Review of the new Chrysler Grand Voyager - Voyage To Lapland

Christmas comes but once a year - and in my case so also did a chance to test Chrysler's Grand Voyager. Not that this was an ordinary road test loan. Chrysler, it seemed, were less bothered about my opinions on their car's handling, performance or fuel economy. And more interested in feedback from my family. Hence the invitation to take it to Lapland to meet Santa.

Not Scandinavian Lapland you understand but Lapland UK, a glorified Santa's grotto based just south of Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Over 300,000 people will have visited this year, which must be some sort of record for Father Christmas theme parks. As part of their visit, the kids get fed, get to make presents with the elves, get to decorate gingerbread with 'Mother Christmas', get to go ice skating and of course, get to meet Santa.

Needless to say, my three young girls, Caris aged ten, Ellie, aged seven and Amy aged two, just couldn't wait. So it was that we all piled into the Grand Voyager for the two hour round trip to Lapland. Usually, such a trip can be only just tolerable with children this young but in this case, it was easy thanks to the Grand Voyager's standard multimedia system which provided pull-out video screens for all rear seat passengers.

Not for the front seat passenger unfortunately, so my wife Katie had to go without seeing Tom Hanks in 'Polar Express' as we crawled around the M25. Still, it got the kids in the mood. The Uconnect infotainment system offers MP3 compatibility, a 30GB hard drive and touch screen and voice controlled sat nav, so, having issued the children with their headphones, we threw in Michael Buble's Christmas album and settled back for a relaxing drive.

It was some time since I'd driven a Grand Voyager and apart from the latest shape, there were a number of features fitted that I didn't remember from before. Heated first and second row seats, a rear-view conversation mirror (so you can keep an eye of the kids without altering the main mirror), electric windows in the power sliding second row doors, moveable LED reading lamps and automatic three-zone climate control for all passengers.

"The kind of attention to detail you get in this car will really appeal to growing families."

MPVs of course stand or fall on their practicality. There have been any number of attempts by manufacturers to hoodwink the buying public with 'family' cars that fall short on interior space and they invariably fail. Take a look at the sales charts for this sort of car and it's clear that size sells and on that basis, the Grand Voyager is off to a very promising start. It is seriously big, seating seven with ease and featuring the Stow 'n Go seating system which means that the vehicle can be transformed from a seven seater to a two seater in less than 30 seconds. Because all of the seats store in the floor, it's not as if you'll need to clutter your garage up with them either.

This generation Grand Voyager is bluffer and squarer looking than its rounded predecessor but looks a little more distinguished for it, distancing itself from the midsized sports-orientated vehicles like the Ford S-MAX and the Mitsubishi Grandis. It's not the most distinctive piece of styling but it caters to a buyer that wants the best without drawing attention to that fact.

Delays on the motorway meant that, as usual, as the clock ticked round to our appointment time at Lapland with Santa, we were running late. It's at times like this that you appreciate a bit of grunt under your right foot and in this instance, the big Chrysler duly obliged. The 161bhp 2.8-litre turbo diesel needs revving to just 3,800rpm in order to realise peak pulling power. Overtaking is therefore safe and unstressed, even when you're carrying a full load of passengers and gear. OK, so this isn't the most refined unit of its ilk but it's big-hearted and good to drive. It helps also that visibility out of the Grand Voyager is one of the best in class with big mirrors, short overhangs and a clear commitment to reduce the width of pillars.

As a parent, passenger safety is of course crucial to me. Here, it comes courtesy of traction control and ESP stability control, tyre pressure monitoring, front and all-row curtain airbags as well as seven full-sized seats with inbuilt fixings for three ISOFIX child seats. A Swivel 'n Go seating system is also available that allows the second row of seats to swivel for 'conversational seating', the third row seats power-reclining into one of four positions at the touch of a button.

On arrival at Lapland, I would have been happy to stay in the car park, slot in a Bruce Willis film on the DVD player and fiddle with the seats. As it was, for fear of being labelled a party-pooping Scrooge, I instead tramped in to see Santa. To be fair, it was all very well done, if rather expensive for a simple visit to Father Christmas's grotto. One thing's for certain, go to Lapland UK and you'll get enough Xmas cheer to last you the festive season.

And the Grand Voyager? Well for me, one tiny incident at the end summed it up rather nicely. Back at the car after the Santa visit in the dark of the car park, my daughter Caris dropped the husky dog toy that Father Christmas had given her. We couldn't see it anywhere and were about to give up when the Chrysler came to the rescue. A removable torch in the rear quarter panel enabled us to properly search the surrounding area and locate the missing cuddly canine. Attention to detail like that will, I think, really appeal to growing families. It certainly cemented this car in our minds as an alternative we won't want to overlook when the time comes to seek a larger form of family transport.

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