Are Minivans the Ultimate Road Trip Vehicle?

Summer is a time for long days at the beach, telling stories around the campfire, and perfecting your burger-flipping technique. It’s also a great time for road trips, as families around the country pack up their vehicles and head off to see the sights. Whether your itinerary includes checking out an amusement park, crossing a new national park off the list, or relaxing by the ocean, a good road-trip-worthy vehicle can make all the difference.

Stuffing the family into a cramped, uncomfortable car, truck, or SUV is a recipe for disaster and has the potential to turn that long-awaited trip into a grueling convoy of backseat fights, restless kids, and deafening choruses of “Are we there yet?” A quick search of Birmingham car sales will undoubtedly turn up a number of alluring models, but it can be tough to tell which will make a decent road-trip partner at first glance.

We submit for your consideration the humble minivan. The SUV might have largely supplanted this category as the family vehicle of choice, but the same attributes that made the minivan the go-to choice of every ’90s mom are still relevant today. This class offers unsurpassed cargo room and impressive versatility; while they’re still not the most stylish vehicles on the road, they’ve come a long way from their boxy, frumpy forerunners. Read on as we break down two of the category’s top picks and see how the 2023 Chrysler Pacifica and 2023 Toyota Sienna stack up when it comes time to pick your next road-trip companion.

2023 Chrysler Pacifica

In today’s minivan market, the Chrysler Pacifica reigns supreme. That’s not quite the superlative it once was, given the fact that there are only four automakers still offering a minivan in the year 2023, but it’s got to count for something. The Pacific is available with two engines options for 2023: a surprisingly peppy 3.6L V6, with 287 hp that’ll get you from zero to sixty in just over seven seconds, and a hybrid version that pairs this same V6 with two electric motors for 260 hp and a heck of a lot of range.

The PHEV Pacifica delivers an EPA-estimated 82 MPGe and can travel up to 32 miles on electric power alone, whereas using gas alone holds its own with a respectable 30 MPG combined. Keeping the battery charged on long road trips shouldn’t be difficult as long as you’ve set a leisurely pace, and drivers will always have the gas engine to fall back on in a pinch. There was a time when recommending a plug-in hybrid would be a non-starter in any road trip scenario, but as the nation’s EV charging infrastructure continues to improve, it’s becoming an increasingly practical option with every passing year.

Like any reliable family vehicle, the Pacifica is packed with a full slate of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). These systems are especially important when you’re toting the whole family, offering one of the most valuable features you’ll find on any vehicle: peace of mind. The Pacifica has achieved impressive safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and the ADAS offerings simply sweeten the pot. The 2023 model comes standard with automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, and lane-departure warning—vital technologies that will not only improve safety but help to address driver fatigue on road trips.

When it comes to cargo space and digital distractions, the Pacifica is one of the most well-equipped vehicles on the market—and not only in the minivan class. This large, comfy cabin is filled with clever storage solutions like cubbies, bins, and even Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go seats, which can be folded directly into the van’s floor to dramatically improve the minivan’s cargo room (though not on the PHEV version, where the floor is occupied by a 16.0-kWh lithium-ion battery).

All told, the Pacifica boasts 32.3 cu.ft. of cargo space, a figure that expands to 140.5 cu.ft. with the second- and third-row seats stowed away. With the ability to carry a small plane’s worth of carry-on suitcases—53 in total—the Pacifica should have more than enough room for all the baggage that a summer road trip entails. That much real estate can be difficult to keep clean, but Toyota is one step ahead of you with another novel feature: an onboard vacuum cleaner.

On the tech side, the Pacifica is a veritable home theater on wheels with a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, Wi-Fi hotspot, 12 USB ports, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, and even an optional rear-seat entertainment system with dual touchscreens. Paired with Amazon Fire TV, these mobile movie theaters will allow kids and parents alike to access their favorite TV shows and movies from connected streaming apps, providing a much-needed distraction that’s sure to maintain family harmony.

2023 Toyota Sienna

At first glance, it might be hard to even identify the 2023 Toyota Sienna as a minivan. This is all by design, with Toyota gracing the model with a rugged, aggressive exterior that reads more like a crossover SUV than the jellybean-shaped minivans of our youth. The Sienna consistently ranks below the Pacifica in the small-but-fierce battle of the modern minivans, but it does have a few neat tricks up its sleeve that make it worthy of consideration for your next road trip.

Unlike the Pacifica, the Sienna comes standard with a hybrid powertrain—and only a hybrid powertrain. Toyota nixed the gas-only model altogether, starting with the fourth-generation Sienna released in 2020, leaving drivers with little choice but to go electric. We’re not complaining, especially given that the Sienna can still tow just as much as its gas-powered ancestor. With 3,500 lbs of towing capacity to play with, towing along boat trailers, small campers, and recreational vehicles is easier than ever. This sort of towing prowess might be a surprise to many drivers who have stereotyped the minivan as the underpowered choice of soccer moms everywhere, but the torque provided by the Sienna’s hybrid powertrain allows it to hold its own with some smaller SUVs and pickups.

The Sienna is also available with all-wheel drive—which you won’t find on the Pacifica—allowing this minivan to do some light off-roading or enhance driver confidence amid challenging weather conditions. The Sienna offers better fuel economy than the Pacifica, with a combined rating of 36 MPG—although the addition of all-wheel drive will knock that figure down by a mile or two. On the other hand, this minivan isn’t quite as quick as the Chrysler offering, but if your goal for a minivan is to get some high-speed thrills, we’d suggest you first do a little soul-searching.

Like the Pacifica, the Sienna’s interior is all about comfort, convenience, and storage space. This minivan is nothing if not roomy, with 33.5 cu.ft. of cargo room that expands to 75.2 cu.ft. with the third-row seats folded. Due to its hybrid powertrain and the location of the battery, the Sienna’s second-row seats cannot be fully hidden, but they do tip forward enough to allow for 101 cu.ft. of total cargo room when stowed away.

Optional second-row captain’s chairs can be moved back and forth by 25 inches, improving legroom and ensuring comfort for the whole family on long road trips. If the spacious cabin wasn’t homey enough, Toyota has you covered with one of the more unique features we can remember: pop-up ottomans for the second-row seats. Available as an upgrade on the Limited and Platinum models, these ingenious ottomans allow passengers to kick back and recline as if they had never left their living room.

The Pacifica also comes with an available onboard vacuum cleaner, as well as plenty of other features that’ll get a lot of use on a road trip, including the Sienna’s seven USB ports, 9- or 11.6-inch touchscreen display, onboard Wi-Fi, rear entertainment system, and four-zone climate control, which allows each passenger to ride in comfort at the temperature of their choosing. If all those gas station beverages start to pile up, no worries: the Sienna can be had with up to 18 cupholders, making the only challenge remembering which drinks were yours.

The Sienna is packed with an impressive slate of driver assistance features like adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, automated emergency braking, and lane-keeping assist, but there’s one tech feature that’s sure to be music to the ears of any parent who has ever yelled themselves hoarse in an attempt to keep their clan under control: a built-in intercom. Dubbed “Driver Easy Speak,” the intercom allows the driver to amplify their voice through the minivan’s rear speakers. With four volume settings to choose from, the kids will never be able to get away with a cheeky “But I didn’t hear you!” the next time they set out to torment their sibling. It might be something of a creature feature, but it shows just how thoughtful the Sienna’s development was when it came to designing the ideal family vehicle.

The Minivan Persists

Rumors of the minivan’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. This class may be smaller than it once was, but it still offers a unique value proposition that is hard to ignore when you’re on the hunt for your family’s next road trip-worthy vehicle.

Today’s minivans are also more efficient than ever, with hybrid options providing an exciting new take on this long-time family favorite. Of course, this is both good and bad news for those on a cross-country road trip. Sure, you’ll spend less time stopped at gas stations and will be able to splash some of that fuel budget on some bonus excursions, but just think of all the bathroom breaks you’ll miss out on.

The 2023 Chrysler Pacifica and 2023 Toyota Sienna are two great examples of the minivan revival, packing in a host of innovative features like onboard vacuum cleaners, rear-seat entertainment systems, built-in ottomans, and even your own personal PA system. Combine these with their reputation for safety and a raft of ADAS technology, and you’ve got a recipe for road trip success.