2021 Toyota Sienna vs 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid | Comparison test
Buying for a new vehicle can be hard owing to the sheer number of options. Which brand do you get started with, which do you skip and are you lacking one thing worthwhile? Thankfully, minivans are considerably more simple. There are successfully only 4 options, they are all pretty excellent and they are even diverse sufficient to make picking out the proper a person for you a bit much easier.
This comparison attributes the two most lately current minivans: the all-new 2021 Toyota Sienna vs . the refreshed 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. Other than their widespread newness, they stand out in an additional essential way: they are the two hybrids. Now, they are very diverse hybrids – the Toyota arrives normal with a regular gasoline-electrical technique like that of a Prius, while the Pacifica is offered with an optional plug-in hybrid technique that presents an believed 32 miles of all-electrical selection right before successfully turning into a regular hybrid – but in the two conditions, gasoline economic system is the precedence.
With the unusual exception, the minivan section has solely used V6 engines, which present ample electrical power to move hefty loads of persons and stuff. The Chrysler Pacifica arrives normal with a V6, though a V6 is the sole powertrain selection for the Honda Odyssey and future Kia Carnival. The gasoline economic system big difference between individuals and our hybrid competition is staggering: The new Sienna gets an EPA-believed 36 mpg mixed though the Odyssey and V6 Pacifica get 22 mpg. That equates to conserving an believed $750 each individual calendar year on fuel, in accordance to the EPA. And the Pacifica Hybrid could potentially help you save you even far more as very long as you routinely use its electrical selection.
This frugality by itself could send out the Sienna and Pacifica Hybrid to the leading of lots of browsing lists, but as we’ve witnessed in earlier exams, they supply far more than sufficient in other respects to warrant leading consideration. But which is superior, Sienna or Pacifica? Nicely, we understood this was likely to be shut, and we ended up proper. Just after averaging the scores from 16 groups, the big difference between initially and next was a mere .06 out of ten. When we extra further bodyweight to essential minivan-shopping for characteristics (next-row place/flexibility, security attributes and performance, infotainment, interior storage, cargo place/flexibility, benefit and gasoline economic system), the hole was only one point out of a attainable 230. We then triple checked and done a recount, but the order remained. In the stop, there are no losers in this article.
2nd Put: 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
The 2021 Pacifica Hybrid is diverse sufficient from its V6-only sibling that it could arguably be regarded as a independent model (far more so even than the stripped-down Chrysler Voyager budget model). The existence of the hybrid battery pack final results in essential changes that not only have an affect on gasoline economic system, but acceleration, dealing with, consolation and interior performance. They ultimately make for a superior minivan, and it’s surely the Pacifica we advocate – and indeed, inspite of coming in next in this article, we absolutely still advocate the Pacifica Hybrid.
In conditions of effectiveness, you virtually are not able to do superior than this plug-in hybrid minivan. If you plugged in each individual night and saved your day-to-day faculty dropoffs and errands within just its 32 miles of selection – a distinctive likelihood – journeys to the fuel station would be really unusual. Having said that, at the time that selection is long gone, the V6 engine and the van’s heftier bodyweight lead to that effectiveness to plummet. Even with two comprehensive fees, we managed 33.4 mpg above the study course of 119.5 miles, considerably of which was on rural point out highways. That compares to the EPA-believed figures of 30 mpg mixed when no electrical selection is involved, or 82 mpg-E, which is as considerably an algorithm as it an estimate. That’s also only 3.8 mpg superior than what we managed in the Sienna at 29.six mpg, which alone is perfectly south of the EPA estimate of 36 mpg.
Perhaps we just have direct ft, but both way, let’s not reduce sight that the two vans received sensational gasoline economic system as opposed to the segment’s V6-only norm of about 22 mpg mixed. You are likely to help you save a ton of funds with both, but just know that the far more you drive on the freeway and the significantly less you recharge, the significantly less productive the Pacifica Hybrid gets.
On the other hand, the Pacifica has a apparent acceleration advantage above the Sienna. Even though a variety of -to-sixty-mph exams by other publications have revealed the Chrysler to be quicker by only a 50 percent next or so, it feels far quicker about city and when passing on the freeway owing to the excellent torque presented by its far more common electrical motor and V6 engine (the Sienna has a 4-cylinder). Whilst the Sienna felt strained likely up hills, its e-CVT droning as Toyota hybrid devices are apt to do, the muscular Chrysler easily and effortlessly moved ahead. Its electrical propulsion makes it come to feel quicker than other fuel-only minivans as perfectly, which includes the common Pacifica.
The Chrysler’s other apparent advantage is its in-vehicle infotainment, the two for the driver and individuals in the again. The ten.one-inch Uconnect touchscreen you see in this article is not only normal for 2021, but it is an all-new device (termed Uconnect 5) with lovely graphics, speedy responses and a revised user interface. It appears to be superior than the Sienna’s and it’s much easier to use. It can also be upgraded with the FamCam, which fills the touchscreen with a birds-eye impression of the two rear seating rows. The Odyssey presents one thing very similar, but we greatly favor the Pacifica’s digital camera placement between rear rows (as opposed to earlier mentioned the next) and respect the potential to zoom in on a person seat. A person slight grievance: it would be good if FamCam didn’t get above the full screen, hence getting rid of the menu icons ordinarily docked at the leading and bottom. It was annoying likely again and forth between FamCam and satellite radio.
FamCam arrives in the exact $2,495 Uconnect Theater Spouse and children package deal that adds the Pacifica’s one of a kind rear seat amusement technique: a flip-up touchscreen, HDMI and USB ports, and a headphone jack on the again of every single front seat. This gets rid of the young children preventing above what to watch or participate in as they are going to have to with the Sienna’s one, roof-mounted screen (its technique is $one,415). Supplied the increased commonality of tablets and other hand-held equipment, we wonder how suitable rear-seat amusement devices are to modern minivan customers, but the Pacifica’s is yet far excellent.
That are not able to be explained of the Pacifica’s next-row seats. Nevertheless they recline far more than the Sienna’s veritable La-Z-Boys, their sliding length is comparatively minuscule, which limitations sprawl place, third-row access and cargo flexibility. And no, the Pacifica Hybrid does not have Chrysler’s Stow ‘N Go seats. The gap individuals would ordinarily drop into is filled with batteries. The upside, at least relative to other Pacificas, is that these seats are far far more comfortable and in essence indistinguishable from individuals up front. They even have prominent bolsters that pushed our infant vehicle seat foundation a couple of inches ahead from the seat again (only a difficulty in conditions of clearance to the front seat).
At last, there is certainly the subject of benefit, and it’s very sophisticated. If we simply just went by our test vehicles, a Pacifica Hybrid Restricted vs . the Sienna Platinum, the Chrysler would be a bargain. It stickers at $49,835 vs . the Sienna’s $fifty three,666, and even though it doesn’t have really as considerably equipment, what’s lacking sure doesn’t incorporate up to virtually $4,000. In addition, and here’s Portion one of the sophisticated bit, the Pacifica is qualified for a $seven,five hundred federal tax credit. That would convey its rate tag down to at least $eleven,331 significantly less than the Toyota. Indeed, you’ll want to wait right until your tax refund demonstrates up (and you’ll want to fork out at least $seven,five hundred in federal taxes), but appear on, that is big.
Portion 2, nevertheless, is that the foundation Pacifica Hybrid starts at $41,490 vs . the foundation Sienna at $35,635. Subtract the federal tax credit and that is a big difference of only $one,645. Thinking of that the Toyota has a couple of far more normal attributes and numerous strengths you are about to go through about, additionally the actuality that you’d in essence want to wait a calendar year right before you observed that $seven,five hundred on your taxes, the equation is altered significantly. Yet again, it’s sophisticated, but even if we granted the Pacifica Hybrid a significant benefit advantage, it wasn’t sufficient to eke in advance of the Toyota.
Initial Put: 2021 Toyota Sienna
To place it simply just, the new 2021 Sienna does a superior job of becoming a functional parenting instrument though simultaneously performing a superior job of assisting you overlook you are driving a parenting instrument.
That flexibility is very best witnessed in two essential regions that ended up weighted far more closely in this comparison’s scoresheet: storage and next-row performance. We went comprehensive James Cameron in our Sienna Interior Storage Deep Dive, filling all eighteen cupholders and acquiring locations to store a diaper-transforming clutch. We basically did the exact test with the Pacifica, and even though it presents far more storage than your regular significant crossover, its potential to stow compact and significant items alike was inferior to the Sienna. In specific, Toyota’s revolutionary two-tier heart console presents a huge place to store a significant purse like minivans generally used to do, but retains it off the ground and retains it from sliding with a rubber bottom. The console’s enclosed bin is bigger than the Pacifica’s as perfectly, it has 4 cupholders (additionally two in every single doorway) and its height is a person of individuals things that makes the Sienna come to feel far more crossover-like when at the rear of the wheel.
The next row, in the meantime, is Toyota’s “Super Prolonged-Slide” seats that extensively are living up to their identify. They can be pressed proper up from the third row to present Anthony Davis with sufficient place to sprawl out, or pushed all the way up from the front seats (the seat bottoms even fold up) to present far far more maximum cargo duration than the Pacifica Hybrid can take care of. This seat design and style arrives normal on all seven-passenger Siennas the eight-passenger model’s outboard seats never slide as considerably, but they are going to still go farther than the Chrysler’s. The Restricted and Platinum trims even contain a pop-out ottoman, which, many thanks to the further-very long sliding duration, are useable for even a six-foot-tall passenger. There is certainly no question which of these again seats more mature young children would favor. The sliding functionality also makes it much easier when making use of youngster seats, be it transferring them nearer to mother and dad up front, or additional way to mitigate the scourge of kicking or to let you still enter the van from the exact side when a rear-experiencing seat is put in.
The third-row seat bottom is not as deep as the Pacifica’s, and the windows again there are compact, giving a bit of darkened dungeon vibe. That the Pacifica had a light-colored cabin and a skylight above the third-row increased its comparatively airy feeling. Having said that, the Sienna’s third row is considerably much easier to raise and lower, with significantly less muscle mass expected. The two vans could have pretty much the exact amount of items in our luggage test, in which they matched the Honda Odyssey.
But now let’s transform our consideration to the driver, which in this test involved the two myself (West Coast Editor James Riswick) and my spouse (Chief Minivan Tests Guide Sarah Riswick). She astutely observed that though the Pacifica Hybrid felt faster in a straight line mainly because of its better electrical power, the Sienna felt like it could go faster owing to its far more composed dealing with and sharper steering. The latter even contains a Activity mode, which subtly raises weighting to improve matters additional. Even with its electrical power downside and droning engine notice, the Sienna is the very best minivan to drive whether on a winding highway to a ski vacation resort or just driving to Safeway. And recall, we ended up screening the Platinum model. There is certainly also the even sharper-driving Sienna XSE trim.
Like its far more participating driving expertise, the Sienna’s handsome and larger-high-quality cabin didn’t depend for as considerably on the score sheet as far more sensible factors, but it’s an advantage yet. Its driver-canted touchscreen, significant console and regular shifter in specific are decidedly un-van-like – and that is using into consideration how excellent the Pacifica cabin appears to be as opposed to the frumpy Honda Odyssey.
Otherwise, the two vans scored equally in conditions of experience consolation, front seat consolation and adjustability, and its security credentials. For the latter, every single appear normal with a equivalent array of driver guidance attributes that perform in an agreeable fashion. The two vans also get perfect crash scores from the Insurance policy Institute for Highway Safety. It can be also truly worth noting that the Sienna’s low factors are generally adopted by a warranted “yeah but.” It can be slow for a minivan, but it feels brief sufficient about city and its gasoline economic system is still fantastic. Its infotainment is not as excellent as the Pacifica’s, but it’s still perfectly simple to use. Its third row is significantly less comfortable, but it’s much easier to stow away.
In the stop, the Sienna wins this test by virtually the narrowest of margins, but the two are so shut and so excellent that individual desire and circumstance successfully makes it a coin flip. Perhaps you like the Sienna’s styling superior. Perhaps you never have any place to plug the Pacifica in. Perhaps, like our Chief Minivan Tests Guide, you dislike the Toyota’s organization brake pedal.
We would adore to definitively say “obtain this a person,” but a declaration of “take into consideration a person of these initially” looks like an acceptable summary.
