IndyStar.com's view

As “‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly” approaches, so does the Chrysler Corp. with two 1997 vehicles designed to transport folks through the rigors of an Indiana winter.

Possibly taking note of the views of The Star and The News’ winter weather prognosticator par excellence, Skip Hess, Chrysler brings forth a series of 1997 Chrysler and Dodge all-wheel drive minivans designed to keep everything going forward under adverse conditions.

To go in the snow, nothing beats driving all four wheels. Chrysler expands its market with a 1997 AWD Town & Country and 1997 AWS Dodge Grand Caravan series. The four-wheel drive system is available on the long- wheelbase Town & Country LX and LXi models and Grand Caravan SE, LE, and ES vehicles.

Available on minivans equipped with 3.8-liter V-6 engines, Chrysler says its AWD system is the only one of its kind that’s based on a front-wheel drive minivan.

That’s the good news. The flip side of the picture is that there is a bit of a premium attached to driving all four wheels. The system has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $2,275, depending on the vehicle’s equipment level. The AWD package also includes load-leveling suspension and four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes. Pricing runs from $29,600 to about $34,000.

“We didn’t have an all-wheel drive for 1996,” said Kevin O’Brien, president of Tom O’Brien Chrysler, “so it’s difficult to judge what customer acceptance will be.”

I’ve long maintained that Mother Nature equipped the horse to pull the wagon with all four feet, and man in all his wisdom should drive a vehicle with all four wheels, whatever the road surface.

Chrysler’s AWD is designed to offer superior road stability and safety under hazardous driving conditions. The heart of the system is an inter-axle viscous coupling that splits the engine’s driving torque between front and rear wheels, depending on where traction is needed most.

During normal driving, up to 90 percent of the engine’s torque is directed to the front wheels. When the front wheels slip, the coupling automatically transfers the needed amount of torque to the rear wheels.

Additionally, an overrunning clutch allows the braking system to control the vehicle as a front-wheel drive. This prevents front- wheel feedback of front-wheel brake torque to affect the rear wheels

All this is automatic. There are no buttons to push or levers to pull. The AWD system is full time.

Actually, the drive system is so smooth and automatic that the average motorist won’t be aware that it’s there, until it comes time to get out of a predicament. Then the AWD becomes worth its $2,275 investment.

The Town & Country and Grand Caravan are Chrysler’s upscale minivans. Both have a plethora of standard equipment. Wheelbase dimensions are identical at 119.3 inches. You can say the same for the overall length, unless you want to nitpick.

Specifications for the T&C list overall length at 199.7 inches. For the Grand Caravan, it’s 199.6.

The long- whee lbase minivans are seven-passenger vehicles, with a seating configuration of 2-2-3. Up to 162.9 cubic feet of cargo space is available when the seats are removed.

It takes a little power to drive an additional pair of wheels. Hence, Chrysler’s 3.8-liter (230.5-cubic-inch) V-6 is the engine of choice. This is your basic two-valves-per-cylinder 60-degree V-type V-6 that will run almost forever with proper maintenance.

Power is 166-horsepower and the 3.8 puts out 227 foot-pounds of torque. That gives the AWD’s four wheels good pulling power.

In addition to the all-wheel drive, the models offer features such as larger glass-to-body ratios, hidden sliding door tracks, and a unique racheting system that firmly holds cups and cans firmly in place.