2009 Chrysler Town & Country Limited San Diego CA

December 7, 2009   By Brian Alexander, Road Test Editor


2009 Chrysler Town &
Country

DriverSide Overview

For kids who grew up in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the minivan almost amounts to a second home. Upon its introduction, the minivan formula proved so bulletproof that the rolling shoeboxes all but annihilated station wagon sales, ensuring an entire generation would miss out on the joys of Volvo wagon reverse-mounted third-row seating. Kids loved the interior space inherent to the minivan design and parents liked the fact that they could fit a bunch of kids and cargo in a vehicle that drove like a conventional car. Fast-forward 20 years and the crossover SUV is playing the same dirty trick on the minivan – putting family friendly versatility into a hipper package. Despite the shift in the market, Chrysler gives consumers a lot of options with the Town & Country , offering four different models with three different engines and huge amounts of storage space. Game Boys and Walkmans may have been traded for ceiling-mounted DVD units and cellular internet, but the minivan’s intrinsic ability to transport lots of people, pets, cargo or any combination thereof remains appealing to many.

What's to Like
Looking for some extra storage space? On top of impressive cargo capacity thanks to multiple seating configurations, this van has more hidden compartments than the last National Treasure film. Power sliding doors and a power lift gate provide a way for you to open the car when you’ve got your hands full or when impatient children are waiting on you. It also helps appease childish adults.

What's Not to Like
Steering wheel-mounted control functions are severely limited, a bit of an embarrassment considering the car’s top-notch specification. Chrysler’s navigation system is starting to show some age – browsing between menus becomes a crisscrossed misadventure full of wrong turns, made no easier by the screen’s relatively diminutive size. Driving a minivan still has a certain stigma to it – as if you didn’t know.

The Drive:
DriverSide Driving Impressions
Minivans have always been popular for their car-like driving experience, and the Town & Country hasn’t shaken up that formula one bit. The six-speed transmission delivers power nicely, really making the most out of the Limited’s 251 horsepower in the first three gears. Road noise on the highway was surprisingly persistent, requiring you to raise your voice to converse, but that was the van’s largest fault. The seats aren’t exactly cushy but are decently supportive and won’t cause you any pains, and the power steering has enough assist to make close-quarters maneuvers relatively effortless. Gears can be manually selected – a feature useful on steep grades – but using the dash-mounted shifter seems counterintuitive at best.

Engine and Drivetr...

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