Positive review by blogger T Macay

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Grammy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2017
Messages
52
Found this very positive review by a blogger named T Macay

We took delivery 5/3/17. In spite of the somewhat rocky start associated software issues, I am delighted with the results. It is a much quieter, smoother and spritely vehicle than our prior vans. The improvement is somewhere between vast and half-vast and that is still a mighty good thing in spite of the problems.

This van sacrifices none of the operational convenience of the gas version except for substituting more comfortable middle row seats ILO stow-n-go. I've made sound measurements from the front row with an iPhone app and I get 70 dB vs 80 for our '05 Stow-n-Go Caravan and 78 dB for our '99 Voyager.

If you neglect the cost of electric charging, we're getting around 72 mpg(gas). That's 6800 miles on 94 gallons compared to what would ordinarily be 340 gallons for the '05 G Caravan. My goal was a significant reduction of carbon emissions and, in our area, the electricity is predominately nuclear and hydro so our reduction approaches 72%.

Car & Driver reports 0.82G on the skidpad using the Michelins on 18" rims (what I have) but that is emphatically not the whole story. Due to the enhanced electric steering and/or bonded, partial high strength steel body structure, low CG and/or suspension design, transient response to steering inputs is extraordinarily good for a van. It's wider than most vehicles so it probably will not score with the best on slalom tests but I think it will do a lot better than similarly sized counterparts. I own '03 and '99 BMW 5 series sedans and one of the remarkable differences between those two models is how much less extraneous slewing (initial oscillation around the slip angle you are trying to set up for cornering) with the '03 model when making a quick steering input. This van is nearly as good as the '03. If you ever have to make a wild evasive maneuver at highway speeds with this van, it'll be right there with you. It will be interesting to see what Consumer Reports finds on this aspect.

Passing/merging acceleration is much better than our 3.8L G Caravan. It's like being hooked to a bungee cord. Due to the big electric motor used for starting the engine, you can ordinarily hardly tell when the ICE starts and it is accordingly pretty quick at starting when you need it in a hurry.

I believe a large part of the formula for getting people out of large gas SUV's and pickups is selling them with PHEV drivetrains, including 4x4 variants, similar to the one used on this van. While it's no Tesla in terms of performance, it's a huge step towards a better, low pollution vehicle with the sort of convenience the ICE ones had. Hopefully, we'll see them before long in Durangos and Ram pickups.
 
Glad you posted this as there is a lot of negative for some people surrounding the Pacifica. I feel for the people who are getting a raw deal but I know there are lots of people who have nothing but praise to say about their Pacifica
 
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