2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT vs. 2007 Honda Odyssey Touring

You've done your part in propagating the species and propping up the mortgage industry and your reward is...you get to drive a minivan. If so, you might as well drive the best minivan. And in our comparison test last year, we determined that the best in the class was the Honda Odyssey. But now there's an all-new 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan overstuffed with features to challenge for the coveted crown.

Coveted, that is, by the dwindling number of people who still want minivans. In the year 2000, more than 1.4 million minivans were sold in the United States. By 2006 that number had dropped to under a million. The crossover SUV has become so popular so quickly that it's now the default family transportation module for early 21st-century America — taking over for the minivan the same way the minivan superseded the station wagon during the '80s.

More critically for today's newly reborn Chrysler, its minivan sales were a limping 370,245 units in 2006 compared to their 538,807 peak way back in 1996, which was the last time Chrysler thoroughly redesigned its vans. That year the once-boxy Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country and Plymouth Voyager went elliptical. Let's see if going back to boxy works the same magic.

Back to the Box
Looking as much like a throwback to the original 1984 Caravan as it does a successor to the ovoid 2007 Grand Caravan, the new ultra-angular Grand Caravan is already a design classic on the order of the revolutionary Frigidaire Side-By-Side Refrigerator-Freezer.

Boxy as it is, there are some sweet elements to the Grand Caravan's design. Note how neatly the track for the side doors integrates with the bottom edge of the rear side windows. The flares around each wheel are well done and the whole nose has a nicely chiseled look. But it's the large glass area and thin pillars that pull off the greatest design trick with this new van — it looks smaller than it is.

Going into this test, we'd all have picked the bulkier-looking Honda as the larger van, but it's the Grand Caravan that's marginally larger, and in every exterior dimension. Its 121.2-inch wheelbase, 202.5-inch overall length, 78.7-inch width and 68.9-inch height are all greater than the Honda's measurements.

Still, it's the Honda that holds a slight advantage in interior space. But both these vans easily accommodate seven comfortably with room enough for their stuff. If you need more room, look at articulated buses.

Bigger Engine for a Bigger Box
Unlike the Honda, Dodge offers a choice of three engines. Returning from the previous-generation van are the base 3.3-liter iron-block 12-valve V6 rated at 175 horsepower (running on either gasoline or E85) and a 3.8-liter version of that same engine making 197 hp.

The new 4.0-liter engine, as in our loaded Grand Caravan SXT test vehicle, is the largest ever offered in a Chrysler minivan. It's an all-aluminum single-overhead-cam 24-valve V6 rated at a robust 251 hp. That's 7 more than the 3.5-liter all-aluminum SOHC 24-valve VTEC V6 used in all 2007 Odysseys, including the tested top-of-the-line Touring model. Honda includes its first-generation Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) system — the engine runs on either six or three cylinders depending upon load — on the engines in the Odyssey Touring and EX-L models.

The Dodge also makes more peak torque (259 vs. 240 pound-feet) than the Honda, and that advantage is maximized by the van's new six-speed automatic transmission, which incorporates the AutoStick manual shifting system. The Odyssey sticks with Honda's five-speed automatic. Both vans are front-wheel drive.

Despite the Dodge weighing 40 pounds more than the Honda, it scoots to 60 mph in just 8.2 seconds. That's a full second quicker than the Odyssey and it makes the Grand Caravan SXT the quickest minivan we've ever tested. Combine that with a swift 16.3 seconds at an 85-mph performance in the quarter-mile (safely ahead of the Honda's 16.8 seconds at 83 mph run) and the big-engine Grand Caravan is the new rocket ship among minivans.

But there is a slight price to pay at the pump. The EPA rates the 4.0-liter Grand Caravan SXT at 16 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway (by 2008 standards). The Odyssey is rated at 17 mpg city and 24 mpg highway (with 2007 ratings converted to 2008 standards).

Back to the Basics
Although the sheet metal covering the Grand Caravan is new, the basic chassis and suspension are strictly conventional. The front end is still held up by a simple pair of MacPherson struts, as is the Odyssey's, but its rear end is still a solid twist beam axle on coil springs. It would have been nice if the Dodge had a supple double-wishbone independent rear suspension like the Odyssey.

And it's in chassis refinement and driving feel where the Odyssey shines. The Honda's steering is easily the best of any minivan, with a sweet linear feel and amazingly quick reactions. That's despite the fact that the test machine ran on Michelin's weird P235/710R460A Pax run-flat tires. (The metric wheel dimensions round out to just about 17.5-by-7.0 inches.)

In contrast, the Dodge takes its time responding to steering inputs — you steer, wait a beat, and only then does the van yaw into a turn. There's a numbness to the Grand Caravan's steering that appears the harder the vehicle is pushed, whether the stability control is on or not. The P225/65R17 Bridgestone Turanza EL400 tires are quiet, but adhesively unremarkable.

A Driver's Minivan?
At the test track the Honda kicked butt, pulling 0.76g on the skid pad compared to the Dodge's 0.71g and traipsed through the slalom at 60.3 mph compared to the Dodge's 56.2 mph. Neither is going to give a Lotus Elise a run for its money, but if there's such a thing as a "driver's minivan," the Odyssey is it.

It also rides better.

The Odyssey's ride is composed and recovers nicely from any sort of upheaval. The Grand Caravan isn't bad, but there's more impact harshness over larger pavement cracks, and recovery after a disruption takes longer. In sum, the Dodge doesn't feel as substantial or refined as the Honda — which is only exaggerated by the cheap feel of controls like the steering wheel and transmission shifter.

In our 60-mph-to-0 braking test, the results were close, 131 feet for the Honda and 134 feet for the Dodge, but the Honda's firm pedal was preferred over the Caravan's, which alarmingly traveled all the way to the floor on every run.

Not So Basic Features
Today's basic minivan formula has to include the option of power-sliding side doors with roll-down windows, a power-operated rear hatch, a disappearing third-row seat and enough drink holders to cradle a case worth of juice boxes. Both the Grand Caravan and Odyssey have those covered.

But the Grand Caravan sets a new standard, so to speak, for available optional features. Among them are dual individually controlled video monitor screens, Sirius satellite television (the kids will never have to risk looking out the windows), a power-operated split third-row seat, the transcendent hard drive-based "MyGIG" CD/DVD/HDD/MPS entertainment and navigation system and a unique choice between "Stow 'n Go" second-row seats that fold flat into the floor and new "Swivel 'n Go" second-row seats that can be positioned facing forward or backward.

The test Grand Caravan had the Swivel 'n Go seats aboard and when they're turned around to face backward, and the slightly clumsy table is installed, the result is somewhere between a conversation pit and the dining area in an old VW Westfalia camper. When facing backward, the second-row seats compromise the ability of the front seats to recline, but that's a reasonable compromise. And the relatively large floor wells for the Stow 'n Go seats are still aboard and accessible as hidden storage. They're also much easier to use than the lazy Susan under-floor storage in the Odyssey.

Our Dodge was also equipped with a power-folding third-row seat, which is not offered on the Honda. It takes far longer to operate than the manual seat in the Odyssey but takes less muscle. The Honda, on the other hand, had a sunroof, while the tested Caravan's ceiling was taken up by its odd overhead console and multiple video screens (a sunroof is optional).

The Question of Quality
The LED lighting throughout the Grand Caravan's interior and the aircraftlike halo lighting from its center console is unique, but it's sure to remind more than a few moms of their last limo ride. And what a bachelorette party it was.

The Dodge's controls are logically laid out and easily accessible, although most surfaces feel cheap to the touch. There's a scattershot character to the Odyssey's control placement, but every switch and every surface feels well made. There's no denying the Honda feels better assembled, plus its navigation system proved to be easier to program and its screen is larger.

We also give the seat comfort crown to the Honda. Both vans were subjected to family road trips during their stay with us, and the Honda's driver seat was voted to be more comfortable over the long haul.

And then there's price. Some careful excision of the Grand Caravan's more lavish options would bring the prices closer together, but the Dodge's $39,305 as-tested sticker is a thick $3,815 more than the Honda's $35,490 bottom line.

One Winner, but It's Close
Dodge has built its best minivan ever in the new Grand Caravan. It's quick, comfortable, innovative. And with so many versions and so many options it's sure to deliver exactly what so many buyers are looking for. It's clearly...the second-best van on the market.

The Honda Odyssey, however, is still the best of the breed, and the best for breeders. It's quiet, beautifully finished and well equipped. It also handles better than some sedans and is the only minivan that could be considered a driver's car. It's the one Dad can drive without feeling like Mom.

And it's bound to get even better. For 2008 the Odyssey will receive a long list of revisions, including the adoption of Honda's second generation VCM cylinder cutoff system to improve fuel mileage. And the rest of minivandom continues to play catch-up.

The manufacturers provided Edmunds these vehicles for the purposes of evaluation.