Chevrolet isn't known for its minivans. Say that term and most people conjure up an image of the Dodge Caravan, Ford Windstar or maybe the Honda Odyssey. Not surprisingly, these models have all outsold the Venture in recent years, likely due to the fact that the Venture is a 5-year-old design with no major updates since its introduction in 1997 as a Lumina (minivan not sedan) replacement. The Lumina itself was an alternative to Chevy's first minivan entry, the Astro, a model that has proven far more resilient than it's truck-based, rear-drive chassis would suggest.
But as the bread-and-butter minivan entry from Chevrolet, the Venture, especially in Warner Bros. trim, offers more than you might assume from the "Chevy of minivans." For one thing, it's adorned with stylish, steel Warner Brothers emblems that recreate the familiar shape we often see at the beginning of our favorite movies...or cartoons. What those emblems denote on said Ventures is a headliner-mounted, flip-down LCD monitor attached to a video cassette player. The player is housed at the base of the center stack for easy driver and/or front passenger access, making it a breeze for Mom or Dad to swap tapes without unbuckling their seatbelts. Mounted just aft of the front seats, the wider-for-2001 6.8-inch LCD screen can be angled to adjust for optimum viewing by those in the second- and third-row seats, and image quality, despite the sunny conditions it was tested under, remained remarkably clear with little washout.
Additional features specific to the Warner Bros. model include body-colored bumper inserts and side moldings, comfort ride suspension tuning, and premium cloth seats with leather trim and leatherette door panels. Features you might expect on an upscale modern minivan, like separate climate and audio controls for rear passengers, removable second- and third-row seats, sliding rear doors (only the passenger side door is power) and remote keyless entry are also standard on the Venture WB Edition. Features you might not expect on the Chevy of minivans include park distance control to warn drivers of obstacles when reversing, wireless headphones that allow rear passengers to wallow in their favorite forms of entertainment without driving Mom crazy with the 20th rendition of Teletubbies Meet Mr. Rogers, and even an on-board air compressor to blow up those pool toys or inflate bicycle tires.
The Venture has seen subtle improvements since its 1997 introduction. So subtle, in fact, that many of its more impressive features may have slipped past the target buyer. In 1998 it was the first minivan to offer side airbags (Honda's Odyssey still doesn't offer this). That same year it also received reduced force front airbags to lessen the chance of injury to small stature adults. In '99 horsepower crept up by 5 to 185 while peak torque hit 210 foot-pounds. Then, for 2000, the interior was improved with higher quality materials and a redesigned gauge cluster; last year was also the first year for the Warner Bros. Edition.
The Venture's greatest strength has to be its drivetrain: a 3.4-liter V6 and four-speed automatic transmission that sends 185 horsepower to the front wheels. Though 185 horsepower doesn't sound like much compared to Honda's 210-horsepower Odyssey or Dodge's new 215-horsepower Grand Caravan, the telling figure is the Chevy's 210 foot-pounds of torque and 3,800-pound curb weight. Both the Honda and Dodge offer higher peak torque figures, but at 4,300 pounds for the Odyssey EX and 4,150 pounds for Grand Caravan Sport, the Venture is considerably lighter on its feet. This power-to-weight ratio translates into a brisk demeanor behind the wheel, especially with the Venture's responsive tranny that never misses a beat in terms of proper gear choice (something the Odyssey cannot boast). A 9.5-second zero-to-60 time puts the Venture a tenth of a second quicker than the last Odyssey we tested, and a tenth of a second slower than our last Windstar test vehicle.
Inside, we found the WB Edition of the Venture to be both luxurious and comfortable. Seats are large with effective side bolsters covered in leather; however, the elevated seat height and low glass, especially in the windshield area, gives the Venture a more upright, truck-like feel than many of its competitors. An editor's wife who spent time in the Venture noted that it didn't seem as car-like as her Honda minivan.
No doubt contributing to the Venture's industrial feel is a "semi-independent" torsion rear suspension that takes longer to recover from road irregularities than Honda's fully independent, double-wishbone rear suspension. Dodge's Caravan also uses a non-independent rear suspension, but the rear leaf springs and gas-pressurized shocks in that model still perform better over rough roads than the Chevy.
Other design traits with which we took issue included the lack of a stowable third-row seat (though this feature is available in other Venture models) and the cumbersome entry/exit process required for third-row access. With three bucket seats across the second row, you have to tilt the outside seats forward to get to the third row. However, the latching system that secures the second-row seats did not work smoothly when getting into the van, and when exiting the third-row area, passengers were forced to pull on a stubborn under-seat tether that even the burliest of staffers had trouble operating. We couldn't imagine a youngster getting it to work properly, though this problem may have been unique to our test vehicle.
We'd also like to see less spring tension in the rear liftgate to ease closing, and we were disappointed that the park distance control system on our model was inoperative. Repeated attempts to make the system engage, including a spotter who told us when we were getting too close to our garage wall, elicited no response from the system other than a constantly flashing red LED above the rear door; no change in rate of flash and no audible warning. Flipping the system's on/off switch, located in the overhead console, proved ineffective. Finally, we wish the doors were a bit more confidence inspiring. Every time we closed one, be it hinged or sliding, the entire vehicle shuddered like a traffic cop after his fourth Krispy Kreme. Body panel tolerances were also about as consistent as said traffic cop.
The widely accepted benchmark in this segment is Honda's Odyssey, followed closely by the redesigned Chrysler/Dodge minivans. Against these family-mover icons the Venture stacks up better than you might think. On pure features it beats the Odyssey, while the availability of a stowable third-row seat trumps the new Chryslers. Unfortunately, build quality and a wallowy ride hamper this otherwise capable conveyance. With a few tweaks to the Venture during its next redesign, however, and it could finally land dead center in the minivan wars...likely without ever having to wear the "Chevy of minivans" label.
But as the bread-and-butter minivan entry from Chevrolet, the Venture, especially in Warner Bros. trim, offers more than you might assume from the "Chevy of minivans." For one thing, it's adorned with stylish, steel Warner Brothers emblems that recreate the familiar shape we often see at the beginning of our favorite movies...or cartoons. What those emblems denote on said Ventures is a headliner-mounted, flip-down LCD monitor attached to a video cassette player. The player is housed at the base of the center stack for easy driver and/or front passenger access, making it a breeze for Mom or Dad to swap tapes without unbuckling their seatbelts. Mounted just aft of the front seats, the wider-for-2001 6.8-inch LCD screen can be angled to adjust for optimum viewing by those in the second- and third-row seats, and image quality, despite the sunny conditions it was tested under, remained remarkably clear with little washout.
Additional features specific to the Warner Bros. model include body-colored bumper inserts and side moldings, comfort ride suspension tuning, and premium cloth seats with leather trim and leatherette door panels. Features you might expect on an upscale modern minivan, like separate climate and audio controls for rear passengers, removable second- and third-row seats, sliding rear doors (only the passenger side door is power) and remote keyless entry are also standard on the Venture WB Edition. Features you might not expect on the Chevy of minivans include park distance control to warn drivers of obstacles when reversing, wireless headphones that allow rear passengers to wallow in their favorite forms of entertainment without driving Mom crazy with the 20th rendition of Teletubbies Meet Mr. Rogers, and even an on-board air compressor to blow up those pool toys or inflate bicycle tires.
The Venture has seen subtle improvements since its 1997 introduction. So subtle, in fact, that many of its more impressive features may have slipped past the target buyer. In 1998 it was the first minivan to offer side airbags (Honda's Odyssey still doesn't offer this). That same year it also received reduced force front airbags to lessen the chance of injury to small stature adults. In '99 horsepower crept up by 5 to 185 while peak torque hit 210 foot-pounds. Then, for 2000, the interior was improved with higher quality materials and a redesigned gauge cluster; last year was also the first year for the Warner Bros. Edition.
The Venture's greatest strength has to be its drivetrain: a 3.4-liter V6 and four-speed automatic transmission that sends 185 horsepower to the front wheels. Though 185 horsepower doesn't sound like much compared to Honda's 210-horsepower Odyssey or Dodge's new 215-horsepower Grand Caravan, the telling figure is the Chevy's 210 foot-pounds of torque and 3,800-pound curb weight. Both the Honda and Dodge offer higher peak torque figures, but at 4,300 pounds for the Odyssey EX and 4,150 pounds for Grand Caravan Sport, the Venture is considerably lighter on its feet. This power-to-weight ratio translates into a brisk demeanor behind the wheel, especially with the Venture's responsive tranny that never misses a beat in terms of proper gear choice (something the Odyssey cannot boast). A 9.5-second zero-to-60 time puts the Venture a tenth of a second quicker than the last Odyssey we tested, and a tenth of a second slower than our last Windstar test vehicle.
Inside, we found the WB Edition of the Venture to be both luxurious and comfortable. Seats are large with effective side bolsters covered in leather; however, the elevated seat height and low glass, especially in the windshield area, gives the Venture a more upright, truck-like feel than many of its competitors. An editor's wife who spent time in the Venture noted that it didn't seem as car-like as her Honda minivan.
No doubt contributing to the Venture's industrial feel is a "semi-independent" torsion rear suspension that takes longer to recover from road irregularities than Honda's fully independent, double-wishbone rear suspension. Dodge's Caravan also uses a non-independent rear suspension, but the rear leaf springs and gas-pressurized shocks in that model still perform better over rough roads than the Chevy.
Other design traits with which we took issue included the lack of a stowable third-row seat (though this feature is available in other Venture models) and the cumbersome entry/exit process required for third-row access. With three bucket seats across the second row, you have to tilt the outside seats forward to get to the third row. However, the latching system that secures the second-row seats did not work smoothly when getting into the van, and when exiting the third-row area, passengers were forced to pull on a stubborn under-seat tether that even the burliest of staffers had trouble operating. We couldn't imagine a youngster getting it to work properly, though this problem may have been unique to our test vehicle.
We'd also like to see less spring tension in the rear liftgate to ease closing, and we were disappointed that the park distance control system on our model was inoperative. Repeated attempts to make the system engage, including a spotter who told us when we were getting too close to our garage wall, elicited no response from the system other than a constantly flashing red LED above the rear door; no change in rate of flash and no audible warning. Flipping the system's on/off switch, located in the overhead console, proved ineffective. Finally, we wish the doors were a bit more confidence inspiring. Every time we closed one, be it hinged or sliding, the entire vehicle shuddered like a traffic cop after his fourth Krispy Kreme. Body panel tolerances were also about as consistent as said traffic cop.
The widely accepted benchmark in this segment is Honda's Odyssey, followed closely by the redesigned Chrysler/Dodge minivans. Against these family-mover icons the Venture stacks up better than you might think. On pure features it beats the Odyssey, while the availability of a stowable third-row seat trumps the new Chryslers. Unfortunately, build quality and a wallowy ride hamper this otherwise capable conveyance. With a few tweaks to the Venture during its next redesign, however, and it could finally land dead center in the minivan wars...likely without ever having to wear the "Chevy of minivans" label.
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