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Walk Around

A minivan is not a stone that lends itself to sculpture. A description of the overall shape of the 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan wouldn't sound too much different from a description of the 1982 model. People don't buy minivans so others will look and say, "That's the new minivan. Some styling!"

So the styling of the redesigned 2008 Grand Caravan doesn't represent a sea change. But it is clearly different. It looks fresh, as the old styling is ubiquitous. All the sheetmetal is new, as is the front fascia, rear fascia, and taillamps.

It's more aerodynamic, although it seems boxier because of the nose, which now looks more like it's in the Dodge family. It's attractive in a SUV-ish kind of way. The hood is less sloped than before, and it bears character lines. The grille is more upright, making the Dodge crosshair grille look more like a Dodge truck, especially in chrome.

The pillars are fractionally thinner, although because they're black and the glass is tinted, you'd never notice from the outside. Sixteen-inch wheels are standard, an increase over the previous 15s. They're boring looking, but the optional five-spoke 17s are better.

The wheelbase of the new Grand Caravan is 1.9 inches longer, and the overall length stretched 2.5 inches, so the overhangs are about the same. The front track has been widened by 2.5 inches, and the rear by 0.8 inches, without widening the vehicle at its sides. However the roof has been widened by 6 inches, allowing more overall interior room. Interestingly, the front track is now wider than the rear, a reversal from the previous generation.

Interior

2008 Dodge Grand Caravan

Dodge Grand Caravan leads the minivan field when it comes to interior convenience, capability and versatility. Chrysler has been working on these things for a long time, and they haven't been afraid to be creative.

Our test model was a base Grand Caravan SE with the $3740 H package, the $1995 Power and Remote Entry Group, and the $2120 DVD entertainment system. Also the $995 Special Appearance Group; add them all up and you could almost buy a Chevy Aveo just for the cost of the options.

The H package includes Chrysler's YES Essentials fabric for the seats, designed for the soccer-mom lifestyle, meaning it resists stains and odors left behind by dirty, smelly children. We quite liked the looks and feel of ours; and the black vinyl trim and satin aluminum-look plastic might be cheap but it isn't ugly. While these fabrics can be easy to clean, dog hair still has a way of sticking into them, so those who haul canines may still be better off with leather.

Six 10-year-old members of our soccer team liked the video player, during the 90-minute drive to the game. The DVD was a snap to play, unlike, for example, those in some expensive Audis. Put the DVD in, press Play, and you have a miracle: it works. The screen drops down from the ceiling, so the driver loses some visibility in the rearview mirror. There's also a convex "conversation mirror," which might also be called the looking-at-your-kids-while-you're-yelling-at-them (without having to turn around) safety mirror.

The second-row bucket seats slide rearward to ease access to the third row, so there's less fighting and yelling about stepped-on feet. Or they flop forward with one lever. Don't get your foot caught on the seatbelt or you might end up face-down on the rear bench. You will want the optional LED pinpoint lighting for back there, for your children to read by so they don't fight or bug you while you're driving.

Stow 'n Go works, too. For a fairly simple invention, it's a masterpiece. In just a minute or so, and without having to refer to the manual, we dropped the second and third seats flat into the floor. We used our hands, although power retraction is optional for the third-row bench. Picked up a long leather couch at the used furniture store. From soccer bus to cargo van, in 60 seconds. We don't need no Dodge Sprinter van. Well, maybe if we want to load the whole team of 10 kids. One of them would have to drive.

If you don't count Stow 'n Go, the overall interior volume in the Grand Caravan isn't necessarily class-leading. In a Car and Driver comparison test with four other minivans, the Dodge (third overall) scored no firsts in space behind the front seat, middle seat or rear seat.

The instrumentation is good, black on light gray lettering, with big divisions so you can read each 5 mph. Our option package included a digital information display (it showed an average of 19.1 miles per gallon for one week of city and highway driving), but the button to change the information is in a terrible position, most easily (but treacherously) reached by your left hand through the three-spoke leather steering wheel. Otherwise you have to lean forward, reach around the wiper stalk, and fumble for it, which isn't a whole lot safer. Other information includes distance to empty (about 400 miles on a tank of gas), compass, outside temperature, and estimated time to destination. We never figured out how the van knew where we were going, especially when we ourselves didn't always know.

Still more useful information available on the dash includes: low coolant, low washer fluid, low oil, fuel cap ajar, door ajar, fuse fault, ESP off, and cruise control on. A tire pressure monitor is optional.

The leather-wrapped shift lever sticks out just to the left of the center stack, an efficient location. It's a manual automatic transmission, so the sturdy lever might be reached often to shift gears; ho

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