New Chrysler Road Tripper minivan revealed

2538 Views 22 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Upinottawa, 6 mo ago

ThisSuckersElectrical

Discussion Starter · 7 mo ago (Edited)

5

This is a hard pass downgrade for me. I'll stick with my Pinnacle. No thanks Stellantis, you take away roof racks on lower trims and now bring them back with black and orange branding "Road Tripper"?

"Road Tripper"

Guess the Pinnacle or any other trims are not worthy of travel now.

New Chrysler Road Tripper minivan revealed

Trying to bring a Dodge look into the Chrysler line....

Hood Automotive tire Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive design

Wonder if they are going to start bringing back all the other ridiculous trim levels and add this one too. Pacifica L, Pacifica LX, Pacifica Touring, Pacifica Touring L, Pacifica Touring L 35th Anniversary, Pacifica Touring L Plus, Pacifica Touring L Plus 35th Anniversary, Pacifica S, Pacifica Limited, Pacifica Limited 35th Anniversary, Pacifica Limited Red S, Pacifica Pinnacle. Did I miss one? Probably...

Then scaled back to Chrysler Voyager for the L and LX. Pacifica Touring and Touring L, Pacifica S, Pacifica Limited, Pacifica Limited Red S, Pacifica Pinnacle.

Marketing department: We made a mistake by removing roof rails from lower trims and it has hurt sales. We need to figure out a way to sell lower trim levels to compete with the competition and boost sales. Let's add roof racks back and throw a black and orange sticker on the door that says"Road Tripper" and make the Chrysler logo on the wheels black and orange.

Marketing department:

Actual Pacifica owners that roof racks were removed and prospective buyers:

5% Actual Pacifica owners and prospective buyers that like the name and black and orange branding:

The smart thing would have been to make this "Road Tripper" the new Dodge Grand Caravan line from the Voyager trims and have placement in the Dodge branding at lower entry prices than Chrysler as it has been for decades. There are a lot of families having a hard time right now looking for lower-priced vehicles. I'm just a consumer what do I know about marketing?

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Reactions: 3

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

CANADAHYBRIDGUY

· #2 · 7 mo ago

Hard pass , yawn …

Reactions: 2

stop-eject

· #3 · 7 mo ago

In many Eastern European languages "tripper" means gonorrhea. And I thought that the marketing department would check for things like that. This is not something you want to pick on the road

Reactions: 2

Melkays

· #4 · 7 mo ago

One article said that the name "Road Tripper" was voted for on Chrysler's Twitter and Instagram pages. Does anybody know what the other name options were? They must have been really bad if Road Tripper won.

Reactions: 1

Jerith

· #5 · 7 mo ago

SRT though and though.
Stickers, Rims, Tires...... and a roof rack.
My family uses a multi-bike unit off the rear hitch of the van. Has a half-fold setting you can still open the liftgate without removing the system. Reese maybe?
Road Tripper reminds me too much of Tipper Gore. Weird word association.

CANADAHYBRIDGUY

· #6 · 7 mo ago

Jerith said:
SRT though and though.
Stickers, Rims, Tires...... and a roof rack.
My family uses a multi-bike unit off the rear hitch of the van. Has a half-fold setting you can still open the liftgate without removing the system. Reese maybe?
Road Tripper reminds me too much of Tipper Gore. Weird word association.

Yeah , when you go to the parts bin and come up empty so you put stickers on it .

Reactions: 2

Ltortu

· #7 · 7 mo ago

AND IT'S $2,400!! WTH? I can't think of a single positive for this overpriced package.

Reactions: 2

Landshark

· #8 · 7 mo ago

I'm confused. They removed the roof rails from the current PACHY, then put them back on and call it a whole new trim "Road Tripper"?

CANADAHYBRIDGUY

· #9 · 7 mo ago

If you overthink it you’ll only confuse yourself more . Def It’s a sad day when you name a trim “road tripper” and throw on a few stickers ,lol.

Reactions: 2

tturkstra

· #10 · 6 mo ago (Edited)

How much is it to just add the roof rack on it's own? I remember reading an installation manual for it when I was looking to fix the rack that came stock on mine.

Actual road trippers will not be interested in the 20" rims and the lost ride quality. My dad has the 20" wheels and there is a noticeable difference when I switch vehicles, but maybe his stock OEM tires aren't great. We both like the ride quality better with his snow tires on 17" rims.

VelvetRedAWD

· #11 · 6 mo ago

Wish my Pacifica didn’t come with a stupid roof rack. Looks dumb and hurts mpgs on the highway. Ruins the clean lines.
Just my opinion. Roast me if you wish!

Waldo

· #12 · 6 mo ago

tturkstra said:
How much is it to just add the roof rack on it's own? I remember reading an installation manual for it when I was looking to fix the rack that came stock on mine.

Actual road trippers will not be interested in the 20" rims and the lost ride quality.

I have 20" wheels on my 2018, and the ride quality is excellent.

Reactions: 1

Waldo

· #13 · 6 mo ago

VelvetRedAWD said:
Wish my Pacifica didn’t come with a stupid roof rack. Looks dumb and hurts mpgs on the highway. Ruins the clean lines.
Just my opinion. Roast me if you wish!

I agree about the roof rack. It is useless to me. I have never used mine.

However, the posts here suggest that you only get a roof rack and decals for the gas Road Tripper package. It actually includes an updated roof rack, trailer tow package, and 20" shaded wheels, all weather floor mats, as well as the decorations. The tow package and wheels account for $1700 of the price, the $700 balance is pretty standard for decoration packages.

Reactions: 1

minivangogh

· #14 · 6 mo ago

The orange “Road Tripper” badging on the side is ugly but I have to admit the orange and black Chrysler logo looks pretty slick. I’d swap out my grill badge for one of these if I could get my hands on one.

Automotive parking light Car Vehicle Grille Automotive lighting

On another note, here’s a nails-on-chalkboard video about the Road Tripper. I challenge you to watch it to the end without screaming at your device. (You’ll see what I mean pretty quickly. 😂)

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Bond007

· #15 · 6 mo ago

VelvetRedAWD said:
Wish my Pacifica didn’t come with a stupid roof rack. Looks dumb and hurts mpgs on the highway. Ruins the clean lines.
Just my opinion. Roast me if you wish!

I get all the talk about aesthetics however many prefer the opposite to your suggestion, but first time I’m hearing that these hurt the mpgs. I can understand if the crossbars are deployed, but otherwise the rails themselves are pretty aerodynamic in my opinion and unlikely to cause any significant drag. Thoughts?

Reactions: 2

ThisSuckersElectrical

Discussion Starter · #16 · 6 mo ago

minivangogh said:
The orange “Road Tripper” badging on the side is ugly but I have to admit the orange and black Chrysler logo looks pretty slick. I’d swap out my grill badge for one of these if I could get my hands on one.

View attachment 51711

On another note, here’s a nails-on-chalkboard video about the Road Tripper. I challenge you to watch it to the end without screaming at your device. (You’ll see what I mean pretty quickly. 😂)

Man, that guy in the video narrating was annoying—nothing like reading from a script and not knowing anything about what you are actually reviewing. This is just as annoying as the reviews of the Pacifica hybrid with people saying it has a "CVT".

Open mouth, insert foot.

VelvetRedAWD

· #17 · 6 mo ago

Bond007 said:
I get all the talk about aesthetics however many prefer the opposite to your suggestion, but first time I’m hearing that these hurt the mpgs. I can understand if the crossbars are deployed, but otherwise the rails themselves are pretty aerodynamic in my opinion and unlikely to cause any significant drag. Thoughts?

Well, I worked 37 years for Chrysler and everything makes a difference.
Any type of crosswind will catch the inner sides of the roof rails.
In a perfect world, the wind would always be at your back! Lol.

Reactions: 1

Van Gogh Van Gone

· #18 · 6 mo ago

get back to me when we get a hellcat or a demon

Reactions: 1

tturkstra

· #19 · 6 mo ago

VelvetRedAWD said:
Well, I worked 37 years for Chrysler and everything makes a difference.
Any type of crosswind will catch the inner sides of the roof rails.
In a perfect world, the wind would always be at your back! Lol.

True, everything makes a difference, but not necessarily a significant or noticeable one. Wind resistance affects fuel economy at higher speeds, where the apparent wind vector will usually be mostly back, unless you're driving in a hurricane, so it's hard for me to imagine crosswinds on a roof rack affecting fuel economy. (15 MPH cross wind at 70 MPH = apparent wind angle of only 12 degrees.) Headwinds or tailwinds - yes.

I have a super-efficient Yakima roof box, advertised to have little effect on fuel economy. I tracked my fuel economy on several trips, with and without the box. I couldn't measure a difference in my fuel economy with that change, so it's hard for me to imagine that those roof rails without the crossbars deployed would significantly affect fuel economy.

I can understand the esthetics perceptions, but I myself prefer it with the roof rack, the chrome not as much as the S package. I'm calling it cost-cutting on Chrysler's part.

Reactions: 1

VelvetRedAWD

· #20 · 6 mo ago

tturkstra said:
True, everything makes a difference, but not necessarily a significant or noticeable one. Wind resistance affects fuel economy at higher speeds, where the apparent wind vector will usually be mostly back, unless you're driving in a hurricane, so it's hard for me to imagine crosswinds on a roof rack affecting fuel economy. (15 MPH cross wind at 70 MPH = apparent wind angle of only 12 degrees.) Headwinds or tailwinds - yes.

I have a super-efficient Yakima roof box, advertised to have little effect on fuel economy. I tracked my fuel economy on several trips, with and without the box. I couldn't measure a difference in my fuel economy with that change, so it's hard for me to imagine that those roof rails without the crossbars deployed would significantly affect fuel economy.

I can understand the esthetics perceptions, but I myself prefer it with the roof rack, the chrome not as much as the S package. I'm calling it cost-cutting on Chrysler's part.

What kind of mpgs did you record on your trips?

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