New Chrysler Road Tripper minivan revealed

2554 Views 22 Replies 15 Participants Last post by Upinottawa, 6 mo ago

ThisSuckersElectrical

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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tturkstra

· #10 · 7 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.

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tturkstra

· #19 · 7 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.

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tturkstra

· #21 · 6 mo ago

VelvetRedAWD said:
What kind of mpgs did you record on your trips?

That was in 2018 so I can't remember the #'s. I just used the computer fuel economy readings in ICE mode at a few speeds. I find the fuel economy is largely dependent on highway velocity. Wind resistance is proportional to velocity squared, so 20% faster = 44 % more fuel used but 20% less time, so 20 % worse fuel economy overall. I concentrate on passenger smoothness and we don't have many traffic jams where I drive. Last trip I did averaged 7.2 l/100k (31 MPG US I think) & one before that was 6.8.

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