2015 Chrysler Town & Country: As Sophisticated as a Minivan Can Get

At the top of the minivan food chain is found the Chrysler Town & Country to offer owners a more complete driving experience. Offering amenities that are not found in competitors such as the Honda Odyssey and certainly outdoes its own much plainer sibling the Dodge Grand Caravan the Town & Country has offered the sophistication and upgraded features for decades making it one of the only luxury minivans on the market. The Town & Country offers very easy passenger loading and roominess that make it simple to load with people or cargo but adds a great deal of creature comforts to make the drive even more fun.

For 2015 the Chrysler Town & Country adds two additional trims to the lineup to give a total of six trim levels that can be had for this minivan. These two new trim levels are a new base LX model and a new Limited Platinum model at the top of the line to offer a very loaded up version. With the new LX model starting just under $31,000 the Town & Country is a very well-equipped minivan even in the base model.

Driving the Chrysler Town & Country offers a very smooth and comfortable ride. As one of the only premium minivans on the market today this model has done very well and offers a great deal of enjoyment when driving. The suspension is highly-engineered to give the comfortable ride and the steering system is very responsive to allow owners to enjoy the drive on almost any road under variable conditions. Chrysler even went so far as to ensure the Town & Country offers a very quiet and enjoyable cabin to ensure a conversation can be had for all three rows of seating in the minivan.

Under the hood is one engine for the Town & Country, but it is a very well-engineered and designed engine that shows off with some of the best power of any minivan in the industry. This power comes from the Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 engine that resides in the engine compartment offering a strong 283 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that shows up with 17 city/25 hwy mpg when fueled by gasoline and 12 city/18 hwy mpg when fueled by E85 ethanol. The van can be equipped with a towing package that offers up to 3,600 pounds of towing capacity to allow owners to take gear and cargo where they need to whether it is home for a weekend work project or to the lake or campsite for a weekend of fun.

According to Portland Chrysler, the Town & Country has an interior that shows off as an almost luxury van. With seating for seven across the three rows, the second row is a pair of very comfortable captain’s chairs and the third row is a three-passenger bench. The Stow ‘n Go system is present in both of the rear rows to allow the seats to disappear flat into the floor and offer a ton of great cargo space for larger loads of materials to be brought home. To create the premium feel of this minivan very soft materials are found on many of the surfaces including leather upholstery on the first two rows of seating. Chrysler really thought of lots of possibilities including having a third row that can be turned around for tailgating at a favorite sporting event. The instrumentation of the front of the van offers the driver the ability to be well-informed of everything going on under the hood of the van.

The outside of the Town & Country offers a design and feel of a high end vehicle even though the look is pretty much the same as it has been for a very long time. Even in a time when other automakers show off with a great deal of design and interesting flair, the Town & Country still shows up as a fantastic minivan for anyone to enjoy in style and comfort. The exterior is adorned with lots of chrome on the body and around the grill including black chrome on the S version of the minivan. To add some assistance, power sliding doors and a power liftgate are in place to save some arm work.

For the Town & Country minivan the standard features offered are more like those on a higher end vehicle. These features start on the base LX model include power operate side and rear doors, leather upholstery on the first and second row, a hard-drive entertainment system with a 6.5-inch touch screen, Bluetooth wireless connectivity, tri-zone air conditioning, a rearview camera, an HDMI port that allows gaming systems and tablets to be connected and used and a five-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty with roadside assistance.

The optional features offered on the Town & Country span the rest of the different trim levels to be enjoyed by any owners. These features include a navigation system, a power sunroof, Wi-Fi hot-spot internet access, an upgraded rear-seat entertainment system with a third row screen and Blu-ray player, heated first and second rows of seats, HID headlights, power folding third row of seats, a heated steering wheel, blind-spot monitoring and the ParkSense rear parking assistance system. All these additional features make the Town & Country one of the most feature laden minivans on the market today.

Starting with the base LX model, the pricing begins just under $31,000. At the other end of the spectrum the loaded Limited Platinum model heads up past the $43,000 price point. This gives room for the other four different trim levels to fit in between and offer a selection of equipment that helps to give the Town & Country a very enjoyable feel and drive anywhere it goes. The Town & Country makes a great choice for any family looking for a premium level minivan to enjoy lots of possibilities for travel and enjoyment away from home.