This thing is a road trip machine

Ran down to DC for the weekend to see daughter (and James Bond Cars) and continue to be impressed at just how good this thing is at road trips. 

First time owning a minivan?  There's nothing better for carrying people and road tripping. 

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Agree with you on that. We've had four of them in the past 20 years. Switched to a big SUV to pull the car trailer, but that's the only way that it's not inferior to the vans. 

Minivans are very rad, second only to station wagons

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

No several years now, but it's been a while since we road tripped so it was a good reminder. 

I'm not particularly fond of the seats in the new siennas, but it's a small complaint. Also the price. Excellent at everything else though. 

Can you please say more about the seats?

I've been pondering Siennas because they beat our 2020 Odyssey on three important points: hybrid, AWD, and kickass headlights... but seats are pretty important too. (The Odyssey gets a solid B+ or A– there.)

In reply to Stealthtercel :

They weren't uncomfortable. We rented one for an 800 mile trip in December. It was a base model, and didn't have adjustable lumbar. I think one of the higher trims would have been perfectly fine. Or even just more adjustability. 
 

Concerning AWD and hybrid. In the FWD 2023 sienna I managed 37.6 average. We repeated the same trip with one less body in February in a 2023 rav4 HV AWD. I averaged 35,8. We only opted for the smaller vehicle in hopes of getting better mileage not realizing it was AWD until 1/3 of the way. I would imagine real world AWD sienna would be low 30s. Not bad at all for the size and capacity, but still. Worth noting. 

They are very good but we preferred road-tripping in a full-size conversion van. The fuel economy sucked but gas was fairly cheap back then. 

This guy hauled 6 of us all over the eastern USA. Fondly called the Big White Beast. 

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

37.8mpg in a van the size of a Sienna is absurd. I'm impressed.

@Toyman! I bet the interior volume on that Ford isn't that much bigger than a Sienna. Modern minivans are big. I'm sure the Econoline is bigger, but not as much so as in the 80s when minivans first hit the market.

We had minivans growing up and did yearly trips from FL to NY and back. Minivans are awesome and if they didn't cost so much I might have bought one instead of my Frontier. 

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to Stealthtercel :

Concerning AWD and hybrid. In the FWD 2023 sienna I managed 37.6 average. 

Got damn! That's really impressive. I was pretty happy when we got ~27 in my mom's 2019 Pacifica (non-hybrid) going to Indy a couple of years ago. The Exploder tops out at about 24, but then again, it has 400hp, so... 

In reply to dculberson :

To be fair, I generally set the cruise around 75-78 and I'm not in a hurry. But yes, very impressive. Actual math, not vehicle estimates. 

My recent minivan experiences are with 2016 and similar Siennas, 2010 Odyssey, and 2008-2017 Mopar vans.

I have knee pain if I don't occasionally move my legs and so I cannot drive a Sienna more than across town. There is just zero space in the footwell. 

The second row bench doesn't stow, but it slides so far forward it's almost unimportant. 

One thing I really love about the Sienna is the well-assisted power steering. The Honda was unremarkable but the Dodge lightly aggravates my bum shoulder sometimes. 
 

The Sienna's lift gate is for people shorter than 5'7". On flat ground you will stab your head with the corner, standing on a curb you might split your glasses. I hate that gate so much.

The sliding doors are stubborn about not letting you overcome the power option. You can pull the handle and fight the automation all you want but it won't go into safety manual mode. The Odyssey is just like that. Dodge does it right, grab the handle all the way out and you can slide it open or closed.

I really like the Sienna for the fact that nothing has broken yet. 

In reply to dculberson :

We were a 2 van family at the time and when it came to road trips everyone preferred the Econoline, including the kids.

The interior volume was much larger than the 2003 Venture my wife had at the time. The Econoline was wider and allowed the kids to spread out more. It also had more legroom between the seats. The Econoline was also more comfortable and the higher seating positing made sightseeing easier. Add to that the ability to close the blinds and stand up in it and change clothes if you wanted to go swimming in a creek or lake or dress up for dinner at the last minute, and it was a better road trip machine than the Venture in every way except fuel economy. 

Minivans have come a long way in the last 26 years in comfort, and size but they still haven't caught up with a full-size conversion van. If I still had a boatload of kids my wife would still be driving a minivan and I'd probably still have a full size. Luckily we are past that point, though a Quigley does tempt me at times. 

dculberson said:

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

37.8mpg in a van the size of a Sienna is absurd. I'm impressed.

@Toyman! I bet the interior volume on that Ford isn't that much bigger than a Sienna. Modern minivans are big. I'm sure the Econoline is bigger, but not as much so as in the 80s when minivans first hit the market.

I'm really curious about the interior space comparison between mini and full size. I would take any extra space I could get, and being able to tow is cool, but comparable full size vans were $$ the last time I looked.

But for us, despite what everyone says about snow tires, I don't want to drive the family in a high centered and RWD vehicle in the snow, and certainly the Mrs does not.

Regarding the original minivans, I'll have to dig up some pictures I took last fall but we were parked next to a first gen Caravan and while the thing looked small on the outside, it sure looked more spacious inside! Probably a trick of the eye, but there's way more open of a greenhouse, but also thinner walls and seats. 
 

Found em: