Mini-Van tests

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by p nut

It’s always a risk buying a mass produced product with a million moving parts. Toyota and Honda’s I’ve owned haven’t been perfect, either

agree 100%.. but, as I said above, once you've been burned, it's hard to go back with so many other options..

[GregL]

My family went through three minivans from my daughter’s birth through grad school. Minivans are (IMO) the most efficient family haulers in the automotive world. Bonus: they’re the best bike racing support vehicles. My teammates found out quickly just how well the minivan swallowed up bikes, spare wheels, tools, and gear bags. They even discovered that the baby wipes in the seat back pockets were awesome for post-race cleanup…

Greg

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by Sarhog

I suppose the Ford Transit Connect is not considered a “mini van” in the traditional sense, and it may have been discontinued, not sure…. But, it is a fantastic van for me, serving as a camping van and bike hauler…

I carry them in the van at times, but I shared that photo in a different thread, and apparently I cannot share it twice.

I LOVE my Transit Connect. Drives amazing. I have driven a few minivans and they drive more like pickup trucks.

[donevwil]

Originally Posted by GregL

My family went through three minivans from my daughter’s birth through grad school. Minivans are (IMO) the most efficient family haulers in the automotive world. Bonus: they’re the best bike racing support vehicles. My teammates found out quickly just how well the minivan swallowed up bikes, spare wheels, tools, and gear bags. They even discovered that the baby wipes in the seat back pockets were awesome for post-race cleanup…

Greg

My racing buddies loved that I had a minivan, 4 people, 4 bikes, room for all necessary supplies and 28 mpg. Yet none of them would have been caught dead owning one. People are weird.

[72gmc]

We have an Element and it is not hard to put a 60cm bike inside.

I haven't owned a minivan but I did rent one for a kid's birthday party (a 2018 or so Caravan) and I can see how useful it would be. I wouldn't want all of that luxury seating and airplane aisle lighting and crap that came in the premium-trim rental van. Maybe I'd prefer a Ford Transit or the like.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by donevwil

My racing buddies loved that I had a minivan, 4 people, 4 bikes, room for all necessary supplies and 28 mpg. Yet none of them would have been caught dead owning one. People are weird.

We can hang 👍

[donevwil]

Ford Transit Connect is (was?) a great vehicle. Ford definitely has better quality than Chrysler or GM. It was nearly the perfect vehicle for my wife and I until I test drove one. Simply too underpowered for our typical week long MTB getaways to Truckee. If one can't hold 70 mph minimum on I80 into the Sierras it's sitting at 45 behind endless big rigs.

[jamesdak]

Yep, Mini-vans are the bomb! We always had one going while the kids were in the house. The last was a Grand Caravan AWD we had for a long long time. A beast in deep snow with snow tires. I remember following a plow up one mountain pass in deep snow until he turned into the resort and left me alone. I had to keep going in unplowed snow that was rolling over the hood of the minivan. The ol' beast just kept going. Had the big V6 so plenty of power. Older one without the stow and go seats but they were removable. With the seats out there was a ton of room inside for bikes or whatever. I could even stick a full size mattress in the back and sleep on it for short camping trips with just one of the kids.

Comfortable for all day travel. I even considered getting another one last summer when I downsized from the Full Size F-150. Just realized a small SUV suited my total needs (off road use) better so got a Cherokee Trailhawk.

My youngest did have an Element and it was great for him to haul his mountain bike in. Unlike it's rep though, his was the most problematic vehicle anyone in the family ever had. It got totaled in a wreck last year and he replaced it with a CX-5.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by donevwil

Ford Transit Connect is (was?) a great vehicle. Ford definitely has better quality than Chrysler or GM. It was nearly the perfect vehicle for my wife and I until I test drove one. Simply too underpowered for our typical week long MTB getaways to Truckee. If one can't hold 70 mph minimum on I80 into the Sierras it's sitting at 45 behind endless big rigs.

My 2014 Transit Connect with the 2.5 liter pulled a loaded trailer and it had no real trouble holding 75mph when we moved to Little Rock.

[alancw3]

Surprised that none of the mini van manufacturers have not announced an all electric at this point. Though that the mini van size would lend itself to an ideal platform for the battery pack.

[Ralph]

Believe the latest Toyota Sienna (all of them) is a hybrid. Excellent fuel economy with adequate power.

[p nut]

Originally Posted by alancw3

Surprised that none of the mini van manufacturers have not announced an all electric at this point. Though that the mini van size would lend itself to an ideal platform for the battery pack.

One manufacturer has. At least announced it.

But agreed it’d be ideal for electric. Amazon vans already do it.

[rothwem]

Originally Posted by alancw3

Surprised that none of the mini van manufacturers have not announced an all electric at this point. Though that the mini van size would lend itself to an ideal platform for the battery pack.

Minivans need to be able to road trip, and the ~300 mile range that most of the EVs have is still not ideal for road tripping. Yes, I get that charger spacing is usually sub 300 miles on most major routes, but as someone who regularly road trips (~6-8 times per year) with little kids, its very inconvenient to have to stop in one particular place along the way. Also, sustained high speeds in a not particularly aero vehicle would probably require a pretty large battery.

Pacifica PHEV would be ideal for us...but its made by Stellantis. I wonder how long it'll be before Toyota introduces a "Prime" version of their Sienna. We've got an Acura MDX with 120k miles on it, maybe by the time it hits 200k Toyota will have made it for us.

[mtb_frk]

We rented a Pacifica for our recent trip to Disney. I was getting 30 mpg on the interstate. I was impressed. Starting to think about a Sienna. Have a 4runner and thinking a minivan might fit the family needs better. Anyone have one of the hybrid ones? Looks like the 2nd row seats don’t fold and aren’t removable which seems like it would impact the functionality.

[benb]

I've rented the current PHEV Pacifica and put ~1200 miles on it in a week and I've put 500 miles on the current hybrid Sienna as well.

They are both nice. The PHEV Pacifica got around 29mpg in mixed driving. The Sienna we drove like 75-80mph the whole way mostly highway and it got about 35mpg.

The Pacifica was odd, almost impossible to ever see it charge the battery unless you find a place to plug it in. We never saw it charge the battery at all except charging it maybe 5% on a 2000ft descent. Then it burned up that 5% on the battery within the first mile on the flat. It was weird. But we also never went out of our way to find a charger. It was mostly a highway trip.

We did not load bikes in either, we rented bikes and a rack when we had the Pacifica. Because we were mountain biking we would have trashed the interior putting bikes in it.

Are you guys saying these minivans can hold 4 bikes and still have the 2nd row seats up? Is that with removal of the front wheels on the bikes? I have always assumed when people talked about putting bikes into the back of the minivan the 3rd row seat was down and half the 2nd row was down.

I am extremely, extremely skeptical of the ID.Buzz being able to get 300 miles EV range. The ID.4 can't get 300 miles, and the ID.Buzz seems to have basically the same drivetrain underneath but in a much bigger vehicle. ID.Buzz seems like it's going to be insanely expensive. I would totally drive one.. but I want it to have more normal minivan pricing and decent range.