Published:
18 April 2012The Grand Voyager is about luxury. But here, in part, it fails. Some – most – of the dashboard’s plastics are well short of the class standard. In its favour, there are fewer plastics to get upset about in the back, where it has heated seats, climate control and near-silent electric sliding doors and tailgate. This is a superb executive taxi in the making.
The Grand Voyager’s floorpan has been carried over from the old model because the Stow ’n’ Go seating system that sits within it gives unrivalled practicality in this class.
Typically for a big MPV, there are three rows of seats. But, atypically, the centre row seats just two, in separate large chairs, and it’s the third row that seats three. The centre row’s chairs are larger and more comfortable than you would reasonably expect. The third row of seating is smaller and light on shoulder room for three, but is otherwise spacious enough.
The clever bit, though, is how the seats fold. The front pair (electrically operated) need to be pushed to their foremost position, but from there it’s a fairly straightforward job to fold the rearmost five seats flat into the cabin floor. The rear bench splits one-third/two-thirds. And then you have a van with 3296 litres of luggage volume.
What the Grand Voyager cannot do, however, is offer a cabin ambience to match that of its rivals, and fit and finish, although improved and entirely adequate, are still short of the class best. But there’s no arguing with the Chrysler’s interior room or the usefulness of its sliding doors.
