Another +1 from a VW Routan owner here - Bought new, 2011 with 110,000 miles now. Awesome kid hauler... No Stow & Go but a non issue for us because we had one, if not two, car seats in most of the time and we actually found the bins (where the seats would drop down into) to be perfect for kid paraphernalia like blankets, Spaceball flamethrowers, etc.
Also agree that the Pentastar hauls. Oddly fun to reel-in cars on the highway with a minivan...
His experience says "Econ" was on.
Wait what? You think econ mode makes the shifts actually take longer? Or change your rpms by a different amount at a given road speed? One doesn't benefit economy and the other one is impossible. The shift drops you from 6200 to 4000 rpm which if you look at a pentastar dyno chart means you lose 70 hp. Now you're down to ~200hp which is about the same as an old 3.8L van had rapping out 2nd gear at the same ~70 mph and nobody ever accused those of being fast. The 1-2 shift only drops you to 4800 and the 2-3 only drops you to 5200. The 3-4 shift IS different. Easily seen on Youtube if you care. The Pentastar vans have a real soft spot right at that mph which happens to be right about the same mph i'd be flooring it from if i'm driving on the highway. Get past that and back into the higher rpms and you're fine but considering how much of my driving is done RIGHT AT 70mph here in Texas, a big soft spot at 70mph really affects the fun-to-drive aspect for me.
A 401 CJ wrote: In reply to Vigo: Yep. 4 door. I feel like I'd be lucky to break 17 seconds in the quarter in that thing. Not why I bought it so I don't care. The wheels, however, are aluminum and they don't feel all that heavy. That BFG Mud Terrain is a little porky though. When I wrote that about rear drives, I was meaning in general. Not just the Rubicon. Hertz has given me a few 300's and some other Jeep contraption thingy with the Penty and 8 speed. None could hold a candle to that first van. I agree with one of the other posters. The first crack is freeEdit: I think back to that first van and remember it fondly. I had had to haul some lab equipment up to Albany. I was headed back home on I81 just before the Susquehanna River bridge and I had been behind this joker in an F150. Not the 5.0 or the Ecoboost but the prior generation. He was being a left lane bandit and I could see him glaring at me in his side mirror. He didn't like that I wanted him out of my way. Anyway, I don't usually pass on the right but I'd had enough. His giant loud dual pipes and assault weapon and right wing stickers were starting to rub me wrong. It's not that I'm a lefty pinko, I just don't try to shout my politics from on high and don't feel others should either. The tree huggers irk me equally. So naturally as I headed for the right lane to beat him to the next truck he nailed it. BWAAAAAA!!!! said the V8 Ford. I nailed that GC to the carpet, the tach went to 6k immediately and it was not even a close race. I left that poor sod buster in his tracks....
Under a little different circumstances on the freeway, my '15 GC pulled away nicely on an early 2000's Cadillac STS. As for bumper stickers, I couldn't tell ya as I was never behind him to see
Since the "ECON" button was brought up, what exactly does it do? Does it just short shift the transmission? I've always left it off and never really played with it.
It short upshifts the transmission, makes it more reluctant to shift down, and I believe changes the throttle mapping to a mellower profile. I forget what exactly it does, but that's the gist of it.
A 401 CJ wrote: Edit: I think back to that first van and remember it fondly. I had had to haul some lab equipment up to Albany. I was headed back home on I81 just before the Susquehanna River bridge and I had been behind this joker in an F150. Not the 5.0 or the Ecoboost but the prior generation. He was being a left lane bandit and I could see him glaring at me in his side mirror. He didn't like that I wanted him out of my way. Anyway, I don't usually pass on the right but I'd had enough. His giant loud dual pipes and assault weapon and right wing stickers were starting to rub me wrong. It's not that I'm a lefty pinko, I just don't try to shout my politics from on high and don't feel others should either. The tree huggers irk me equally. So naturally as I headed for the right lane to beat him to the next truck he nailed it. BWAAAAAA!!!! said the V8 Ford. I nailed that GC to the carpet, the tach went to 6k immediately and it was not even a close race. I left that poor sod buster in his tracks....
That description reminds me of the 5.0 in my old 1990 E150 conversion van. Flooring it would result in a lot of noise, but not much forward movement. The gas gauge needle would move faster than the speedometer needle. That van was happiest puttering along in the right lane with the cruise control on going the speed limit.
The Eco mode also confuses the trans in anything but steady-state highway driving. I was told by the dealer to always leave it off, unless I'm droning down the highway. It's kinda worthless, as it may add 1 or 2 mpg on the highway at best. If left on during regular driving, the throttle response is slower, and the trans hunts for top gear whenever possible. It makes the van a little herky-jerky driving around town---- so I almost always leave it off.
I have a similar "kill" story with a yahoo in a lifted Dodge truck. We were parked side by side in a two-lane turn on-ramp headed onto I-95. About 1/2 way up the ramp, the lanes merged into one, heading onto the Interstate. Well, the light goes green, and I hear a bellow from Mr. Lifted Big Dodge Truck as he floors it, trying to beat me to the merge. I let the Pentastar loose It wasn't remotely close---- I had 8-10 car lengths on him before the merge. I only hope his girlfriend was riding shotgun! 
Brian wrote: +1 on stow and go not being comfortable. I did Philly to scranton between the second and third row a few years back. Not great. I've also been burned by Chrysler reliability in the past, so I would trust the Koreans before a Chrysler product.
This is my experience as well. The only good chry-co product is someone elses. I've never seen a reliable one. PLus having lots and lots of really reliable miles on Korean cars to offset that there's no way I'd bother with one.
The Korean 3.8 vans are not anywhere as fast as the 3.6 Chryslers over the long haul but to me they feel punchier when you're not actually WOT. I like them.
rustyvw wrote: We have a 2010 Caravan that we bought new. It goes through brakes pretty frequently, but other than that it's been good to us.
There are big brake kits for the Wrangler and I wonder if they'd fit the Dodge/Chrylser vans?
I think they are made by Daystar and its a rotor/caliper bracket & pad type of upgrade for guys running big tires.
The 13+ brakes bolt on to the older vans and are pretty massive. 17" wheels required. I did this on my 2012 TC and the brakes are so much better.
Bobzilla wrote:Brian wrote: +1 on stow and go not being comfortable. I did Philly to scranton between the second and third row a few years back. Not great. I've also been burned by Chrysler reliability in the past, so I would trust the Koreans before a Chrysler product.This is my experience as well. The only good chry-co product is someone elses. I've never seen a reliable one. PLus having lots and lots of really reliable miles on Korean cars to offset that there's no way I'd bother with one.
Whereas I've had 3 of them over the last 25 years and 250,000 miles with zero trouble. And frankly the only reason I've had 3 of them is because 2 of them got rear-ended to death.
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