Minivan Thursday CC Outtake 3: The One I Should Have Bought

Unable to explain my repeatedly checked and observed and correctly computed higher-than-expected 30 mpg at a steady cruise-controlled 70 mph while in the auto tranny's over-drive mode. Twas while motorvating across I-80, I-29 and other flat mid-western areas while seeking best possible mileage so limited observation points to areas outside the few metro areas where traffic could cause a deviation from the controlled steady-state hum-drum 70 mph allowed by miniumal traffic flow and lack of entering traffic and the too-many idiots requiring miles of sloooooow acceleration to accelerate from their freeway entrance sped of typically 30 or more mph less than the posted limit or the average actual speed of traffic flow, etc etc etc (the multitude of impediments to safe logical driving practices observed by the enormous number of brain-dead droids infesting the roads). Anyway...... repeated observations and the handy electronic portable electronic brain confirmed the true actual 30 mpg figure at 70 mph with the mentioned restrictions. Minimal on-board weight... spare tire, my 220 pounds of all-American muscle, gristle and lard. A couple dozen pounds of tools, etc. I DID have the Bean tuned and maintained beyond the basics such as oil changes, etc (did those myself) by a top-notch Toyota-trained mechanic. He did a few little things he declared improved the Bean in some ways such as little tweaks to this and that setting and he used a small Dremel-sized grinder to slightly alter a few parts in the air induction system..... but nothing major. However, the Bean never attained nuthin' but lousy mpg in town. It was only steady-state freeway speeds but even then a strong head or side wide could wreak havoc on mpg. Thanks to the udders for their comments and observations, they were interesting. The Chevy Van had its "love song" from the 70s. I wonder if the Bean ever received its ballad about the barefoot babe pleasuring her ride-offering hero?

These have always been a favorite vehicle of mine and if I ever had a van this would be it. I wonder how easy it is to mod the supercharged 4 to about 300bhp? That would be so much fun!

This short article says it all about Toyota. I still would buy another one and I believe thay will get out of this mess like Ford did with the Pinto and Explorer.

I own a '95 Dodge Grand Caravan ES which I purchased new. The GC handles better, is safer and much more functional...always a Chrysler minivan selling point. Also, when needed, much cheaper to repair and parts are plentiful as Chrysler was selling near a 1/2 million of these vehicles per year back in '95. There was a reason...they were the best packaged minivans for the money. Still so today. Not to mention my GC has 217K miles and is on the original untouched 3.8 V6 and transmission. Yep, that's right...217K miles on the original, never touched but for maintainance, transmission...and I constantly use it to haul stuff as it is commercially used. All it takes is a little PROPER per factory maintainance.