives it a firmly planted feel on roads. The Pacifica has plenty of power from the 3.6-liter engine paired with a 9-speed automatic transmission. Engineers focused on weight reduction, which helped with acceleration and also makes the vehicle feel nimble and lighter than you would expect from such a big vehicle. Lightness will help with fuel economy, as well.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid will go on sale later this year. It will be the first hybrid minivan and one of Chrysler's first hybrids ever. It is expected to achieve up to 80 miles per gallon. The hybrid is distinguished from the regular Pacifica by teal trim. Pricing and test drives will be available closer to the Pacifica Hybrid's on-sale date.

Inside and out, the Pacifica has gone much more upscale than its predecessor in an effort to compete more directly with the popular Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna. FIAT Chrysler will keep the Dodge Grand Caravan in its line for a bit longer (no end date has been given) to compete with more entry-level minivans such as the Kia Sedona. To compete with Honda and Toyota, Chrysler has packed a ton of standard features and available options into the Pacifica. There are too many to mention, but the highlights are cameras installed on the vehicle to provide a complete view around the minivan, a parking system that helps with parallel or perpendicular parking, adaptive cruise control and forward-collision warning.

While adding content, Chrysler has kept the base prices of the four Pacifica trim levels below its competitors. The Pacifica LX starts at $28,595, while the top-of-the-line Pacifica Touring-L Plus starts at $37,895. When loaded with options, the Pacifica can be above $40,000. Quality is first at Chrysler, and they have invested heavily in the Pacifica. They've spent $2 billion in developing the Pacifica, renovating the plant in Windsor, Ontario to build the new minivan and the consumer is going to be the winner here.