The Good Housekeeping Institute (GHI) worked with Car and Driver to screen hundreds of new vehicles and to identify the top makes and models, with 15 picked as best-in-class vehicles. When all was said and done, the new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica was named as its 2020 Best New Family Car award winner in the minivan category.
Pacifica has earned more than 130 industry honors and accolades since it was introduced, with the 2020 Best New Family Car award marking Pacifica’s third consecutive honor from Good Housekeeping. Pacifica also won Best New Minivan of 2019 and Pacifica Hybrid, which is the first and still the only minivan to offer a hybrid powertrain option, won Best New Hybrid in 2018.
Revealed in February at the Chicago Auto Show, the new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica will offer a new AWD system, delivering America’s most capable minivan with AWD and the only minivan to offer both AWD and Stow ‘n Go seating. The available system delivers enhanced traction in a wide range of driving and road conditions – from dry pavement to snow-covered roads to non-paved surfaces – and engages seamlessly at any speed without the need for driver activation.
A utility-vehicle-inspired refresh of the interior and exterior, including the front grille, headlamps, fog lamps, and taillamp, yields a more athletic look and feel across the entire Pacifica lineup. The 2021 Pacifica delivers the most standard safety features in the industry, with 97 standard and 14 new-as-standard safety features, including new LED lights and new Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB).
A new top-of-the-line Pacifica Pinnacle™ model offers the most luxurious interior in its class, with one of Pacifica’s two new available integrated consoles designed to seamlessly flow into the instrument panel. Caramel Nappa leather seats are embellished with quilted seat side bolsters and perforated seat inserts and seatbacks on all three rows. A unique set of two fully movable lumbar comfort pillows for the second-row captain’s chairs match the quilted style and Caramel color of the leather seats and provide an additional dash of classy comfort and style for passengers.
The most technologically equipped vehicle of its kind, the 2021 Pacifica is bringing upgrades front and center with an all-new 10.1-inch touchscreen, part of the new Uconnect 5 system that will be offered for the first time in a North American FCA vehicle. Delivering the largest standard touchscreen in its class, the 10.1-inch touchscreen is nearly 20% larger than the screen it replaces and enables processing speeds up to five times faster than the previous generation.
One of many additional new features for the 2021 Pacifica is the FamCAM™ interior camera, which projects a best-in-class, high-definition image and allows the driver to keep close tabs on the action happening in the back with segment-exclusive features, including a clear view of rear-facing child seat occupants, a split-view display and a unique “zoom-to-seat” feature.
The Pacifica Hybrid, built at the Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, delivers more than 80 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) in electric-only mode, an all-electric range of more than 30 miles and a total range of more than 500 miles.
A full list of award winners appears in the May 2020 print edition of Good Housekeeping, which is on newsstands now in print and also available online.
