2008 Dodge Grand Caravan boasts new look, better ride

America's top minivan just got better.

The 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan is a restyled, fifth-generation model with the most amenities ever in a minivan, including seats that swivel, an onboard table, stain- and odor-resistant seat fabric and a 20-gigabyte computer hard drive.

The Grand Caravan also offers an improved ride, first-in-a-minivan automatic transmission with six forward gears for better acceleration and smoother shifts as well as a new, more powerful V-6 engine topping out at 251 horsepower.

Best of all, the newly revamped vehicle retains its across-the-board, five-out-of-five-stars rating in federal government crash tests.

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $22,470 for a base SE model with 175-horsepower V-6 and four-speed automatic transmission. A Grand Caravan SXT with 197-horsepower V-6 and six-speed automatic starts at $27,535.

This is within the range of other minivans, including the 2008 Honda Odyssey, which starts at $26,495 with 244-horsepower V-6 and five-speed automatic transmission, and the 2008 Kia Sedona, which starts at $21,420 with 250-horsepower V-6 and five-speed automatic.

Dodge's Caravan -- Grand or otherwise -- has been the nation's top minivan in sales for 24 straight years, dating to its debut in 1983. At the time, station wagons had been the family vehicle of choice for decades.

But the Caravan, as it was called then, helped launch a new segment of front-wheel drive, smaller-than-full-size vans that fit inside garages easily, have three rows of seats and a higher seat position above the road than cars had.

Today, after growing larger, more powerful and more feature-laden and named the Grand Caravan, the Dodge family van still leads in annual sales, topping 176,100 last year.

This number, however, is the lowest in years. In fact, Honda's Odyssey was its closest ever to overtaking the Grand Caravan, with 2007 sales that were just 3,104 behind the popular Dodge van.

No wonder Dodge officials threw in about everything but the kitchen sink in revitalizing its 2008 Grand Caravan.

There is no other 2008 minivan with as many amenities for buyers to select.

Swiveling second-row seats combined with an attachable, sturdy table are novel, from-the-factory items that come in handy at the soccer and baseball fields as well as the park. It lets parents keep an eye on one child playing outside while another can do homework or have a snack inside the vehicle.

Don't worry about cleaning the crumbs and spills off the seats and floor mats. A special fabric called Yes Essentials on the Grand Caravan seats and mats is designed to repel stains and even odors. Just remember to clean out the 13 -- yes, 13 -- cupholders inside the van now and then.

Virtually all minivans offer rear-seat video systems these days. So Dodge went beyond and also offers backseat satellite television from Sirius with programming tailored for children.

Other available features include a rechargeable and removable flashlight for emergencies, grocery bag hooks on the back of the third-row seats, rearmost side windows that open for venting, an umbrella holder, a hands-free communication system that's Bluetooth compatible and trailer towing package that includes a heavy-duty radiator and heavy-duty transmission oil cooler.

The Grand Caravan with the uplevel 3.8-liter and 4-liter engines can tow up to 3,600 pounds.

The ride inside the Grand Caravan is quieter than ever, thanks to soundproofing and extra attention given to wind noise. One example of how detailed this effort was: The outside mirrors have a bottom edge designed through wind tunnel testing just to reduce wind noise.

Inside, the Grand Caravan feels spacious, with good room -- especially head room -- for passengers in all three rows of seats.

The test Grand Caravan SXT rolled over road bumps without bothering riders. The suspension, with new MacPherson struts at the front and new trailing twist-beam axle in back, provides a controlled ride that also soaks up all but the worst road bumps.

Steering was neither light nor heavy but tuned appropriately for good feedback and confidence.

There was some sense of body mass moving from one side of the Grand Caravan tester to the other when I drove in mountain twisties. The straight-ahead highway runs were the best in conveying a solid, stable ride.

The new, 251-horsepower, 4-liter V-6 worked well to power this more than 4,500-pound vehicle.

Shifts were smooth and hardly noticed and the van moved in spunky fashion from a stop. Torque peaks at 262 foot-pounds at 4,100 rpm.

Engine sounds, when they were heard, were strong, not shrill.

I just wish the Grand Caravan test got better mileage. The federal government rates this van at 16 miles per gallon in city travel and 23 mpg on the highway. And this figure is computed without taking into account a full load of passengers and cargo.

At least the 20-gallon gas tank needs only regular unleaded.

All safety equipment is standard in the Grand Caravan, including curtain air bags for all three rows of passengers, electronic stability control and traction control.

And don't worry about kids swiveling the seats while you drive. Each seat can only swivel -- from facing forward to facing backward and vice versa -- when a side sliding door is open.

The Grand Caravan also has a higher-priced twin -- the 2008 Chrysler Town & Country.