2012 Chrysler Town & Country: What's New

Vehicle Overview

The Chrysler Town & Country is related to the Dodge Grand Caravan, but it’s the more luxury-oriented of the two minivans. The Town & Country was significantly revised for 2011 with new exterior styling, a substantially revised interior and a new V-6 engine. The seven-seat minivan competes against the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey.

New for 2012
Leather upholstery and a rear-seat DVD entertainment system are now standard, and the Town & Country’s cabin has new Sapphire Blue lighting. The Limited trim level features a leather and wood steering wheel.

Exterior
Chrysler didn’t go overboard last year trying to make the Town & Country look like something other than a minivan, but there were a number of subtle differences that set it apart from its predecessor. The minivan still wears a grille that incorporates a new take on Chrysler’s wing badge, and the tracks for the sliding side doors are stealthily integrated. Exterior features include:

• Standard 17-inch aluminum wheels
• Chrome grille
• Standard power-sliding side doors
• Standard power liftgate
• Standard SmartBeam headlights
• Roof rack crossbars can be stored inline with rails
• Standard rain-sensing windshield wipers

Interior
The Town & Country has room for up to seven people in three rows. The dashboard uses low-gloss, nicely grained materials that make the cabin seem more luxurious.

Having succeeded in part on the strength of its Stow ‘n Go second-row seats — which fold into bins in the floor — Chrysler improved the feature last year by giving the seats one-touch operation and making them larger for better comfort. Stow ‘n Go second-row seats are standard; traditional second-row bucket seats are optional.

The Town & Country can have an optional power-folding 60/40-split third row with one-touch operation. There are also optional seat heaters for the front- and second-row seats. There are numerous storage nooks, pockets and bins throughout the interior, including dual glove compartments. A standard sliding console includes a power outlet and can be configured for second-row use. The  Town & Country is available with Uconnect Web, which gives passengers Wi-Fi internet access. Interior features include:

• Standard leather upholstery
• Standard automatic air conditioning with rear controls
• Optional navigation system
• Standard DVD entertainment system with a 9-inch overhead screen; dual-screen entertainment system optional
• Optional second- and third-row window shades
• Optional heated steering wheel

Under the Hood
The Town & Country is powered by a 3.6-liter V-6 engine that drives the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. The automatic transmission’s gear selector, which looks like a center-console shifter, is positioned high on the dashboard, to the right of the gauges. Mechanical features include:

• 283-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6 with 260 pounds-feet of torque
• Regular gas is acceptable
• Econ mode improves gas mileage by altering shift points and maintaining torque-converter lockup longer
• Optional load-leveling suspension

Safety
Safety features include:

• Standard side-impact airbags for the front seats
• Standard side curtain airbags for all three rows of seats
• Standard antilock brakes
• Standard electronic stability system and traction control
• Standard active front head restraints
• Standard backup camera
• Standard power-adjustable pedals
• Optional rear parking sensors
• Optional blind spot warning system with rear cross path detection