Chrysler Voyager

SAFETY FIRST
No MPV can mount a serious challenge without top notch safety credentials. The latest Chrysler Voyager has its house firmly in order in this respect. Andy Enright reports
As a parent, the nurturing instinct is strong. Strong but occasionally misguided. You’ve only got to witness the amount of families crammed into outmoded people carriers to realise this. To put it bluntly, older MPVs aren’t the last word in safety. Which when you’ve got four or five of your nearest and dearest on board, is pretty important.
A crash helmet manufacturer once campaigned with a slogan that stated "If you’ve got a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet." They had a point. If you have a choice of an old People Carrier and a new patio or one of the latest ones and a seat on the grass, there’s no prizes for guessing where the sensible money should go.

All of which is very relevant for a road test on the Chrysler Voyager. This car after all, to put it kindly, wasn’t the last word in safety in its original form. The second generation version introduced here a few years back was a great improvement in this respect however and the most recent improvements have further cemented the safety turnaround to the point where a Voyager can be seen as a very safe bet indeed.
There are, for example, now side curtain airbags that cover all three rows of seats. It’s always been something of a personal bugbear that manufacturers will jump onto a bandwagon and offer a seven seat vehicle without going the extra mile to offer seven seat safety features. Imagine the guilt you’d feel if a child suffered a head injury whilst travelling in the rearmost row of seats. Chrysler should be lauded in offering what is still a very rare feature.

The latest versions also address a number of other issues. The exterior has been freshened up a little, retaining the Chrysler family look but adopting a revised grille and shapely projector headlights. There are also body side mouldings, a more attractive wheel trim design and, for plusher models, a wider Range of alloy wheel designs. Inside the fascia has been revised too.

"The Voyager has certainly got its house in order when it comes to safety provision"
Unlike its Grand Voyager sibling, the Voyager offers a choice of two diesel engines. The budget option is the 2.5-litre CRD, although Chrysler’s rather odd pricing and trim structure means that to upgrade to the 2.8-litre CRD engine means a hefty hop up of around £3,500.

Whereas the boost in outright power over the 2.5-litre car isn’t enormous, the gain in torque means far greater capability. With 266lb/ft of torque available, the 2.8 CRD has way more pulling power than the 3.3-litre V6 petrol Grand Voyager! With this amount of sheer lugging intensity, the 2.8 CRD can tow 3.5 tonnes, making it an ideal vehicle for those who want to tow serious caravans, boats or other large trailers.

Both diesel engines are well worthwhile but there’s also a 2.4-litre petrol engine. Although this campaigns as the entry-level Voyager, run one over three years/30,000 miles and then try to sell it and it becomes rapidly apparent that once the lower servicing costs are accounted for, the 2.5-litre CRD is the more cost effective buy. Of course there are those who prefer a petrol engine and if you’re only planning to use the Voyager for short hops, the petrol powered car makes a lot of sense. The 150bhp engine may not have the torque of the 140bhp 2.5-litre diesel but it’s a good deal more refined and keener drivers will be able to detect the difference in weight.

Trim options are, on the face of it, relatively simple to grasp but there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room when it comes to flexibility. Buyers get the choice of SE and Executive trims with the 2.4-litre engine, priced at £18,840 and £22,065 respectively. If you want your Voyager to sip from the black pump, in 2.5-litre guise, prices start with the SE, costing £19,990, and in 2.8-litre guise you get the £23,955 Executive.

Despite the reductions in noise, vibration and harshness that Chrysler have wrought, the Voyager isn’t an inspiring steer. It was never an MPV that had a remotely sporting bias and the presence of rather antiquated leaf-sprung rear suspension might warn you of that before you even set out. But then, driving satisfaction is pretty low down on the priority list for potential buyers of cars like these. Over bumps and ruts you’ll notice a general lack of shudder and vibration, courtesy of a 20% increase in torsional stiffness. This is brought about as a by-product of making the structure more crashworthy, though at the cost of a lot of extra weight.