I'm a gearhead, going by the handle "gearheadgrrrl" on various motorcycle and old truck forums. Gearheads usually don't write about minvans, preferring to wax poetic about the performance of our current fave motorcycle/car/etc. in virtual venues more gearhead populated than dailykos.com. But a near decade old minivan has stirred me to write.
I was coming back from southwest Florida to Minnesota last week, the boring flip side of a motorcyce ride down that included a 4 day get together where 600 of us ate 1900 pounds of chicken. I'd driven mom's 2000 Plymouth Voyager a couple times across town before, but never had to endure a minivan for 1800 miles. I stopped for gas after 50 miles, and quick math showed 23 MPG for a tankful that was consumed 80% in commuting around Naples and a couple months evaporation since I'd last filled the tank. The radio met my low expectations, but the handling was very un-trucklike and the seats reasonably comfy. I pulled of I-75 to shortcut through some better scenery on the 2 lanes...
In deference to the 10 year old tires and Florida heat I held my speed to 65, speed demons of I-75 be damned. Did I mention that always frugal mom's minivan had a 4 cylinder engine? Yep, no multi hundred dollar spark plug changes for mom. The simplicity theme carried through the drivetrain, with a simple 3 speed slushbox instead of the unreliable "automatic overdrive" 4 speed that kept transmission shops busy and sent many an american car to the junkyard at an early age. After running 2 lanes at 60 to 65 MPH I tanked up again nearly 400 miles later... 27 MPG!
Now despite what they claim, Chrysler didn't invent the minivan. Stick a VW bus, Corvair Greenbriar, and 1st generation Econoline alongside a Chrysler minivan and it's pretty obvious. But VW never had Chysler's distribution network, GM abandoned the Greenbriar for an Econoline clone, and Ford supersized the Econoline. But somehow, in the depths of Chrysler's last financial crisis, somebody got the idea of putting a high roof station wagon with a scrunched nose on the K-car platform. The Dodge Caravan was an immediate hit, keeping two plants busy working two shifts each plus overtime to build a half million minivans a year.
Cruising at a steady 65 on US 19 produced another 27 MPG tankful, but through the mountains of Tennesee the MPG dropped to 26. The original Chrysler minivans mostly came with 4 cylinder engines and a 5 speed manual was an option. They quickly gained a reputation for near economy car mileage with seating for 7 or a half ton of "stuff". The little 4 was able to maintain at least the speed limit on every upgrade, but it would have been nice to have a 5 speed manual to better match the motor to the task at hand. Chrysler dropped the manual transmission option after the first few years, preferring to push more profitable V6 engine options. While no sports car, the Chrysler minivans heavy bits are down low so I didn't lose much speed through the corners... SUVs, eat your hearts out.
Back on the flatlands at 65 the Minivan was back up to 27 MPG. Finding some wi-fi access, I looked up the 2009 model on Dodge's web page. No 4 cylinder choice, the V6 is standard. Optional 4 liter V6 with over 200 horses and a 6 speed automatic to amuse you as it tries to figure out what gear to be in. And the lowest price model starts at over $24,000! Central Illinois dawned cool and clear, and with 650 miles to cover I cranked the speed up to 70 and pretty much stuck to the freeways. 400 Miles later I refilled the tank, my speediness having cut the MPG to 25.
That last fill was in Dubuque, and the little minivan did not embarass itself on hilly and crooked US 52 from there north. But the Chrysler minivans aren't selling like hotcakes anymore, as overtime and second shifts have disappeared at Chrysler. Not hard to see why- a new Dodge version of the Chrysler minivan gets only 25 MPG a 60 in the EPA highway test while mom's decade old one gets the same mileage at 70. Heck, if I slowed down to 60 and did some coasting 30 MPG should be doable. Mom's minivan cost $17,000, tax included, and it has seating for 7 and every gadget a body could want and a few a body don't need. Today for $24,000 you get a harder to service engine, a questionable transmission, and for a few grand more you can have not one but two DVD players. Or if you don't wanna buy domestic, you can go deeper into debt and pay $10,000 more for Honda or Toyota's even more bloated "minivans".
Memo to the "new" Chrysler: Give us back our old minivan, starting at less than $20,000 out the door. Bring back the simple 4 cylinder engine, with a V6 option for towing trailers and the diesel option you offer in Europe. Give us a manual transmission too, and we're quite capable of cranking our own windows up and down. And we'll trade the DVD players for a radio that'll pick up a station 50 miles away. Just give us what we want and your factories will be busy again and we citizens/stockholders will see the bailout become a windfall.