'01 Dodge Grand Caravan ES vs. Honda Odyssey EX

Over the past nine years, I've logged almost 100,000 miles behind the wheel of dozens of minivans. These minivans have crossed mountain ranges and deserts, toured national parks and battlefields, visited ski slopes and ocean harbors, shuttled kids to soccer and baseball fields, and echoed with "are we there yet?" a gazillion times. I'm sure my children will fondly reminisce about our minivan vacations: "If he took us to one more defunct volcano, I was personally going to erupt!"

The most significant observation from my hard-earned experience: The minivan has undergone a rapid evolution from a rough-riding, rattley, Spartan penalty box to a comfortable-even luxurious-powerful, thoughtfully equipped long-distance people- (and stuff-) mover. This couldn't be better illustrated than by the Honda Odyssey EX and the almost-all-new '01 Dodge Grand Caravan SE. Both rival luxury cars and easily surpass SUVs in virtually every area (with the exception of off-road ability and towing capacity, of course).

Upon its introduction as a '99 model, we gave the Odyssey top marks for its potent 210-hp SOHC V-6, superior ride, expansive interior, impressive handling, affordable price, and long list of thoughtful features, the last led by its stowable third-row seat. Our summary: "It's faster, better, cheaper than the others for what you get, plus sets new performance and quality standards for a minivan." We had to degenerate deeply into nit-picking mode to find an areas where it fell notably behind the competition: hard to reach, second-row cupholders. Big deal.

Chrysler invented the modern minivan in the mid-'80s and maintains an impressive, nearly 50-percent sales grip on the segment. The 2000 model looks every bit as good as it did when introduced in '96, so the new one doesn't stray far from this design philosophy. Remember, too, that the Dodge/Chrysler/Plymouth-brand minis pioneered the now de facto use of double side-sliding doors. You know the company doesn't intend to give up its leadership position in this market by doing a half-baked remodel. So the question is: Can the Honda retain the top spot against the upgraded '01 Grand Caravan?

Our Odyssey tester was a 2000 model-a top-of-the-line EX Navi, equipped with a class-first GPS-based navigation system-with 15,000 miles on its odometer. Honda changes for '01 are minor: child-seat tethers, intermittent rear wiper, upgraded sound system, traction control standard on all models, and a new security system on EXes. Our Dodge was a preproduction '01 prototype with but 650 miles under its belt.

The Grand Caravan has been radically revised for '01 and-once again-enjoys several industry or minivan firsts: the two major ones being a power opening and closing rear liftgate and three-zone automatic temperate control. Another great new "first" is a lockable, illuminated center console, which not only features a power point and cell-phone holder, but can be placed either between the front or second row seats or removed entirely.

Also new is its new 50/50 split third-row seat. The trademark rollers are retained, but the seat can now be removed a manageable 55-lb half section at a time. Other new features include front-seat side airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, and energy-absorbing foam covering interior impact areas. The new Dodge gets more powerful headlights, rear disc brakes, improved steering gear, stiffer chassis, redesigned suspension mounting points, and power-operated dual side doors. Dodge's power side door strategy is much different from Honda's. Those unfamiliar with power doors often get into a wrestling match with the Honda's. In the same situation, the Dodge reverts to manual operation-a simple, if lowest-common denominator, solution. We liked the Honda strategy better, partially for how the Honda's door handle acts as a switch for its power doors and partially because we don't mind shouting, "Stop fighting the door!"