Minivan or SUV?

[burritos]

MSooner wrote:

Count me among those that swore I’d never drive a minivan and now I love it to death. The automatic sliding doors are amazing. I can get in and buckle up little people without killing myself. It’s heavenly on road trips.

We have an Odyssey. It’s great. Previously we had a VW Routan, and I actually really liked the van itself, but it had horrific maintenance issues.

FWIW, I’ve driven larger cars (Suburban, 15 seater church van–thanks Dad) and the SUV crossover equivalent (Chevy Traverse) and it’s no contest.

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Yep sliding doors are awesome. Sometimes when we carry the whole load with the grandparents who are completely tech/gadget illiterate, opening the door for them from the driver's seat or with the fob at a distance is always an amazement to them compared to their borderline rickshaw days.

[Craigy]

Definitely SUV.  Preferable a large, body-on-frame SUV, small bonus if it's a luxury brand.  Safest place to be on the road.

But yeah, it's tougher to use the 3rd row in an SUV, especially these small crossover SUVs which aren't really SUVs.

A lot of people comparing SUVs to minivans are comparing smaller crossovers to minivans.  No contest. But talking about a big SUV vs minivan, the SUV starts to make a lot more sense.

 

[medman2k1]

Craigy,

You are wrong.

I urge you to find a woman who is 5’3” and have them put
a 25lb infant in a Escalade vs Tahoe.

Then ask the simple question....Which vehicle was easier to
get the infant in and out of.....

I have the Pacifica and get a flat load floor fairly easily.
No full size SUV can do that.

The only place a full size SUV is better is luxury. No doubt
a Escalade platinum is way more “luxurious” than my Pacifica limited

[NaOH]

The correct answer is clearly a wagon.

Beyond that... I have zero need for either a minivan or an SUV, but a Honda Odyssey is a fine vehicle. Get one in black with nice wheels and it's even pretty slick looking.

[VagabondMD]

My heart says SUV, but my brain says minivan. I usually follow my heart.

[Side Hustle Scrubs]

After the third kid arrived I finally accepted that a 2 door Jeep Wrangler wasn’t going to cut it. A 2 door Wrangler has enough trunk space for 1 diaper and 1 Cheerio. So I did what any responsible father would do - I bought a 4 door Jeep Wrangler.

[Craigy]

medman2k1 wrote:

Craigy,

You are wrong.

I urge you to find a woman who is 5’3” and have them put
a 25lb infant in a Escalade vs Tahoe.

Then ask the simple question….Which vehicle was easier to
get the infant in and out of…..

I have the Pacifica and get a flat load floor fairly easily.
No full size SUV can do that.

The only place a full size SUV is better is luxury. No doubt
a Escalade platinum is way more “luxurious” than my Pacifica limited

Click to expand...

Medman, I urge you to find such a lilliputian woman who can give birth to a 25lb infant.

:lol:    

[Ryan]

Glad to see a lot of informed opinions here. We are looking at the Highlander, which meets the minimum 6000lb GVWR limit and the Sienna. We're more loyal to Honda but unfortunately their Highlander competitor can't be configured to 6000lbs GVWR and their minivan is not AWD.

Our roads get bad here on occasion, snow/floods-- and I need to hightail it to the hospital at a moment's notice some nights before the plows have been out. My sedan's done okay actually, so I'm still not sure if AWD or an SUV is necessary. Seems like it's more useful to getting out of a stuck situation, as opposed to improving safety. And AWD may lead to overconfidence on the road.

Leaning towards the Highlander, at least on paper. If FWD turns out okay for us, we'll probably do the Odyssey.

 

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/12/01/all-wheel-drive-does-not-make-you-safer/

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/09/do-you-really-need-awd-in-the-snow/index.htm

[cbc]

I don’t understand all these posts about SUVs “looking cool” or being the “heart” choice.

SUVs are neither cool nor fun to drive. They are the fuddy-duddy choice. If you want cool or fun, buy a sports sedan or wagon.

The difference between a unibody SUV and a minivan is that the van has sliding doors. The SUV might have the option of AWD with brake-based (ie fake) locking. That’s about it.

A body on frame SUV usually has locking differentials and is great for off roading or towing, and makes major sacrifices in the handling department (ie less fun) compared to the van.

My observation from a limited n is that fellow gearheads with families own a minivan as the family car and have a sports car for fun.

[cbc]

Let's confuse this "fun to drive" issue with some more facts.

Skidpad grip is a reasonable barometer of a vehicle's handling prowess.

2016 Toyota 4Runner  (body on frame SUV)
0.71g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-toyota-4runner-review

2017 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (body on frame SUV)
0.72g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-chevrolet-tahoe-z71-4wd-test-review

2017 Toyota Highlander AWD (unibody SUV)
0.79g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-toyota-highlander-v-6-awd-test-review

2014 BMW X5 (sporty unibody SUV)
0.81g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-bmw-x5-xdrive35i-test-review

2017 Chrysler Pacifica (minivan)
0.81g
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/pacifica/2017/2017-chrysler-pacifica-limited-first-test-review/

Obviously none of these are sports cars, but goes to show SUVs are generally dogs in the handling department.  A sporty hatchback like a VW GTI is about 0.92g and a Corvette Grand Sport is around 1.18g.

[Matas]

cbc wrote:

Let’s confuse this “fun to drive” issue with some more facts.

Skidpad grip is a reasonable barometer of a vehicle’s handling prowess.

2016 Toyota 4Runner  (body on frame SUV)
0.71g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-toyota-4runner-review

2017 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (body on frame SUV)
0.72g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-chevrolet-tahoe-z71-4wd-test-review

2017 Toyota Highlander AWD (unibody SUV)
0.79g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-toyota-highlander-v-6-awd-test-review

2014 BMW X5 (sporty unibody SUV)
0.81g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-bmw-x5-xdrive35i-test-review

2017 Chrysler Pacifica (minivan)
0.81g
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/pacifica/2017/2017-chrysler-pacifica-limited-first-test-review/

Obviously none of these are sports cars, but goes to show SUVs are generally dogs in the handling department.  A sporty hatchback like a VW GTI is about 0.92g and a Corvette Grand Sport is around 1.18g.

Click to expand...

You are right, but get anywhere close to 0.70 lateral g's with the kids and spouse on board and you will be sleeping on the couch!

[CordMcNally]

cbc wrote:

2017 Chrysler Pacifica (minivan)
0.81g
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/pacifica/2017/2017-chrysler-pacifica-limited-first-test-review/

Obviously none of these are sports cars, but goes to show SUVs are generally dogs in the handling department.  A sporty hatchback like a VW GTI is about 0.92g and a Corvette Grand Sport is around 1.18g.

Click to expand...

Where do you sign up to be the one that gets to test all these cars? It'd be especially fun to hot rod mini-vans around, although I'm not sure if I could actually wear a helmet inside of one.

[CordMcNally]

Matas wrote:

cbc wrote:

Let’s confuse this “fun to drive” issue with some more facts.

Skidpad grip is a reasonable barometer of a vehicle’s handling prowess.

2016 Toyota 4Runner  (body on frame SUV)
0.71g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-toyota-4runner-review

2017 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (body on frame SUV)
0.72g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-chevrolet-tahoe-z71-4wd-test-review

2017 Toyota Highlander AWD (unibody SUV)
0.79g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-toyota-highlander-v-6-awd-test-review

2014 BMW X5 (sporty unibody SUV)
0.81g
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-bmw-x5-xdrive35i-test-review

2017 Chrysler Pacifica (minivan)
0.81g
https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chrysler/pacifica/2017/2017-chrysler-pacifica-limited-first-test-review/

Obviously none of these are sports cars, but goes to show SUVs are generally dogs in the handling department.  A sporty hatchback like a VW GTI is about 0.92g and a Corvette Grand Sport is around 1.18g.

Click to expand…

You are right, but get anywhere close to 0.70 lateral g’s with the kids and spouse on board and you will be sleeping on the couch!

Click to expand...

"Hey guys...you know those times when we don't tell mom about something?! This is one of those times!"

[Hank]

Matas wrote:

 

Click to expand…

You are right, but get anywhere close to 0.70 lateral g’s with the kids and spouse on board and you will be sleeping on the couch!

Click to expand...

Who loves you more unconditionally, your spouse or your dog?

Well, put one of them in the trunk without telling why, drive around for 2-3 hours, then open the trunk and see who's still happy to see you!  Obviously, your dog loves you more unconditionally than your husband / wife.

[cbc]

Don’t forget, you can also sleep in the back of the van.