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2004 Chrysler Pacifica
By Ian Macpherson
 To me “Crossing Over” used to be a television show with John Edward, where he used his physic powers to hook the living up with the dead. Now “crossing over” has come to mean auto executives using their physic powers to create new segments to help the living hook up with one of their cars.
Chrysler has been no slouch in this department with a host of innovative new vehicles coming down the pipe that are linked closely with the past or are defiant future blazers. Behold Chrysler’s latest creation, Pacifica, a self-proclaimed segment buster with all the best features of the minivan, SUV, and station wagon wrapped up with one of the most extensive lists of luxury features ever seen in.
 The best news about the Pacifica is that it doesn’t look like anything else on the market. It is very wide, as long as minivan with a height midpoint between a wagon and a van. With four-hinged doors, it is set for you to climb right in as opposed to climbing up into an SUV or down into a sedan. The shape is modern yet much less radical than the Nissan Murano or Infiniti FX45, and with that grille and distinctive winged logo you know that it has to be a Chrysler. Definitely a head turner!
The Pacifica should draw back some affluent buyers who have been lost to SUV’s such as the Acura MDX and Volvo XC90 which boast third row seats and yet still make a statement in style and status. The problem for Chrysler is that it has not played to the luxury market in so long that it is not readily identified as a premium label. None the less, since Daimler-Benz’s (Mercedes) purchase of the company in 1998, Daimler has attempted to create a new philosophy of quality and eminence. The Pacifica is one of the first signals their new credo is starting to take hold.
 For one, there are enough luxury features on the Pacifica to make many $100,000 plus luxury cars turn green with envy. Even the second row bucket seats are slide adjustable, heated and as spacious and comfortable as the first row. The combination of leather and interior materials like brushed nickel and wood can only be described as stately. A multitude of steering wheel mounted controls, luminescent gauges, not unlike Lexus, and multi-positional seating and pedal controls, HID headlamps, power lift-gate, confers the driver with a feeling of opulence not seen before in a Chrysler.
 The Pacifica also boasts an industry first heads-up DVD-based navigation system (optional) that projects information to a small screen in the middle of the instrument cluster. The problem is that the front seat passenger is virtually precluded from operating the system and assisting with navigation. The system is very easy to use and can provide voice-directed information or it can even help you locate a home, or look up a business or any point of interest with a few clicks of a button. An optional drop down flat-panel television (with DVD) for the back seats, can be a boon for long trips with the kids. It comes with a remote control and headphones so the parental units can have some piece and quite. My only fear about these systems is that my child would want to watch television every time they were in the car, even for 15 minutes. I think they’re getting enough television at home without making it available to them every waking moment.
Many cars today have such light doors that I feel like I’m going to rip them right off of the hinges but not the Pacifica, it has a door as solid and substantial as any Mercedes I have ever driven. The seating inside is also of very high quality, comfortable second to none with excellent leg and shoulder room. Reaching the third row seating proved to be a bit challenging and when you need to fold the seats back up your going to need a step ladder to reach the third row from the back. A retractable luggage cover proved to be as complicated as the CandaArm and eventually I just removed it all together as it was in the way. I understand that Chrysler may soon manufacture a 4-seater version of the Pacifica that will offer much greater cargo space.
 First impressions driving the Pacifica is that it is as solid as a rock and delivers on the promise of ride and handling somewhere in between a car and an SUV. The ride provides a nice balance of looking down on the road while still giving a positive road feel and resisting the usual van/truck temptation to roll and yaw like an elephant running through a slalom course. In fact the entire rear suspension has been copied from the Mercedes E-class along with numerous other bits of technology, which should bode well for the Pacifica’s initial quality and durability. My tester was the all-wheel drive model but is also available in front wheel drive.
 Maybe my greatest complaint about the Pacifica is that the window ledges are very high reducing the amount of glass area throughout the vehicle. Chrysler says it was designed this way to impart a feeling of safety to the occupants. Unfortunately it may be more a case of form overtaking function and it proves to be a real problem when trying to back up and see out the tiny rear window. I was repeatedly forced to get out and check my position while backing up. Chrysler has indicated that some type of “park distance indicator” may soon become available.
The 3.5 litre V-6 power plant and 4-speed automatic transmission are the same used in the Chrysler 300m. It’s a fantastic setup for the 300m but the Pacifica weighs more than 400 kg more than the 300m and feels under-powered , a problem that would be less glaring with a 5-speed transmission. At 2125 kg (AWD model) the Pacifica is surprisingly heavier than Chrysler’s regular minivans. The downside of this is a lack of pep and fuel economy that is much more SUV like than car like. In combined driving I averaged 13.2 litres/ 100 km during my test week. Ouch!
 This new proposition to the cross-over market does not come at a cheap price! The base price of a Pacifica AWD model is $45,995 with my tester weighing in at $52,385. It would be nice to see a budget model in the low $30k range but get a few more on the road as it may not be easy to explain to the neighbors how you spent $50K on a minivan. And yes despite all the cross-over double talk hoopla it is a minivan! I know this because my three-year old said so and there’s no fooling a three-year old. Don’t get me wrong I like almost everything about the Pacifica, I like the features, I like that it’s Canadian made but mostly I like it because it’s a non-conformer without being so radical that it will soon look odd . Its major shortcomings, namely poor rear visibility, lack of power and high sticker price will be challenging for Chrysler to overcome. Chrysler has done a superb job in creating the world’s most luxurious and versatile minivan but I think that physic link they were trying for with buyers needs a bit more work.
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