The IT Nerd

So I have come to the end of the review of the Chrysler Pacifica Limited. I’m going to start off with how much this is all going to cost you and then work towards why you should consider it. The Pacifica starts at $43,995, but the Limited trim level that I had this week starts at $52,995. As equipped, the one that I had this week is $62,340 including destination. However, I will point out that it wasn’t fully loaded as it was missing the built in vacuum cleaner (made by Rigid by the way), and it was missing the ability to open the doors when you kick underneath them. If they were present, you can add another $495 to the price. But other than those items, every possible option was present.

If you were cross shopping the Pacifica against other minivans, the list is short. Honda has the Odyssey, Toyota has the Sienna, and Kia has the Sedona, and there’s the Dodge Caravan as well. That’s not a very long list. But here’s why the Pacifica should be on your shopping list. It actually looks good from the outside as it doesn’t look like another box on wheels. The interior is great, and the best thing is that despite the fact that this is a minivan, you get great fuel economy. I got 10.5 L / 100 KMs this week in mixed city and highway driving. That’s simply outstanding. But if that isn’t enough fuel savings for you, there is a hybrid version coming. Yes, a hybrid minivan. Don’t bother checking because nobody else makes one. It’s also has a ton of technology from safety to entertainment. It simply is above and beyond everything that it competes against. That shouldn’t come as a shock as Chrysler did invent the minivan back in the 1980’s after all. Thus if anyone can take a run at this market and make an impact, Chrysler can. And based on the fact that they sold 401 of them in August in Canada and 923 so far this year in Canada after only having been on the market since the start of the summer, it is clear that they know what the market wants. Which is why I suspect you’ll be seeing a lot of Pacifica’s on the road very soon.

The technology in the Chrysler Pacifica is simply mind blowing. It covers safety, entertainment, and it will even answer the age old question “are we there yet?”

No, seriously. It really does that as you’ll see in a bit. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start with the safety technology and work from there. One of the really cool safety features is this Surround-View camera system  which gives you a 360 degree view of what is around you:

There a five cameras in the Pacifica. Two in the front, one in the rear, and one in each rear view mirror. Those cameras along with some fancy software allow you to get this view. This view makes it really easy to park the Pacifica and you can change the views from front to back as well. Take it from me, you have to check this option box as you will find this really useful.

Another safety feature is the KeySense system. The goal of this system is to put limits on speed, audio volume, SiriusXM satellite radio channel selections and more, as well as activating safety and security settings for additional drivers. That way, your teenagers drive safer. All of these preferences can be easily assigned to the programmable key fob through the Uconnect touchscreen.

Besides the ability to detect a possible collision and brake for you if you don’t take action, the Pacifica has the ability to park itself. By that I mean parallel parking and perpendicular parking. I tried both and I have to say that once you trust that the this system isn’t going to hit the Audi next to you, you’ll find that it works and it works well.

A really cool feature is adaptive cruise control system that is capable of crawling through traffic for you. I tried this on the 401 during rush hour and  it moved forward and came to a complete stop on its own for the most part. If it stayed stopped for more than a couple of seconds, it would beep and make me take full control of the Pacifica.

Now lets get to the entertainment. I will start with the fact that the Pacifica that I am driving this week comes with a Harmon Kardon sound system with 760 watts of power and 20 speakers. If you’re into audio, you’ll love this system and it sounded great regardless of where I was sitting. Backing up this system is the always great UConnect system which you interact with via a 8.4″ in touchscreen which attracted fingerprints like crazy. But having said that, using the system was dead easy. Paring my phone was trivial and interacting with it either from the touchscreen or from the steering was dead easy. The user interface has also been refined to look better and make the operation of the system easier. It also comes with Siri Eyes Free which allows iPhone users to use Siri to send text messages and the like. Though to use it, you need to keep the voice command button on the steering pressed at all times which can be awkward if you’re turning the wheel at the time you’re using Siri Eyes Free. I point that out because I have seen other implementations of Siri Eyes Free that don’t require that. Now, the only real pet peeve that I have is the fact that you need UConnect to drive items like the heating for the steering wheel or the controls for the heated and cooled seats. There should really be redundant buttons for that sort of thing. But having said that, there is one really cool thing that this iteration of UConnect does. It comes with UConnect theater. If you’re in the second row, you can watch a Blu Ray movie on one of the 10″ screens that are mounted on the headrests of the front seats. You also have USB and HDMI connectivity as well so you can use your own devices and media. Plus on top of that, there’s a pair of wireless headphones and a pair of remote controls to allow second row passengers to control their entertainment experience and listen privately. Finally, this system comes with a bunch of apps including the “Are We There Yet?” app, which shows the distance remaining and estimated arrival time to a destination. That alone makes this feature worth it for parents as they will never have to answer that question again.

This is easily one of the most tech laden vehicles that I have driven. If you like your technology, the Chrysler Pacifica is for you. Tomorrow I will wrap up this review and give you my final thoughts.

The interior of the Chysler Pacifica Limited is pretty impressive. Let me start with the front seats. I should note that all the photos unless otherwise noted were taken with the Asus ZenFone 3:

The front seats are heated and cooled and are made of Nappa leather. The driver’s seat is a bit flat and wide for my liking. But I really think that most will find it to be just fine. Both seats are 8 way power adjustable.

On the driver’s door, you will see more Nappa leather, the window and door controls as well as the memory settings for the driver seat.

Here are the controls for the interior and exterior lights. You’ll also note that below those controls is a dead pedal which is really handy for long drives.

Beside the seat is a rubberized tray for your umbrella. I have to admit that this is the first time I have seen anything like this. Look closely and you will see this:

It actually has cute graphics on it.

The steering wheel is easy to hold and feels good in your hands. It is also wrapped with Nappa leather and it is heated and has all the buttons for the cruise control and infotainment system.

The gauge cluster is very bright and readable in any situation. The middle of the cluster is an LCD screen that can be customized with everything from fuel economy to navigation info.

There’s an 8.4″ infotainment screen that is flush with the rest of the dash and looks very cool. You should note the Nappa leather that’s on the dash and is well executed. Below that, is the dial for the transmission, the HVAC controls, as well the controls for ParkSense among other things. One thing that using a dial for the transmission does is open up a ton of space as you will see in the next few pictures.

Here’s a closer look of those controls. Below that,

If you like USB ports, the Chrysler Pacifica has lots of them. And I do mean LOTS. Besides a cubby that is big enough for a cell phone, you get a USB port and 1/8″ audio jack. Below that is a Blu Ray DVD player along with another USB port.

Underneath the DVD player is a storage area that slides out.

Below that, there is a power outlet and a USB jack. Plus there’s a storage area….

Where my wife was able to place her purse there as illustrated by this photo taken with my iPhone 6. She really liked that feature and commented that a lot of women would as well.

Sharp eyes will note another storage area beside the cupholders.

Here’s a photo taken with my iPhone 6 of the cupholders in action. My wife gave these and many of the other cupholders two big thumbs up as it held her Starbucks travel mug with ease. The reason that is a big deal to her is that a lot of cars fail that test.

You’ll also get another storage area with a sliding cover. I put my sunglasses there during my week with the Pacifica.

There’s also a decent sized glove box.

One handy feature for parents is this rear view mirror that flips down and allows you to see what your kids are up to behind you.

One thing that blew my wife and I away was this three pane sunroof. In short, every passenger gets a view of the sky. The front and middle passengers have a powered sunroof. The third row have to reach up and open it manually.

Now to the second row seats. There’s a pair of captain chairs in the Pacifica that I drove. But you can configure it to seat three when you order your Pacifica. They’re made of Nappa leather and they’re heated.

You get 10″ screens on each front seat. This will keep your kids busy as it does more than allow you to play movies. More on that tomorrow when I look at the technology in the Pacifica.

You get an HDMI port, USB port and a headphone port on each screen.

There’s also wireless headsets and a remote control that come with each screen.

Inside the pillar is a button that open and closes the sliding side doors.

There’s another button that moves the front seats forward. I’ll get to how useful that is in a moment.

There’s a pair of cupholders and a storage area that slides out from between the two front seats.

There are controls for the HVAC system for the middle row passengers.

The Pacifica comes with “Stow n’ Go” seating which allows you to fold the seats right into the floor. All you have to do is press the button that I mentioned earlier that slides the front seat forward, flip a floor panel up, pull a white nylon strap and the seats flip down into a storage area beneath the floor. You then push down on the seats to finish the job. My wife tried this feature and found it very easy to use for the most part. Putting down the floor panel is a bit finicky. But once you understand how it works, it’s a non issue.

If you don’t need to flip the seats down into the storage area beneath the floor, you can use it to store something as large as a backpack out of sight of potential thieves.

Behind the driver is this handy hook to hang your coat on. This too got two thumbs up from my wife as she could find many uses for it,

The second and third rows have these handy sun shades that pull up from the doors.

In the third row, you get controls for tilting the third row seats, a USB ports, and cupholders.

Looking from the rear, you can see the third row seats. They are powered and fold into the floor. You get 915 liters of storage with the third row seats up.

With the third row seats down, you get a flat load surface and 2478 liters of storage.

With the second row down, you get 3979 liters of storage.

All the controls for the third row seats are located on the right hand side of the cargo area. The seats are split folding and you can flip and raise the seats separately. You also get a 12v outlet as well.

On the left side of the cargo area is the button that closes the rear hatch. This button is one of two things that I will criticize. First is that it should be on the hatch and not on the left side of the cargo area. Second, because it is in this location, you have three seconds to clear the hatch if you press the button. If it were on the hatch near the two handles that are on the hatch, that would be a non issue. Chrysler should reconsider the location of this button.

I am going to point out two things on the outside. One is this trailer hitch which is handy as it can tow 3600 pounds.

The other thing that I will point out is this capless fuel port. It’s a good idea as there’s no fuel cap to not tighten properly, which in turn will generate a check engine light. However, the flap that covers it doesn’t lock which might be a bit of an issue if someone decides to slip something into the fuel tank that shouldn’t be there.

One last observation. Both my wife and I got into the third row. It was the most comfortable third row that we’ve ever been in in any vehicle that we’ve reviewed. There was plenty of headroom and legroom. Given that I am 6 feet tall, that’s impressive. It really tops off the fact that the interior of the Chrysler Pacifica is top notch. So much so, I don’t know if you want to let your kids anywhere near it.

Tomorrow, I will look at the technology in the Chrysler Pacifica, and there’s a lot of it for me to cover. Stay tuned for that!

What you’re looking at is the 3.6l Pentastar V6 engine that drives the front wheels of the Chrysler Pacifica. It’s mated to a 9 speed transmission and puts out 287 horsepower and 262 lb.-ft. of torque which is a lot. Actually, it’s a bit too much as I spun the wheels a couple of times from a standing stop which forced the traction control to intervene. The upshot is that this amount of power allows you to tow up to 3600 pounds. A word about the 9 speed transmission. I’ve driven various FCA cars with this transmissions, and this is FCA’s best effort. It shifted extremely smoothly and without drama. I was very impressed with that. 

In terms of driving dynamics, the Pacifica is far more agile than any minivan has a right to be. It was easy to change lanes, park and navigate through traffic. The suspension is also quite good as well. It soaks up bumps very well and is firm enough where you could almost call the Pacifica sporty. What does let down the side a bit is the fact that the accelerator and brake pedal feel is artificial. It took me a bit to figure out how not to light up the tires off the line, and how much pressure to use on the brakes. The steering was a bit on the artificial side as well. But it does deliver enough feedback for you to figure out what the minivan is doing. One other thing, the Pacifica comes with active noise cancellation. Other than when you put your foot down to accelerate hard, you hear almost nothing inside the cabin.

The engine transmission combo delivers stellar fuel economy. As I type this, I am registering 11 L / 100 KMs. That’s outstanding for a minivan of this size and better than a lot of vehicles out there. It will be interesting to see if it stays that way during a week of driving.

In part three, I will be taking a look at the interior. Here’s a hint, it’s stellar. See why tomorrow.

“The minivan is dead.”

“Why are you reviewing a minivan? Nobody drives them.”

“Car companies are dumping the minivan for the SUV.”

That’s what I kept hearing from people who found out that I was going to be doing a review of a Chrysler Pacifica in their Limited trim. The thing is, all those comments are wrong. The minivan is the best way to carry people, things, or both. And if you look at Driving.ca’s 2015 list of ten best selling vehicles in Canada, a minivan is 8th on the list and it just happens to be from the same company who makes this minivan.

Clearly someone is buying them.

FCA knows that as well. Which is why they dropped $2 billion to retool a plant in Windsor Ontario to produce this:

FCA has made a very big deal about the exterior of the Pacifica. Okay, it looks like a minivan. But it doesn’t look like a yet another box on wheels. It’s actually kind of stylish. You can thank Canadian Ralph Gilles and his design team for coming up with a minivan that you may actually want to be seen in.

My review of the Chrysler Pacifica is made up of five parts:

• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

One last note, the photos that are part of this five part review were taken using the Asus ZenFone 3. I will be posting a review of this phone shortly so please watch for that.

The next part of this review will cover the engine, transmission and driving comfort. I’ll give you a hint. It’s good in almost every way that I can think of. Stay tuned!

So I’ve come to the end of the review of the Chrysler 300C Platinum which means that I need to tie up some loose ends. My final fuel economy was 14.1 L/100 KM’s in mixed city and highway driving. Most of which was in rush hour traffic save for one highway trip. I’m okay with this as this was a V8 and there were times where I did take advantage of all 8 cylinders. One thing to note is that the 300C Platinum prefers upscale fuel.

The 300C Platinum goes for $51,125 as tested, and that includes freight. But you can get a 300 for as little as $38,195 with a V6 and rear wheel drive. You also get an option for all wheel drive mated to the V6 (all wheel drive is not available with a V8) and the ability to build it with as little or as much kit as you want. Plus there’s a few options that were available on the 300C that I didn’t get on my test vehicle. Thus you can get exactly the 300 that you want. If you’re looking to cross shop it, good competitors are the Acura TLX, Buick La Crosse, and Cadillac CTS, which all lack the option of a V8 engine of any sort, never mind a HEMI V8.

If you want a powerful car that has a lot of room, luxurious, and is a great highway cruiser, you should have the 300C on your list. It ticks all those boxes and you’ll enjoy every minute of your time in it.

The technology in the Chrysler 300C Platinum covers a number of areas from safety to infotainment. Let’s start with the safety technology. Here’s the list of things that will keep you safe:

• Front air bags
• Side curtain front and rear air bags
• Driver side knee air bag
• Electronic roll mitigation (it will keep you from rolling over if things get too far out of hand)
• Traction control, stability control,
• Backup camera with cross path detection
• Blind stop monitoring
• Ready alert braking: This is a system that senses when the driver lifts his or her foot off of the accelerator pedal in an abrupt manner. When that happens, the system assumes an impending emergency stop may be required. the system commands the braking system to apply a slight amount of brake pressure to just touch the brake pads against the rotors to help apply the brakes much quicker if needed. This can help reduce stopping distance in an emergency situation.
• Rain brake support: This is a system that will periodically apply a small amount of brake pressure to remove any water buildup on the front brake rotors so that your braking is no different than when it is dry. It only functions when the windshield wipers are in the LO or HI mode, it does not function in the intermittent mode. When Rain Brake Support is active, there is no notification to the driver and no driver interaction is required.
• Hill Start Assist
• Park Sense Front / Rear Park Assist: This system uses sound waves to detect nearby obstacles while in reverse. Audio and visual indicators alert you to the proximity of the object so that you don’t hit it. 

The next thing is the key. It’s a proximity key that allows you to walk up, open the door, press the start button, and drive away. You can also remote start the 300C, open the trunk, and unlock the doors. Like other Chrysler vehicles I’ve reviewed, there’s also a real key on the inside. When you want to lock the car, simply press a button on the door handle when you get out of the car. Net result: You never have to take the proximity key out of your pocket. One other trick: It’s smart enough to fire up the HVAC system to either cool the car down in the summer or warm it up in winter.

Now on to the UConnect infotainment system. It took me seconds to pair my iPhone via Bluetooth and make everything work the way I expected. Plugging in my iPhone via USB allowed me access to all the music and playlists on it. The voice recognition was good, though I had trouble with street names. The system is still powered by a huge 8.4″ touchscreen which is clear and easy to read in most lighting conditions. There are redundant controls that are well designed and easy to reach. When it comes to the design part, I’ll use the controls on the steering wheel as an example. Individual buttons have their own feel so that once you know what the functions are, you can use them purely based on feel. The navigation system does a great job of getting you from point A to B. You won’t have any complaints on this front.

No matter where I was sitting, the audio was fantastic. Supplied by Harmon Kardon and putting out over 900 watts of audio to 18 speakers, it has crisp highs and well defined bass with zero distortion. Kudos to Chrysler for providing a top notch stereo.

In the last part of my review, I’ll wrap up some loose ends and I will give you my final verdict.

The interior of the Chrysler 300C Platinum is one that Chrysler got right in every way except one. Let me show you what the 300C brings to the table:

Let’s start with the driver’s seat which was pretty comfortable. It is power adjustable, heated and vented (and so is the front passenger seat). I found it to be on the wide side as I slid around in it. Thus some might feel it needs some extra bolstering.

On the driver’s seat is this switch that allows you to adjust the power adjustable pedals to suit you.

All the door and window controls are on the driver’s door. Note the high quality stitching on the door.

You get memory settings for the drivers seat on the door as well.

Plus the button to allow you to open the flap that covers the gas cap is on the drivers door.

Here are the controls of the lighting system plus the button to release the trunk. Below that are the power adjustable pedals and the mechanical parking brake to the left. The latter I found odd for reasons that I will get to in a moment.

The steering wheel is leather wrapped and has controls for cruise control, the phone, audio, and the infotainment system. It also has paddle shifters. It is power adjustable and is on the chunky side from a feel perspective.

The speedometer is impressive. The left and right sides are mechanical, but the center is a display that can be heavily customized. It is one of the sharpest and clearest displays that I have ever seen.

The center console is impressive. Besides the 8.4″ touchscreen, HVAC controls, classy looking analog clock, and stop/start button on the left, it has this feature:

It has a flip up panel with a 12v outlet and a small storage area. you can also see the rotary dial that controls the transmission along with a storage area to the right. That brings me to the one complaint that I have with the interior. The 300C has a cool way to control the transmission in the form of the rotary dial, power adjustable steering wheel and pedals, but it has a mechanical parking brake. Seeing as the Chrysler 200s that I reviewed last year comes with a electronic parking brake and the rotary dial, one wonders why Chrysler didn’t put an electronic parking brake in the 300C.

You get a pair of cup holders that can be covered and they have a switches that allow you to keep drinks hot or cold.

It holds my Venti sized Starbucks coffee easily. But I can tell that travel mugs are a non-starter.

There is a storage area in the arm rest that has a slidable coin holder. There’s also USB ports, AUX audio jack, and a SD card slot.

The 300C is full of open pore wood and high quality stitching as evidenced here in this picture. It not only gives the 300C a very upscale look, but it easily competes with the BMW’s, Audi’s, and Benzes of the world.

The glove box is lit and has two levels.

There’s a massive dual pane sunroof in the 300C.

Back seat passengers get a ton of room as it will seat three adults easily.

If you don’t need to seat three adults, you can use this as an armrest, to hold your drinks, or for storage.

Back seat passengers also get seat warmers and their own USB ports for their phones.

One cool feature is this hook in the rear which my wife used to hang her dry cleaning on. The light is a nice touch as well.

The trunk is HUGE. Note that the hinges are shrouded to make sure that they don’t crush anything beneath them. Also note that the trunk is lit.

Here you can see what our weekly trip to get groceries and beer looks like in the trunk. There’s a whole lot of space left over.

There’s a handle on the trunk lid that allows you to close the trunk without getting your hand dirty.

There were no rattles, squeaks, or any evidence that the build quality was anything other than top notch. With the exception of a mechanical parking brake, Chrysler has really got this interior dialed in. You’ll love in spending time inside the 300C Platinum.

Next up is the technology in the vehicle. Stay tuned for that!