2001 Chrysler Town & Country and Voyager: Overview

Vehicle Highlights

New styling, more-powerful engines, and some minivan firsts, including a power liftgate, highlight the redesigned 2001 Chrysler Town & Country and Voyager. The luxury Town & Country is nearly a foot longer than the Voyager, an entry-level model. The Dodge Caravan shares this redesign and most mechanical features.

All Chrysler minivans seat seven and have two sliding side doors. Power operation for one or both side doors is available and includes a manual override that allows them to be closed or opened by hand during powered phase. A power liftgate available on Town & Country. Also offered is a new 50-50 split 3rd-row bench seat; its 55-lb portions remove individually, recline, or fold flat. A new rear parcel shelf locates at floor or midlevel positions and includes popup storage dividers.

Voyager comes with a 4-cyl engine or a 3.3-liter V6. Town & Country offers V6s of 3.3 and 3.8 liters; Chrysler has postponed plans to add a more powerful 3.5-liter V6. All engines team with automatic transmission. Town & Country is available with all-wheel drive. ABS is optional on base Voyager, standard on all other models. Front side airbags are standard on the top-line Town & Country Limited, optional elsewhere. A rear-seat video entertainment system is a dealer-installed option, as is a navigation system.

COMPETITION

Though the competition has heated up, we feel that the new Dodge Caravan is still one of the best minivans you can buy. It offers all of the creature comforts in a pleasing package at a fair price. Our other Best Buy is the Honda Odyssey. It's a little bit smaller than the Dodge, but more sporty to drive, and it has a super-convenient flip-and-fold-away rear seat.

Trailing at a close second are the Recommended Chevy Venture, Ford Windstar, and Toyota Sienna. Though these vans are comparably priced and offer loads of neat features, we feel they can't match the road manners of our two Best Buys. Also garnering Recommended ratings are the Chrysler Town & Country and Chrysler Voyager. Though they are mechanically similar to the class-leading Caravan, they don't offer the breadth of model choices.