Mover Improver
Sun Herald
Saturday April 19, 1997
FOR non-nuclear families, moving the tribe around has always been a compromise: a big 4WD with eight seats or a people mover.
Most men despise people movers, refusing to drive vehicles they regard as mum-mobiles ... at least, anywhere near a hardware store. Underpowered, they'll tell you, and they handle like buses.
This view is well documented.
It is no surprise then that four-wheel drives outsell the multi-seaters 15 to 1. These are easy vehicles for blokes to justify. A 4WD wagon is solid, tough, versatile and good for the male image.
But they're not so flash for mum and kids tooling around the suburbs or parking at the shopping centre. And those fuel bills ...
Chrysler threatens to upset the male psyche with the latest people mover to reach Australia: the Voyager.
It combines a zesty V6 engine with big-car road manners, seats for eight, doors for four and flexibility that threatens to demolish the old mum's car image. The Voyager is a winner in the US, where 725,000 were sold in 1995 - 100,000 more than the Australian market in an average year.
Is the Voyager, then, the answer to Australian family planning? How does it stack up against the current people-mover contenders?
We hit the road to find out.
MAZDA MPV TRAVELLER
$46,800 (auto) Engine: 3.0 litre V6
Seats: 8 Child restraint anchors: 3
Zoom factor: 0-100 km/h in 13.2s
Cup holders: 4
Warranty: three years/80,000km
Fuel use: 13.0 litres/100km
THE numbers stack up for Mazda's MPV: eight seats, four doors, six cylinders, two air conditioners and twin air bags. The latest limited edition Traveller adds a CD player, alloy wheels and a tow bar. The MPV is long in the tooth and it shows with higher-than-contemporary noise levels and handling/steering/ride balance. Good performance, high quality and a three-year warranty make it a sound but uninspired long-term choice. Practical and enduring. Like a housebrick.
GOOD: Loads of equipment, useful cabin space and features, practical seating and easy entry and exit. Good vision, shoebox styling providing loads of room. Dual air conditioning and wind-down windows in the rear doors cure the old people-mover problem of stuffy ventilation.
BAD: Not much luggage space when all seats in use, old-school styling , dynamics lag behind the best in class. Dated despite solid, practical features.
HONDA ODYSSEY
$45,500 (auto) Engine: 2.2 litre four.
Seats: 7 (6 seater optional, same price).
Child restraint anchors: 3.
Zoom factor: 0-100 km/h in 12.8s.
Cup holders: 6.
Warranty: three years/80,000km.
Fuel use: 10.5 litres/100km.
JAPAN'S most up-to-the minute multi-seater. Very car-like to drive, with light-load performance that belies its relatively small engine capacity. The Odyssey is a smooth, well-muted and refined piece with plenty of thoughtful design features. Contemporary styling, four-door flexibility and user friendliness are major attractions. Honda quality speaks for itself but leg room in the rear pews can be tight for bigger bodies. Extensive standard equipment list, high levels of safety. Possible price trim or free on-road costs deal to be announced next week.
GOOD: An easy, high-quality drive without the usual van-like compromises. Feels like a car and parking is a snap. Hush-toned cabin, silky engine and transmission, big reserves of handling and braking power. Light on fuel.
BAD: Performance suffers when fully laden and the cargo area shrinks to almost nothing when the rear seats emerge from the floor.
CHRYSLER VOYAGER
$44,800 (auto). Engine: 3.3 litre V6.
Seats: 7. Child restraint anchors: 2.
Cup holders: 9.
Warranty: three years/60,000km.
Fuel use: 15.5 litres/100km.
A MODERN design, it offers big engine response with remarkable road manners and refinement. Bigger and heavier than the Odyssey, it has the power to tow and the space to grow. The Voyager drives more like a big comfortable limo than a car or a van. Price includes a hefty complement of standard equipment and versatile seating combinations. Both rear benches are easily removed but are heavy. Attention to detail and practicality are high, except for right-hand-drive foibles which are not user friendly. Our cars are built in Austria but to US standards. A great package but not without warts.
GOOD: Superb highway cruiser, fun to drive, responsive, versatile, solid and spacious. Shows up the similar-sized Tarago's shortcomings and advancing years. Magic carpet ride and crisp handling. Good luggage space with an even bigger model to come.
BAD: American finish quality is not the same as the Japanese. Penny-pinching omissions in the conversion to right-hand drive disappoint: handbrake, gearshift, wiper coverage and off-set centre bench seat are intended for left-hand operation. Children in the middle bench will tend to exit through the right hand door ... into the traffic. Air conditioning struggles to cool. Heavy on fuel in city running, poor headlights for rural driving.
TOYOTA TARAGO GLi
$45,400 (auto). Engine: 2.4 litre four.
Seats: 8. Child restraint anchors: 5
Zoom factor: 0-100 km/h in 13.9s.
Cup holders: 6.
Warranty: three years/100,000km
Fuel use: 11.0 litres/100km.
THE market leader for seven years, this family workhorse is a paragon of reliability. Roomy, comfortable mass transit with pleasant road manners and enough cargo space to swallow even holiday loads. The big Toyota is under threat from the Voyager, which has similar space, four hinged doors, better performance and loads more standard equipment. The Odyssey beats it hollow if refinement, low noise and nimbleness count. Toyota trim quality is down.
GOOD: Turn-key reliable, honest, practical, spacious, undemanding, flexible, middle-rung performance and fuel consumption, strong second-hand values.
BAD: Showing its age and the ravages of the once-strong Japanese yen. Chrysler has built a better mousetrap but not necessarily a longer-lasting one.
PECKING ORDER
1 Honda Odyssey (small, Chrysler Voyager (big)
2 Toyota Tarago
3 Mazda MPV
© 1997 Sun Herald
