East Tawas — The best way to go up north is in a minivan.
Sure, there may be cooler cars, faster SUVs and much more stylish vehicles, but a minivan gets the job done like no other. And the king of Michigan minivans is the 2009 Chrysler Town and Country — it’s an anointment by default since Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. dumped their minivan business.
A Town and Country makes any trip into Michigan’s hinterlands easier because it basically becomes a giant cargo hauler. It’s the Pods of vehicles. The Stow ‘n Go seats fold up perfectly into the floor, the third row disappears at the touch of a button and the low floor makes loading the Town and Country easy to cram with stuff.
See, this was my first family foray up to Michigan’s land of endless pie and glacial cold lakes, and I had no idea how much we would need. Between my wife and my dog, we loaded up half of our house — just in case. But the Town and Country gobbled everything up — coolers, dog cage, golf clubs, groceries, luggage, beach gear, rain gear and everything else in between — and still left room to spare.
Fully loaded, the Town and Country still offered a great ride.
The 4-liter V-6 gave us plenty of highway power so the trip to East Tawas took a little less time than it should have. It provides 251 horsepower and 259 pound-feet of torque, more than enough to keep the minivan moving along. Pickup was never overwhelming, but it is a minivan. You could, however, spin the front tires if you gunned it really hard.
But that won’t help your gas mileage, an impressive 17 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway. I managed 22 mpg overall. Chrysler was able to add 1 mpg to the minivan’s city driving and 2 mpg to its highway performance by retuning its six-speed automatic transmission. The calibration changes are hardly noticeable and the gearbox remains quick and silky.
Additionally, the independent suspension and 121.2-inch wheelbase gave us a smooth ride. Really, it glides along nicely on the highway or around town. The body will roll heavily on quick turns, but once again, it’s a minivan; enjoy the ride. You’re driving a 4,600 pound chunk of iron; it’s not a sports car. Loads of storage, cup holders
We cruised along Route 23 listening to the stereo, seated in those extremely comfortable, albeit slightly squishy, leather captain’s chairs. The sliding center console remained loaded down with water bottles and coffee cups, and my wife’s purse fit nicely in one of the storage bins.
The upgraded console actually slides rearward 21 inches, allowing someone to put things in the cup holders and then slide it back to the second row. We didn’t use this feature because our dog tends to get jittery when he drinks too much coffee.
There are cubbies and storage spots throughout the cabin ranging from the dual glove boxes to 13 cup and bottle holders.
There are other nice interior features. There’s the optional Sirius Backseat TV, which pipes in the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network Mobile and Nickelodeon Mobile. The Cartoon Network came in handy one day when we were waiting for the weather to clear before taking a boat ride to Charity Island. As rain poured and the wind stirred up Lake Huron, we sat comfortably in the back watching Sponge Bob Square Pants.
There are two DVD screens so the back passengers can watch two different things. Actually, you could plug in an X-Box 360 into one and play a DVD in the other if you want. Both include wireless headsets and a remote control. (Nothing silences noisy backseat passengers like a television set.)
The second-row 115-volt outlet also turned out to be a handy feature. Before heading out to visit the Tawas Point Lighthouse, we noticed our digital camera’s battery was dead. We just plugged it into the outlet and charged it on the way.
My test model included the 506-watt stereo system, which is more wattage than most people need. Vacation tunes remained at full blast and drowned out any worries of the daily grind.
The MyGig infotainment system controls CDs, DVDs, Mp3s, satellite radio and navigation systems. The nav system worked very well in unfamiliar terrain and always got us to our destination.
When we wanted to play golf, we just clicked on Points of Interest, typed in golf and all of the courses in the area were listed in order of distance. We selected Red Hawk Golf Club and pushed one more button to get directions. It couldn’t get any easier.
The USB connection to the stereo did not work very well with my iPhone, however. But I still managed to somehow keep my phone charged. Both the USB connection and auxiliary jack are mounted on the stereo. It would be better to move those connections into the center console so the devices can stay out of sight. Eliminating the blind spot
A few other features I found very handy. First, while the lines of sight are pretty good, the blind spot detection was a nice addition and worked great. The system uses radar off the back to spot vehicles in the blind spot. It beeps if you click on your turn signal and attempt to move into that direction or drift in that direction. A little yellow dot also appears on your outside mirror if a vehicle is shadowing you. It’s a feature that makes highway driving much easier.
The system also checks for blind spots when backing out of a parking space and warns you if someone is heading your way.
I was less impressed with the UConnect system. This allows for a Bluetooth phone connection, which works very well. However, I ran into trouble using the voice operation. Often, UConnect couldn’t recognize my voice commands and left me grabbing my phone and dialing manually. Hopefully, this system will improve in the future.
When the 2008 Town and Country arrived, it debuted the optional Swivel ‘n Go seats — which allow second-row passengers to turn their captain chairs to face the rear of the minivan and then prop up a little table between them. It’s a theory that looks good on paper but simply does not compare to the Stow ‘n Go seats — the best feature ever created for minivans.
Now, some people believe minivans are living on borrowed time, but I think their death has been greatly overstated. The pure functionality of minivans means they will continue to have a long life serving families for years to come.
East Tawas also suggests minivans will be around for a while. Everyone was driving one. Whether natives or tourists, there seemed be a minivan in everyone’s driveway. People want to be worry-free on vacation, and the Chrysler Town and Country was perfect at removing all the stress.
And as our vacation ended, we packed up the Town and Country and then bought an antique stain glass door. It easily fit in the back — even with all of our other stuff — and the ride home was just as smooth.
sburgess@detnews.com (313) 223-3217
