Distance: 99km
Location: Winnipeg
Date: December 10-11, 2022
Up front: It’s pretty shitty for an upmarket family van, but pretty good for a $40 a day rental. The fully-loaded model lacks a sunroof but has nappa leather-faced seating meaning that cloth is still used on the sides your body doesn’t touch. The colours of the plastic and metal panels don’t exactly match, but pay attention on the road and all the materials feel soft and comfortable.
The Apple CarPlay feature pairs seamlessly every time and the physical buttons are intuitive to use. The pedals could do with adjustment at the $66,000 price point, but the lumbar support is more adjustable than in the 300S. The only odd thing about the font seats is the fact that the fold-down armrest is half an inch higher than the door-mounted armrest.
In the back: I’ve spent two hours in the third row of a Pacifica and find it livable for moderate distances. The windows back there are large, there is a cup holder, and legroom is decent. Second row space is where it really shines with independent third-zone climate control and captain chairs. There isn’t as much side bolstering as in the front row, but the armrests are at exactly the same height.
Rear trunk space is excellent if you don’t need the third row. The high window height means you can stack things on top of each other and still maintain rear visibility. There’s also space on the floor between the two captain chairs for bags that need to be within easy access.
Driving: The traction control system on the all-wheel drive minivan is more competent that I imagined. The car managed to carve its way through a Manitoba winter despite only being on all-season tires. It’s not quick by any means, it’s designed to be a relaxing drive to calm your nerve when you have two screaming children in the rear. The constant pinging and ponging of the safety systems annoyed me, but it might be useful for tired parents, I just wish there was an easy way to turn it off at will.
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