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Why mini vans are cool. post your top ten list!

S

STARFISH

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Oregon, Eugene
This thread is for you guys out there who haven't driven a newer mini van.

Top ten reasons my mom's mini van rocks!

10. Smuggling compartments are a factory option.
9. It makes you look far more responsible than you actually are.
8. 25mpg out of a 3.8l auto! Lets see a 07-11 JK do that!
7. FWD, automatic, skinny tires and 200+ HP. Burnouts made easy!
6. You can drive as drunk, umm I mean slow as you want and people think it's normal. "I finally found that (single) valid reason to own a Toyota Prius!"
5. More than enough room in the back for five 33' tires and your dog.
4. They save you money on motel rooms. Remove that six-pack of champagne from the smuggler's compartment and fold thous seats down.
3.They really do work better off road than a Compass, Liberty or Patriot.
2. Dual sliding doors allow simultaneous public buttocks exposure and mailbox bashing on opposite sides of the vehicle.
1. Most of all though it makes you appreciate your stinky, slow, old, noisy, rough riding and just downright beautiful Classic Jeep Cherokee.


Please note I never actually did anything on that list. Oh and if you own a Compass, Liberty or Patriot. I'm sorry!!! BUT.... really you still shouldn't of bought it.
 
Don't know about the off road thing as we have yet to "wheel" it or own one of those other so called "Jeeps", but that first list describes my parent's '06 Town and Country to a T! It could have more umph for when they go to Branson (it still weights around 4400lbs and that 3.8 doesn't breath above 4k any better than our 4.0l's) though.
 
Here is my minivan, or at least it used to be. Sold it ablout 10 years ago. I lowered the front with drop spindles, and converted the rear to a Type 1 IRS trans which also lowered the rear. I built a 1776cc Type 1 engine with ported big valve heads, quad 48mm throttle bodies and port fuel injection with an 1 1/2" merged header into a stinger exhaust with a supertrapp baffle. The trans was built with 4:37 gearing and a Superdiff. It ran on 15" Empi 5 spoke wheels with 195/45R15 Yokohama AVS Intermediate tires. This is what I call a minivan!

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I have to admit that minivans are pretty awesome.

My ex-wife and I had one that I know for a fact will cruise from Chattanooga to the Atlanta airport at near or over 100 mph the entire way, in summer heat, without over heating. Go ahead flame away, I was 11 years younger and dumber when I did it.

That was one of the old school Dodge Caravans. That thing was a tank.
 
Meh.

The only minivan I actually like is the old GM Astro/Safari.

- Useful V6 engine avaialble (the V6-262)
- Rear-Wheel Drive
- Four-Wheel-Drive version available
- Useful three-panel rear door
- Cargo/work van conversion common, which is easier to refit.

If I get a minivan, it's not for hauling around kids. I either want a work truck, travel rig, or general utility sort of thing - and no FWD fulfills that as well as I'd like it to (servicing most of FWD more in-depth than a tuneup or accessory replacement is a pain. And, reconfiguring FWD doesn't happen. You want LSD in a RWD? Put it in! You want to regear? Go ahead! I dare you to do that with the typical FWD...)
 
For Travel you can't beat one. I'll never have one for myself but I guess if I find a lady and have kids i'd consider one. I'm still on the fence about the whole kid thing.
 
I loved my mini when I was in high school I could haul my buddies our girls and park out back for emergeny keg removal at parties when cops showed up out front.

of course when we were short on girls wed drive the jeep wrangler around to meet 'em. Then come back for em with the van for the parties.

it was faster than it looked and I remember dukes of hazzarding the thing like 4 or 5 feet in the air at a spot we all used to go jump back then .. (when I was 16 so a long time ago)

it's a rolling bedroom for that private time too !
 
5-90 said:
The only minivan I actually like is the old GM Astro/Safari.
Click to expand...
'Saw an AWD Safari on the beach op in Oregon. The guys/girls/family that owned it(probably a guy) had left it parked on the beach, rear doors open, to go play in the ocean.
Nicely done, semi-custom interior, tasteful shades of grey, 4 high-back buckets. Small lift, BFG-ATs on stock rims. Probably the coolest modern beach toy I've seen.
 
I just ran across this yesterday after hearing that the test fleet has been recalled for battery upgrades.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2012/04/chrysler-20120426.html

Considering how the standard Pentastar equipped Minivan runs on regular pump gas and my 200 Touring with the same drivetrain runs on E-85, that van should completely incinerate the front tires if the Engine is burning E-85 and Electric Motor(s) with a full charge on the pack and unleash their full power against them!
 
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