Chrysler literally invented the front-wheel-drive minivan 16 years ago. Since then, a hungry market devoured 8 million of this maker's transport gadgets. Today, with no fewer than 15 competitors fighting for a chunk of that segment, DaimlerChrysler chefs have cooked up an even more delicious van. We recently sampled some early examples of this new-for-2001 recipe in a preview drive near Phoenix, Arizona.
Some of the basic ingredients of this eminently successful offering have not been changed, things like its size, seat-height, and front-drive configuration. But the upcoming Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Town & Country, and Chrysler (née Plymouth) Voyager, and models do benefit from quieter-ride suspension pieces, bigger brakes, a trio of more potent V-6 engines, a powered rear lift-gate, dual powered sliding doors, improved front airbags and new side-impact…