Living with the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica: My family’s fave features

I honestly can’t say enough good things about the all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, and judging by the awards its racking up, a lot of the automotive media feel the same way. I attended previews for both the gasoline and hybrid models, and now that I’ve had the chance to take it home and spend some time carting around seven adults, I like it even more.

But since you’ve heard me talk about it thrice, I figured I’d draw my family – none of whom are in the auto industry -- into the conversation and share their favorite features.

Keep in mind the test vehicle was a Touring L Plus trim, which is one level below the top-tier Limited, with all the high-end options and packages. So, some of the features below may be a part of the up-level trim or package options. As-tested price was $42,970.

Third row built for adults

For whatever reason, my brother-in-law likes to wedge himself into the least likely seating position. First he sat in the middle seat of the second row, then he settled himself into the third-row for the duration of the test period. And he liked it. Keep in mind, my brother-in-law is a 6-foot-tall, 300-pound fireman. That means he is not the intended passenger for either of those spaces. My husband, his partner in crime, double teamed the third-row and echoed that it was both comfortable and easy to get in and out of.

Plenty of USB ports

Seven adults in a car means that we have eight or nine mobile devices in the vehicle at any given time. If they all went dead at once, at least six devices could be charged at the same time. In the test vehicle, there were three USB ports for the front seats, two for the middle row and one for the third row. Pretty handy if you’re traveling with a lot of people who are emailing, Facebooking, Wazing or Pokemon Going. Which I was.

Blind spot monitoring

My mom was the resident front-seat passenger during the test week, and her vehicle is just old enough that it doesn’t have some of the newer safety tech on it. The first time the orange blind-spot monitoring alert icon lit up on the side mirror, she immediately pointed it out and fell in love with it. Though, I hate to point out to her that this means she loses her job as resident blind spot monitor as the front passenger of any given car if she gets this feature.

Three-zone automatic climate control

Pretty much everyone who didn’t sit in the front seat mentioned this feature. They loved that they could control not only the flow of air but also the temperature. This allowed for disparate temperatures throughout the vehicle, keeping a happy climate – and happy passengers – throughout the Pacifica. One point of contention with this feature came from my dad. He sat in the right, middle, outboard position and said that the air vent in the ceiling was about 2-inches from his head and kept blowing in his face.

Heated second-row seats

My sister, who is often cold in a car, loved the heated seats. It’s yet another way to keep all the passengers in a climate-controlled happy place. This is a standard feature at the Touring L Plus trim, and it’s only on the outboard seats. So, my dad and oldest sister got to enjoy this feature. Driver’s note: Heated steering wheel is also standard at this trim level, and front heated seats are standard starting at the Touring L trim. And, yeah, I used both even though I had this vehicle in Florida.

Storage space

Seven people tend to come with a lot of literal baggage. At a minimum, we needed a place to store my mom’s walker and some of our holiday shopping packages – in addition to having seven passengers. At our maximum, we needed space for six passengers and large luggage for three adults heading to the airport. With the deep well in the rear cargo area and the Stow N Go seats, we had plenty of room for everything we needed to fit in the vehicle – both animate and inanimate.

Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop and Go

OK, so this last one is mine, but I couldn’t resist throwing in at least 2 cents -- especially because I found this feature to be invaluable during an ill-planned, heavily trafficked trip through Orlando the day after Christmas. A drive that should have taken 45 minutes took us more than 2 frustrating hours, and the adaptive cruise control was a lifesaver. It took the vehicle all the way to a complete stop, and as long as you were moving within about 5 seconds, the vehicle initiated acceleration as well.

And a word, regarding step-in height

One last thing to note is that my mother did have some difficulty climbing into the cabin due to a bad back. She was able to using the armrest on the passenger seat and the grip handle on the A-Pillar, but it was a bit of a struggle. Unfortunately, this will likely be the case for anyone with a walker or crutches for any minivan or larger SUV. The good news is, with Stow N Go, you could easily store a little step stool in the vehicle full time for passengers who might need it.

Overall, my family loved the 2017 Pacifica because it carried all of us and our collective things. I liked the acceleration afforded by the 3.6-liter, 287-horsepower V-6 Pentastar engine. My family liked the accessibility and comfort for adult passengers.

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