by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 09/02/2017 at 07:37
by "mazda616" (mazda616)
Published 09/02/2017 at 07:37
Tags: AMA
; RENTALS
STARS: 1
Technically, I drove half and my wife drove the other half. Anyway, the transmission is goofy. Pentastar V6 is nice, though.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
09/02/2017 at 07:39, STARS: 0
You sure it was slipping?
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
09/02/2017 at 07:49, STARS: 0
how well does it hoon?
would a hellcat motor make it better or worse?
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/02/2017 at 07:57, STARS: 1
Not suicidal yet? I crossed Canada in a Grand Caravan... Fuck that. I wanted to die.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 07:59, STARS: 0
Drives like a boat. I took some corners the same way I’d take them in my car (Mazda6) and we about died.
Hellcat all the things.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 08:00, STARS: 0
It shifted super hard twice in traffic and once it clunked and made a whining noise when I was accelerating hard uphill.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 08:00, STARS: 0
Not yet. I dislike vans in general but they are good road trip vehicles.
"SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media" (silentbutnotreallydeadly)
09/02/2017 at 08:05, STARS: 0
That really does look like a badly stretched Fiat 500. No wonder you are hurting.
"Flavien Vidal" (flyingfrenchy)
09/02/2017 at 08:08, STARS: 0
Man did I hate my work’s Grand Caravan... :(
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
09/02/2017 at 08:21, STARS: 0
What was your fuel economy thus far?
It has many miles of rental usage, but how nice is the interior? Compare to something we might know.
How is FCA’s QC these days?
"Phyrxes once again has a wagon!" (phyrxes)
09/02/2017 at 08:26, STARS: 0
Wow I didn’t realize how much black hid some of those lines.
"Tekamul" (tekamulburner)
09/02/2017 at 08:57, STARS: 1
I rented either a 2016 or 2017 in January. I agree, the transmission has issues. It totally ignored throttle input until the pedal hit the floor. If it downshifted to first, it would clunk hard.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
09/02/2017 at 09:06, STARS: 0
Yeah the previous gen Chrysler vans are a bit wallowy. The new Pacifica vans handle pretty decent, still wallowy, but not as bad as the previous ones. Ours could use an 1" to 1-1/2" drop for sure. These would be a prime candidate for an air suspension, but that would just add cost.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
09/02/2017 at 09:09, STARS: 2
Whatddya know, there’s a company out there that makes a kit :)
"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
09/02/2017 at 09:35, STARS: 1
As a kid we went from Virginia Beach in vacation in a grand caravan. On the way back the trans got stuck in second in Rhode island back to Boston. This was after asking for it to be serviced before leaving and being told it was fine. I think my parents trip to the dealer the next day would be described as shock and awe.
"gin-san - shitpost specialist" (gin-san-)
09/02/2017 at 09:37, STARS: 2
How did you find the seat comfort? Last time I drove a Grand Caravan was on a two-hour drive to a cottage and about 1.5 hours in I gave up and made my friend drive because my back was killing me. No lumbar support in the seats I had (although this was a model from a few years ago).
The way I see the Caravan: if you need to bring around a lot of stuff (family, luggage, merchandise, etc.) and need to do it cheaply, it works. You’re not going to enjoy it, though.
"FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com" (alphaass)
09/02/2017 at 09:47, STARS: 0
Were you disappointed in the motor? I’ve rented many Grand Caravans of this generation going back to the pre-facelift ones as far as 2008. I was excited the first time I got a Pentastar one since it was supposed to be the engine that saves Chrysler, but it hardly seemed more powerful, sounded terrible, and generally didn’t want to go.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
09/02/2017 at 10:21, STARS: 0
It’s DaimlerChrysler-era product, though. (Well, OK, IIRC it launched under Cerberus, but it was almost finished by then.)
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 11:29, STARS: 0
My back was hurting for a bit until I realized it had lumbar support and I could adjust that. It got better after that.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 1
The Pentastar did okay. We had it extremely loaded down, though. At or slightly above the recommended payload. So some bogging/sluggishness is to be expected.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 11:30, STARS: 1
22-23 MPG indicated. Not bad for having the van super loaded down (four adults, two kids in car seats, and luggage).
"7:07" (fanbrain001)
09/02/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 3
In the Grand Caravan the motor is hamstrung by the idiot transmission. It never seems to be in the right gear and is hesitant to do anything other than aggressively upshift in the name of fuel economy. In our Pacifica the motor is great - loves to rev, good sound, and lots of power. The 9-speed transmission is pretty great too.
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/02/2017 at 12:11, STARS: 1
The interior seems okay at first and becomes more cheap feeling the longer you come in contact with it. It’s long term durability would be in doubt.
"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
09/02/2017 at 23:27, STARS: 0
What causes a transmission to slip?
"mazda616" (mazda616)
09/03/2017 at 08:29, STARS: 0
I think it is just a goofy unit and it got confused. More than likely, it is one of the ones that adapts and learns driving style. But with this being a rental, it never has a chance to learn since everyone drives differently.