First look: Flexibility key to new Voyager

THE fifth-generation Chrysler Voyager adopts the latest "corporate" face of Chrysler, with its distinctive wide grille and large headlights.

Due on sale here early next year, the Chrysler Town and Country - known as the Grand Voyager locally – gains a new exterior and interior, as well as a six-speed automatic.

The newest ingredient for functional family seating is the Chrysler patented "Swivel ’n Go" seating system.

Swivel ’n Go offers second row seats that swivel 180 degrees to face the third row with a removable table that installs between the two rows, covered storage bins in the floor of the second row, third-row uncovered storage and fold-in-the-floor third-row seating.

Swivel ’n Go also offers an available industry-first integrated child booster seat in the second-row seats and a one-touch power-folding third-row 60/40 bench seat.

North American buyers will have a choice of a new 179kW/343Nm 4.0-litre V6 mated to a new six-speed gearbox, a 148kW/312Nm 3.8-litre V6 or a 127kW/278Nm 3.3-litre flex-fuel V6.

The Voyager also boasts high safety levels, with side curtain airbags, ESP with traction control and brake assist, child seat anchor system, integrated child seat and rear parking camera.

Among the options are dual or tri-zone climate control, a DVD system that plays different media at the same time, pinpoint LED lighting throughout, table, voice-activated navigation system with real-time traffic, power sliding doors and rear hatch.

A multi-function, front-row sliding console, dual gloveboxes, second-row covered storage bins, third-row storage area and clever storage bins and pockets offer more places to store things than ever before.

Apart from Swivel ‘n Go, two other distinct seating configurations will be available in North America.

They include a second-row bench seat with second-row covered storage bins and third-row fold-in-the-floor seating, a stow-n-go seating and storage system that offers the only second- and third-row fold-in-the-floor seats in the industry.

A one-touch power-folding third-row seat also is available.