2011 Chrysler Town & Country Overview Change Vehicle

This 2011 Chrysler Town & Country overview explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2011 Town & Country, and includes Town & Country safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

Now under the control of Italian automaker Fiat, Chrysler is reinvigorating its lineup for 2011. That includes a Town & Country minivan with revised exterior styling, Stow ‘N Go seats that have been redesigned to provide greater comfort, upgraded interior materials, and a whole bunch of new standard equipment. However, what’s more important is the debut of a new 3.6-liter V6 engine that replaces all three of the Town & Country’s previous powertrains, and a new suspension that does wonders for the Chrysler minivan’s driving dynamics. The lineup now consists of Touring, Touring-L and Limited models instead of 2010’s LX, Touring and Limited variants. Fans of the Swivel ‘N Go seating package will be saddened by the cancellation of this feature for 2011.

For quite some time, shoppers contemplating the purchase of a new Town & Country saw a lineup that started with the entry-level LX, followed by the better-equipped Touring and the feature-packed Limited. This year, the LX is history and the Touring now serves as the so-called base model, but this minivan is far from entry-level. Standard equipment includes expected items like power windows, power door locks with remote keyless entry, power side mirrors, cruise control, a leather-wrapped tilt steering wheel, dark-tinted rear glass, and power sliding side doors. However, the Touring is also equipped with a long list of unusual standard features like SmartBeam auto-dimming headlights, a power rear liftgate, heated side mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, a rearview camera, and a triple-zone climate control system. Not bad, but there’s more, like a 30-gigabyte hard drive for a touch-screen sound system, a HomeLink programmable remote control, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, LED overhead lighting, an eight-way power driver’s seat, a 115-volt power outlet, and alloy wheels. Chrysler’s not done. Blind spot monitoring, ParkSense rear parking sensors, a ParkView reversing camera, and power adjustable pedals are also standard.

Venture up to the new, mid-level Touring-L model and you’ll be rewarded with leather upholstery, heated front seats with power adjustments for the passenger, side mirrors with integrated turn signals, rear window sunshades, a remote engine starting system, a security alarm, and larger 17-inch alloy wheels.

Finally, there’s the Town & Country Limited, a familiar nameplate that cranks up the feature quotient with the addition of glitzier exterior trim, HID headlights, a heated steering wheel, heated second-row seats, upgraded leather hides paired with suede inserts, a super center console, keyless entry and ignition, Uconnect communications technology, a premium sound system, and a simple navigation system.

Should those numerous amenities fail to fully satiate your automotive palate, Chrysler offers a number of options. Highlights include a power folding third-row seat, a power sunroof, a rear-seat entertainment system available with Sirius Backseat TV offering channels ranging from ESPN to Nickelodeon, and a full suite of Uconnect features including Bluetooth audio streaming, traffic reporting, and an iPod connection.

Instead of three underwhelming engine offerings, every 2011 Chrysler Town & Country hits the streets packing the company’s new Pentastar 3.6-liter V6 under its hood. Instead of the 251 horsepower available in the top engine choice last year, this new 3.6-liter engine makes 283 ponies. The Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna are comparatively underpowered, but if EPA fuel economy estimates prove accurate, this new V6 cannot match its primary rival from Honda when it comes to gas mileage due to lower 17-mpg city and 25-mpg highway ratings.

Header Tag: Safety and Reliability

This year, Chrysler is loading the Town & Country with safety features, including four-wheel-disc antilock brakes with brake assist, seven airbags including a new knee airbag for the driver, traction and stability control, rain-sensing wipers, a rearview camera, rear parking sensors, SmartBeam auto-dimming headlights, and a blind spot warning system with cross-path detection capability.

For 2011, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has modified the way that it conducts crash tests on new vehicles, implementing new standards that make it more difficult to achieve 5-Star ratings. At the time this report was published, the NHTSA had not performed new tests on the Town & Country. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is impressed with the T&C, giving it the highest rating of Good for the offset frontal- and side-impact tests, and for rear-crash injury protection.

With regard to reliability, let’s cut to the chase – the Town & Country has been swimming at the bottom of the Consumer Reports reliability ratings barrel for years. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, Consumer Reports is not offering a prediction for the revised 2011 model. J.D. Power and Associates is cautiously optimistic, giving the Town & Country a rating of slightly better than average. Given the Chrysler’s new engine and the application of higher quality materials in the cabin, the changes may correspond with improved dependability and a renewed focus on the details. We’ll see.

Since 2008, the Chrysler Town & Country has been equipped with a choice between three lackluster and unrefined V6 engines, and when driven felt like it was rolling around on four underinflated tires connected to a suspension of overcooked spaghetti. Only the racket coming from under the hood could keep the driver awake. That, and a sore elbow from resting an arm on the hard interior door panels.

With its new Pentastar V6 engine and redesigned suspension, the Town & Country is a dramatically improved driver. The engine provides energetic acceleration and more refinement than we can remember from a Chrysler V6, and the six-speed automatic upshifts quickly when cruising to help conserve fuel. We averaged 19.1 mpg in a mix of city and highway driving.

Better than the Pentastar V6 is the Town & Country’s new suspension, which provides actual feel for the road and decent handling capability combined with enough compliance to keep passengers comfortable. The van’s marshmallow ride quality and penchant for transforming sharp impacts into structural reverberations are gone. The steering also feels a bit heavier than before, and the Town & Country’s new thick-rimmed steering wheel is a pleasure to grip.

The cabin’s new interior is also a blessing, from the softly padded upper door panels to the one-piece, low gloss dashboard, the Town & Country now looks and feels more like its price tag indicates it should. Our Limited test car also had Nappa leather covering the front- and second-row seats, with suede trim. The driving position remains too close to the dashboard, but power adjustable pedals help maximize legroom. We would still like to see greater rear travel for the front seats, though.

As in the previous T&C, Stow ‘N Go seats are standard. They collapse into the floor for those times when you need to transform the van from a seven-passenger people mover into a giant cargo hauler. They’re easier to grapple with than removing seats by lifting them out and storing them someplace, but we think that unless you’re antiquing on a regular basis, the benefit is negligible. Chrysler has also redesigned the Stow ‘N Go rear seats, and while the bottom cushion angle for the rearmost bench is still a bit extreme, the second-row captain’s chairs are definitely more comfortable than before.

In years past, the Town & Country’s driving dynamics were as disappointing as its track record for reliability. Now all Chrysler needs to do is figure out how to build these vans to last, and there won’t be reason to pass it over in favor of a competing model.

In the short time that Fiat has been calling the shots at Chrysler, the Town & Country has been improved in almost every way. Revised styling presents greater distinction between this van and the less expensive Dodge Grand Caravan, the upgraded interior should impart a sense of greater quality, and the pairing of a smooth new powertrain and retuned suspension point toward a more enjoyable driving experience. The Town & Country is now better than its ever been, but so is the competition. And with the Chrysler’s unimpressive reliability track record, we think choosing this model over an alternative still represents a bit of a gamble.

By Thom Blackett and Christian Wardlaw