"Time to get the minivan, Ma; he's acomin' back from the (University) dorms!"


As the academic year drew to a close, that statement pretty much summarized my thoughts, 'cept that I was neither Ma nor Pa, but rather, the young 'he.' And not having a minivan of my own, I sauntered on over the rental car place, slapped my money (er, credit card) down on the counter, and said, "I want me a minivan."

I was handed the keys (and the electronic Remote Keyless Entry keyfob) to a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan Sport, the mid-price variant in the five-door Caravan line. And thus started my 'moving back down from the dorms' adventure.

Before I had a chance to hit the road for my long trip, I shuttled some of my peers around the town of Berkeley (getting supplies for an impromptu 'Farewell' shindig, dropping folks off at the train station, etc.). The comments that I received were along the lines of, "Sharp!", "Nice!", and "Sleek." Personally, I'm not one of those who are particularly impressed by styling and slick looks, but I will admit that the Caravan not only gets the job done, but looks pretty good doing it (for a minivan).


Driver Controls
Sliding into the driver's seat for the first time, the two things that struck me the most were the outside visibility and the simple, easy to read dashboard. With the elevated driver position, down sloping hood, and the large front windshield, I had a fantastic view of the road in front of me. Large windows and relatively narrow side pillars gave me good side and rear visibility around me (with the exception of one thing that I shall discuss soon). The dash gauges were very glaringly obvious, with the white dial faces and orange needles. I found these to be very easy to read, both day and night.

Once I got the seats, seatbelts (the shoulder anchor adjusts up and down to accommodate tall and short occupants), steering wheel (tilt steering column), and mirrors (folding power mirrors) adjusted, I pulled out of the rental lot. As I merged with traffic, I heard an audible "CLICK" from all around me. When I accelerated through 20 mph, all of the doors had automatically locked.

Installed in the driver door armrest are controls for the power locks and windows. I was able to open and close the driver and passenger front windows, as well the rear vent windows, letting me set up a flow of air through the van. Mounted in the steering wheel are the controls for the cruise control system (which I have personal issues about utilizing).

On the driver's right are the environmental controls. The Grand Caravan Sport offers what Dodge calls the "3-Zone Temperature Control System," allowing custom temperature settings for the driver, passenger and the rear. Rear temperature and fan speed can be controlled for the console at the back, or it can all be controlled up front by the driver.

The audio system is immediately above the climate controls. I found the controls to be tactile and intuitive. Due to the shape of and the raised patterns molded on the buttons, the controls are easy to locate and manipulate without taking my eyes off the road. In the Grand Sport, I found the 6-speaker AM/FM cassette system entirely up to the task of keeping me entertained during my long road trip. For those who desire to upgrade their sound system, Dodge offers different variations with additional speakers and CD players and/or changers.


Interior Features and Amenities
The Caravan has a seating capacity of seven. Two standard bucket seats are up front. My comment about the front seats is that they are comfortable and supportive. The middle bench was two-position reclining split bench. This van had the optional child safety seats built into the middle bench. Simply fold down the seatback cushion to expose the child seat. Standard on all Dodge Caravans, are also built in safety seat anchor points, in case you decide that you want to use your own child seat. The rear bench is a three-seater 50/50 split bench. Side positions have lap-shoulder seatbelts, the rear center position has a lap-only seatbelt.

Cargo capacity for the Grand Sport is nearly 168 cubic feet. This is supposedly the largest cargo capacity amongst all mini-vans. All I know is that once the seats are removed, you have a LOT of room. The seats have the Easy Out Roller system, making removal easy and relatively simple. (I didn't need all of that space; it was more of a 'try to do it just to see if I could do it' thing.) The controls were large and easy to grasp and manipulate. There are rollers on the bottom of the seat to make moving the seats around easier once they are removed. The end result was no pinching or injury to my sensitive fingertips.

Interior design is very clean and smooth. It took me a little while to figure out how to get the interior map/courtesy lights to turn on, because I didn't see any switches nearby, just smooth uninterrupted curves. (You turn them on and off by pushing up on the lens of the map light.) In addition to the map lights, also a part of the overhead console I found to my surprise, a combination compass and temperature display, as well as a long gray plastic panel. Personally, I think the temperature somewhat frivolous, but the compass sometimes a navigational necessity. When I pressed on the end of the panel, it 'clicked' and opened to reveal a sunglass storage compartment (capacity two pairs). Depending on what options you get, the overhead console can also have controls for the power sliding and rear doors, trip computer, and programmable remote for your garage door, house alarm system, etc.) I wondered what other neat surprises still awaited discovery.

When I moved around the interior of the van, I also found another 12-volt power outlet in the trim by the middle row (perfect for powering assorted accessories, Gameboys, laptops, etc.). Additionally, cup holders abounded in the rear side trim for the folks seated in back. In the front, retractable cupholders are found underneath the climate controls. In the traditional spot in front of the passenger seat, is the glove compartment. Underneath the front passenger seat is a lockable storage drawer. More storage space, and another 12-volt outlet) can be found in the removable center console (and optional in this particular model).

When I folded down the front sun visors, I found retractable visor extensions) to bridge the gap between the visor and the rear view mirror) as well as lighted vanity mirrors (on both sides). The back of the front seats have molded in map pockets, as well as these strange awkward looking hooks. These hooks are also found on the back of the rear bench as well. I had to look in the owner's manual to find out what the weird hooks were for (holding up your plastic grocery bags so that things don't go spilling when you take a sharp turn; what a great idea!).


Exterior Comments
To me, the outside features of note are the roof rack and tinted windows. If you had a bunch of junk, er stuff, to move, the roof rack is an effective feature. Getting stuff into the inside of the van was very easy. The five doors (two front, two side sliding, and rear liftgate) offered quick access. Loading was easy due to the relatively low floor height. Fortunately, I didn't have that much stuff to take home, so I was able to fit it all inside the spacious interior (with room left over; surprise, surprise). Once I got it all in, and the door closed, I had difficulty seeing into the van to spot my stuff. From the outside, the rear window glass is basically black and very private. From the inside, visibility wasn't particularly hampered by the window tint; just a couple of shades darker than clear glass.


Safety Features
I've already mentioned the child safety seat anchors and the automatic locking doors. Standard on all Grand Caravans are:
* Driver and front passenger air bags, with multi-stage deployment depending on the severity of the impact. (Side impact airbags optional)
* Child protection door locks on the driver and passenger sliding doors, so that the young ones aren't finding their own way out of the van.
* 4-wheel antilock power brakes
* Pre-tensioners that remove seat belt slack before airbag deployment.
* Brake-Transaxle Interlock. This won't let you shift out of Park unless your foot is depressing the brake.


Power and Handling
The Grand Caravan that I drove had a 3.8 liter V-6 engine with 215 horsepower and 245 pound-feet of torque. That might mean a lot to mechanical engineers, but for me, it meant that with a fully loaded minivan, I was able to accelerate from slow to go very, very quickly on the interstate merge lanes. Acceleration was quicker than I expected and I was surprised my first time out.

Driving and handling, it drove more like a car than a truck or van. Road imperfections were soft and cushioned, not sharp and jolting as they were in my pickup truck. The handling and response isn't quite as quick as you would find in a sports car; the Caravan still is a relatively large vehicle. Nevertheless, I never had any qualms or apprehensions about maneuvering the van in traffic or any parking lots.


"Okay, okay, you've told us a lot about the Grand Caravan, but was there anything that you DIDN'T like about it?"
"Yep. Generally speaking, visibility in the Caravan is pretty good, front and rear, . . . but there was one spot that was troublesome, the right rear blind spot. I side mirrors on the Caravan are pretty big, and cover a lot of area, but not that particular the blind spot. When I looked over my right shoulder to check it, it was behind the right-rear corner pillar, as well as behind both the right middle bench headrest and the right rear bench headrest. Even after I removed the headrests, I still couldn't see through the pillar. There was a scary moment on the drive down, when I lost a VW Beetle in that blind spot. Along the way, I stopped by a truck spot and picked up a couple of blind spot mirrors. A simple solution; that took care of the problem."

"Anything else?"
"Yeah. I really like having the tethered fuel cap. I don't have to find a place to set it down, then remember where I put it. Nothing to get lost when I'm at the gas station. Not that I spent a whole lot of time getting gas. I got about 22 miles per gallon, despite cruising at something above the posted limit."


"And your final verdict is?"
"Right now, if I was going to buy a mini-van, and if I could afford it, I'd get a Grand Caravan. It gets the job done, whether it's people moving or cargo moving. The only problem I found is that blind spot, and that's pretty easy to fix. It gets the job done, and it does it well. The seats are comfortable, all the controls are easy to access and read, and the 'creature comfort' amenities included are nice.


"Naw, Ma, it's more like one of them sport minivans."
That's what it is, the Dodge Grand Caravan Sport.




Options: Power windows, locks, mirrors, speed control, tilt steering, 6-speaker AM/FM cassette, 3-zone climate control w/ air conditioning, overhead console, remote keyless entry
Model: Grand Caravan Sport
Model Year: 2001
Owns this vehicle: No
Amount Paid (US$): Rental
Model Year: 1952