The all-new 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan will get 28 miles per gallon on the highway, based on ratings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The gas-powered Pacifica is rated at 18 mpg city, 28 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined. The numbers are all higher than Chrysler’s previous minivans, the Chrysler Town and Country and the Dodge Caravan. The city and combined ratings are 5.9 and 10 percent increases, respectively, while the highway number is a 12 percent increase.
Under the hood is the latest version of the venerable Pentastar V-6. In the Pacifica, it displaced 3.6 liters and makes 287 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. The latest generation V-6 benefits from two-step variable valve lift, cooled exhaust gas recirculation, and weight reduction to increase efficiency.
Handling that power is the TorqueFlite nine-speed automatic transmission found in other FCA offerings. It’s the first use of a nine-speed transmission in a minivan and has a 9.81 ratio spread to help improve fuel economy. Chrysler says that the transmission is calibrated for improved launch and smooth shifts, but previous implementations have been problematic. The transmission helped drop the Jeep Cherokee’s TFLcar rating to a Lease It during its last review.
The Pacifica’s platform is all-new and the architecture was designed specifically for minivan applications. It’s 250 pounds lighter than previous Chrysler minivans, but with more torsional rigidity that the company says is twice that of any competitor.
Chrysler also did a lot of work in the wind tunnel. The Pacifica has a drag coefficient of .300, which undoubtedly helps with the increase in highway mileage as the slippery shape pays dividends at speed.
The Pacifica will be in dealerships in spring of this year. Pricing has not yet been confirmed.
Check out this TFLcar video of everything you want to know about the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica: