Small
vans
come

in range
of prices

From page 22

than those on full-size vans.

One mini-van, the Mazda
MPV, has a conventional
oversized swing-out side
door. Another, the Nissan
Axxess, has two sliding rear
doors, one on each side.

I think it makes a lot of
sense to have two rear side
doors, because access to the
fear seats is much casier.

Outward visibility with
full-window mini-vans is
very good. The driver sits up
high and has a 360-degree
view.

A bugbear 1 have with
mini-vans is that the rear
windows do not roll down.
Instead, a swing-out type
window allows minimal ven-
tilation. [f you're sitting on
the left hand side of the
vehicle in either rear seat,
there is no door and no
roll-down window, and it
can feel quite
claustrophobic.

While the ride of most
mini-vans is quite comforta-
ble, it is not as luxurious as a
big sedan. Some mini-vans
are also noisy because the
engine is closer to the front
seats.

At the moment, mini-vans
are still classified as trucks
and therefore do not have to
meet the more stringent
safety standards set for pas-
senger cars.

In a mini-van, both driver
and front passenger sit closer
to the front of the vehicle
and are more vulnerable in a
severe frontal impact.

This is not to say that
mini-vans are unsafe. Pas-
senger safety in a vehicle is
usually relative to the size
and weight of the vehicle. In
their favor, mini-vans are
considerably heavier and
larger than most small and
com)act-sized cars.

At the moment there are
twelve mini-vans on the
market, ranging in price
from about $15,000 to over
$30,000 for an all-wheel-
drive model.

In no particular order,
they are the aerodynamic
Chevrolet Lumina APV and
its sister van, the Pontiac
Trans Sport, the Chevrolet
Astro/GMC Safari, the
venerable Dodge Caravan/
Plymouth Voyager, the
smaer Eagle Vista 4X4, the
Ford Acrostar, Mazda
MPV, Nissan Axxess, the
soon-to-be-released = Toyota
Previa, and the — timeless
Volkswagen Vanagon,

Rumor has it that Honda
and other Japanese manu-
facturers will be bringing owt
their own mini-vans next
year.

Judging by the inereasing
sales of mini-vans, (at the
expense of cars) they are
likely to remain: popular for
the forsceable future.

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