If you would like to have that car that serves well as a family car then you actually don’t have to look far. Dodge Caravan minivan is an exclusively family car with a very roomy interior enough to carry you and your family. The minivan is an easy to drive car and has currently became the alternative choice to family transportation. While other vehicle models entirely revolutionize their segments, the Dodge Caravan never hesitated but decided to come up with a new one – the Dodge Caravan minivan.
It was actually one of the first vehicles to come with such safety precaution measures such as airbags. It has always maintained to stay a head of all the known caravans and other family cars in the entire market. Apart from all those it has always been regarded as the most easy to drive, most versatile and the most pleasant to drive minivan. The Dodge Caravan minivan first came with a single sliding door but later integrated the use of two sliding doors. In the recent past years this minivan was the most selling minivan alongside its kind known as the Grand Caravan.
There hasn’t been much competition to the Dodge minivan in the entire US because most American auto makers either gave up competing with it or just decided not to get into the minivan production. There are some competitors though, that have come along – Japan and Korean auto manufactures. These competitors actually came in full swing and decided to raise the bar much higher. The involvement of both the Japanese and the Korean car makers made the Dodge Caravan minivan lag behind in terms of safety content, interior design, easy driving and power. Dodge has always been known to produce the short wheel base caravan but in the year 2008, it introduced another model which comes in an extended wheel base like the Grand Caravan type.
Did you know that most Dodge Caravan minivans extended to a 200 inch mark while the most recent one which has been in production from the year 2001 to 2007 and which actually represents Dodge’s fourth generation of vehicles has a measurement of 189 inches? It came with a 113 inch wheel base making it one of the easiest minivans to park in the smallest place. Compared to other minivans it was actually the cheapest.
The Base Caravan SE had a four speed transmission that was completely automatic with also a four cylinder engine. This Base Caravan SE was sparsely equipped and came only with a CD stereo and an air conditioner. It had bench seats on its both second and third rows. The Caravan SXT also commonly known as the Caravan Sport since its introduction and until 2004, also had a four speed transmission that was automatic had a horse power of 180 and also came with cruse control, power accessories, air conditioner and power sliding passenger door. In the 2003, it actually had a version known as the V6. This version was a powered cargo van and was entirely manufactured for business purposes. Also see: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Dodge Caravan Series
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Dodge Caravan Series
One of the many caravan models manufactured by Dodge is called the Dodge Caravan. However, this minivan would seem capable if the four cylinder engine was actually avoided. The four cylinder powering is simply under powered. Even though it has enough space for almost seven or eight adults and a space for cargo which expands when the rear seats are removed, it still has to put up with the extra heavy rear bench seats showing its strength. This is one of the problems it has is when it comes to the road. Even though it is easy and fun to drive around, its engine and four speed transmission which is automatic lacks both good performance and is not fuel economical compared to its competitors. Another problem rises with its interior design. It has the cheapest and poorly finished interior and compared to other caravans its reliability record is not pleasing.
Adding to this Final generation of Dodge caravans, Dodge did away with its front seat side airbags in the year 2005 and came up with curtain ones which are able to protect all the three rows. That seems like the only significant change ever made to the Dodge caravan minivan. But even though that change was significant, it still lags behind in class compared to its competitors.
The third generation caravan model was produced from the year 1996 to the year 2000. All these newer models trace their designs from it. The third generation model also had the Grand Caravan’s 180 horse power, the 3.8 liter V6, and another fourth engine. Among the caravans trim lines was the ES model which was discontinued in the year 1998 because Dodge decided to change the regular known length caravan to a minivan.
Other caravans trim lines which were there initially included SE, LE and the Base models. At first the Base model came with a 3 liter V6 and a four cylinder but later upgraded to 3.3 liter in the year 1997. The known midrange was only available until the year 2007. The SE dropped its four cylinder option in the year 1997 and later also decided to drop its 3 liter V6 option exactly after the year 1998.
The second generation caravan was produced from the year 1991 to the year 1995. This second generation trims lines offered three engines. They included Base, SE, LE and ES. It came with removable rear seats with only the front seats as the ones having the head restraints. This model had its major significant update in the year 1994. They actually opted for more dashboard adding and another airbag altogether for protection from side impact.
Even though the second generation model offered an all wheel drive, it is highly recommendable for one to go for these newer recent caravans because of their safety compared to the other generation models. The Dodge caravan minivan is more convenient as it does not come with the four speed automatic which has a high breakdown rate.