The 2026 Chrysler Pacifica proves that if you’re looking to move people — especially little people — a minivan is the way to go. Yes you can look “cooler” in a brutish three-row crossover with all-terrain tires, but nothing comes close to replacing the true practicality of a minivan. Now that we got that out of the way, how does the Pacifica stack up against its rivals?
It’s a minivan alright
While it’s technically a separate model, the Pacifica is the uplevel trim of the Chrysler Grand Caravan. As such, it receives a slightly elevated exterior design, starting with the more modern-looking, slim LED headlights versus the Grand Caravan’s archaic halogen units, along with a different grille and front bumper design. Although you have to look closely to tell the Pacifica apart from the Grand Caravan from the front, the side profile and rear views are carbon copies, minus the surprisingly gorgeous 20-inch gunmetal wheels on the Pacifica. Our tester features the S appearance package, which adds those wheels plus blacked-out elements throughout the exterior. It looks particularly good with our tester’s Diamond Black Crystal Pearl paint, making the Pacifica look surprisingly sharp picking up a passenger from the airport.
I spy
It’s even harder to spot the differences between the Pacifica and Grand Caravan inside, but if you look hard enough, they’re there. The cabin continues to be a sea of black, although our tester’s white contrast stitching and “S” logos on the seats and Nappa leather add a slightly more premium feel. The dash is essentially the same, with the same 10.1-inch infotainment screen powered by Chrysler’s latest Uconnect 5 software. It’s mostly easy to navigate but can be cumbersome and even laggy at times.
The Alpine audio system in the Pacifica is a surprising highlight. Upgrading to the Harman Kardon unit doesn’t seem worth it; some owners even say the base Alpine system sounds better. It would be nice if the Pacifica featured some level of standard ambient lighting to not only spruce up the cabin but also differentiate it from the Grand Caravan. That and a fully digital gauge cluster would help create some more model separation, although the gauge cluster itself is clean, attractive, and easy to read. Thankfully the ancient AUX port on the Grand Caravan is replaaced by more USB-C connections in the Pacifica.
Space for days
A minivan isn’t so much about how the interior looks, but rather how roomy it is. People buy minivans to move people and things, and the Pacifica does an excellent job here. The wide power-sliding doors on both sides make it easy to get in and out of the Pacifica’s second and third rows, and the fact they can be remote-operated is a surprisingly luxurious feature you can’t find on any premium SUV. Chrysler’s Stow ‘n Go seating allows you to easily fold the second and third rows flat into the floor, and when you aren’t stowing the seats, Chrysler even provides form-fitting cubbies to fill empty floor space so you can have even more storage space. Stow ‘n Go is really the party trick here, and is one of the few areas where the Pacifica still has a leg up on its competition.
Overall cargo capacity is just shy of 4,000 litres with the second and third rows stowed away. That falls short of the Kia Carnival, but bests the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, and most other mainstream three-row SUVs. With the seats all upright, there’s still ample room behind the third row for a family getaway, especially so with the low floor.
Pentastar is still a star
The Pacifica shares its powertrain with the Grand Caravan, though our tester was (thankfully) optioned with all-wheel-drive. Even on all-season Pirelli tires, the Pacifica handled the brutal-so-far winter we’ve been experiencing this winter surprisingly well. The 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 is a welcome familiarity here in the Pacifica as it is with the Grand Caravan, pumping out a class-competitive 287 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. The nine-speed automatic transmission doesn’t quite match the smoothness of the V6, but is passable.
I did observe a couple of instances where the transmission seemed to get confused and was stuck in a lower gear, pushing 4,500 RPM for a good 10 seconds before it decided it was ready to upshift. I never experienced this in the Grand Caravan; I wonder if the all-wheel-drive system alters the transmission tuning somewhat. Despite all that, the tried-and-true Pentastar V6 is a bright spot with the Pacifica.
The steering and suspension calibration also feels just right for a minivan. The Pacifica is certainly soft, but it never feels unduly. Overall ride quality benefits from the soft suspension, and the Pacifica feels more composed than the Grand Caravan, likely on account of our tester’s lower-profile tires.
Road trip ruler
Minivans are the only right choice for a roadtrip, no matter what the crossover and SUV brochures might tell you. To that effect, I filled the Pacifica with a toddler, five more adults, and four days’ worth of gear for a 700-kilometre road trip, and it delivered on most fronts. Space was both intuitive and abundant, with two adults in the third row offering nary a complaint, save for a bit of a bouncy ride out back. USB ports all around made sure everyone’s devices were charged up, and the audio system kept things fun. We didn’t keep any luggage in the aisle, either. Everything fit neatly behind the third row, with extra boots and gear being stowed away in the Stow ‘n Go compartments below the second row.
Fuel economy was a bit of a downer, however. The Pacifica did pretty well on the highway, but absolutely atrocious in the city. I averaged about 15 L/100 kilometres around town, but got it down to 10.8 only after 700 adaptive-cruise-control-assisted highway kilometres. The fully loaded cabin and all-wheel-drive system were certainly factors, but I still expected something better. If fuel economy is high on your list, either forego all-wheel-drive or look elsewhere, because the Pacifica PHEV has been discontinued.
Price is a factor
The $72,725 as-tested price tag for our Pacifica Limited AWD tester is rather steep, especially when a fully loaded, more modern, and hybrid Kia Carnival can be had for under $60,000. Even the Odyssey and Sienna can be had fully loaded in the low to mid-sixties. That makes the Pacifica a tough sell at face value, although real-world deals via discounts and promotional interest rates might bring it more in line with the competition.
But the biggest endorsement I can give was something I observed during our road trip. When I looked in the convex interior mirror, I saw my toddler, his grandmother, aunt, and uncle all open-mouthed sleeping. That’s when I knew the 2026 Chrysler Pacifica accomplished its road-tripper mission. Well, that and getting us back home safely.
