2011 Dodge Grand Caravan Crew

The Grand Caravan's subtle styling tweaks for the 2011 model year make a pretty big difference to my eye, and, as a newish dad, I'd be much more comfortable having this Dodge in my garage, even though the interior has been upgraded only to middle-of-the-pack. Obviously the Grand Caravan is great for family duty, what with its highly configurable interior and oodles of space. After driving a fully loaded 2011 Town & Country over the weekend, though, I was disappointed to find that this Dodge lacked remote start, which is a highly desirable option in January in Michigan. Thankfully, even though it has cloth upholstery, this Caravan still has heated front and middle-row seats and a heated steering wheel. And, on Crew models like this, remote start is part of a $760 option package that also includes rear window shades and a fancy center console. It was hard for me to detect any new-for-2011 suspension-tuning differences on slick roads, but the steering felt better than the 2011 T&C. It's the R/T edition, just unveiled at the Chicago auto show, that should earn extra credibility in the soccer-field parking lot, though. Too bad it doesn't have any extra horsepower; sorry kids, no burnouts today. Rusty Blackwell, Copy Editor