Introduction

The Chrysler Grand Voyager is a luxury vehicle that scores high on practicality but offers unmatched levels of opulence in a car of its kind. It's the quintessential definition of a luxury minivan. While Chrysler is famous for its big brute sedans such as the 300C in America, in far reaches of Europe and Mexico, the Chrysler brand is mostly synonymous with practical and luxury minivans. In fact, the Chrysler Grand Voyager was sold exclusively in these regions, before going on sale in North American markets in later years.

The birth of the Grand Voyager dates back to 1988 when Chrysler introduced the Voyager minivan in Europe. The Voyager was actually a rebadged version of the Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager that were sold only in the United States that time.

Since its inception, the Voyager has evolved and is sold in different countries under different brand names. Despite of its various nameplates, the Chrysler minivan has been ranked as the 13th bestselling automotive model worldwide, with more than 12 million units sold.

Currently, the Voyager has been renamed as Grand Voyager and is mainly sold in the European as well as North American markets. The company produces the Grand Voyager at its plant in Ontario, Canada.

The Grand Voyager is the fifth-gen model in the Voyager series and was built from the ground-up upon its launch in 2008. With the Grand Voyager, Chrysler wanted to target affluent consumers looking for a luxury multi-purpose vehicle (MUV).

In essence, the Grand Voyager looked much like the Chrysler Town & Country sold in the North American and South American markets. However, unlike the America-spec version, the Grand Voyager was sold standard with a diesel engine in Europe.

Engines

Source: https://www.caradvice.com.au/

The 2008 Chrysler was powered by a 2.8-litre CRD I4 diesel engine that develops 163bhp at 3,800rpm and a peak-torque of 359N-m at 1,600rpm. In 2009, Chrysler revealed the diesel motor that has a combined fuel economy of 9.3L/100kms, which is quite impressive, given its size.

Further up in the range, the 2008-2010 models came fitted with a 3.8-litre V6 petrol that delivered 197bhp of power at 5,200rpm and 312N-m of torque at 4,000rpm. Year 2010 onwards, models were also offered with a 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol, developing 283bhp at 6,600rpm and 353N-m at 4,800rpm. All the models were offered with a 6-speed automatic transmission.

All the Grand Voyagers sold in Europe from 2011 were badged as Lancia due to Chrysler-Lancia integration. In United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, and China, all the models are sold under Chrysler badge only since Lancia does not operate in these markets.

The Lancia derivative of the luxury minivan comes fitted with Euro V engine option comprising a 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 petrol that produces 279bhp of max power and 344N-m of peak torque. The diesel version comes powered by a 2.8-litre diesel inline 4-engine, which is good enough for producing a peak power and torque of 161bhp and 360Nm, respectively. Again, all these variants too come paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

Features and Equipment

Source: https://www.caradvice.com.au/

One of the main USPs of the Chrysler Grand Voyager is the cabin space and equipment it comes loaded with. The Grand Voyager can seat 7 adults including with their complete holiday luggage.

3-zone air-conditioning, rear parking sensors, child-compatible seats, power tailgate, cruise control, auto-leveling rear suspension et al, are some of the features that were standard in the vehicle.

The higher models come with a 6.5-inch touchscreen and are loaded with features such as 40GB hard drive, satellite navigation, 9-speaker stereo with Bluetooth connectivity and 7.1 surround sound, a reversing camera, a DVD player, 17-inch alloy wheels, etc.

Some limited models were also offered with rain-sensing wipers, leather seats, automatic leveling HID headlights, eight-way power adjustable and heated front seats, heated second-row seats, chrome exterior highlights, etc.

The main highlight is its unique Stow'n Go seat configuration though. This arrangement includes two independent second-row seats and a 60:40 split-fold rear bench. The second row seats can be folded manually forward flat into the floor, freeing up to 934-litre of boot space!

The right-hand drive models of the minivan had the gear shift lever placed on a floor-mounted console between the seats as opposed to the instrument panel positioning found on LHD models.

Safety

The Chrysler Grand Voyager came fitted with six airbags (driver, passenger, curtain and front side) as standard. Additional safety systems include stability control and ABS. The 2011 Lancia version of the car has been awarded four out of five stars in EuroNCAP crash tests.

Conclusion

The Grand Voyager sold between 2008 and 2011 were imported in Europe from Canada. However, after 2011, the models got rebadged as Lancia Voyager in most European markets.

The Chrysler Grand Voyager is one of the most popular multi-utility vehicles in the world. While other MPVs are made for a single purpose, the Chrysler Grand Voyager offered a lot more to buyers. Its luxurious cabin fitted with a raft of creature comfort features and equipment is a delight to occupants, whereas its exterior exudes elegance.

Finding a used Chrysler Grand Voyager in good nick shouldn't be a problem in India, since it was sold in millions worldwide and a few good examples were also shipped into the country, albeit through importers and not officially.

Luxury car buyers looking for a spacious, unique and quite practical wagon should not be looking elsewhere since the Chrysler Grand Voyager offers so much as a package. If you have the means, and require something similar, there's no reason to hold back now…