You have to understand that the all-new 2004 Toyota Sienna is a left-brain vehicle.  The Sienna already had a lot to make your pragmatic, practical side happy, and the much-welcomed redesign takes the very concept of what a minivan can be to a new level.  With more power, more space, better fuel economy and so many ergonomic innovations you’d need a van just to carry them all, the Sienna is a sizeable leap forward in the minivan’s evolution.  Great news.  In the meantime, we’ll understand if your right brain is …

During my week with the Volkswagen EuroVan, more than one person expressed surprise to hear that Volkswagen still builds a minivan.  For anyone else out there who didn’t realize, I’ll clear this up right now: yes, Volkswagen still builds vans.  They’ve been making them all along.  And, all of that experience shows, because the 2003 EuroVan is one heck of a vehicle.  Even if you never noticed it before.

Most minivans suffer from an identity crisis.  It’s so uncool to be a minivan that they work hard at not being vans.  …

I caught women in Kia Sedonas and Toyota Siennas eyeing the Pacifica during my test drive.  And with good reason, whether they’re aware of it or not.  What you’ve got here is what soccer moms in leather-wrapped minivans have been looking for; a people hauler that does double-duty as a stress relief chamber.

The idea behind the Pacifica isn’t all that complex; it’s taller than a station wagon, but shorter than a minivan.  Chrysler humbly says it’s the Next Big Thing, or NBT.  The Pacifica looks like a minivan with an …

So, before you ask: no, Volkswagen’s new minivan isn’t a Microbus. It doesn’t look like a Microbus, and it doesn’t have the same attitude. Yes, I know it would have been awesome if they re-created the Microbus. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let me introduce you to the Volkswagen Routan.

We like the MPV a lot, but we wish that Mazda would drop the insipid “zoom ZOOM zoom” jingle already.  The biggest problem with the updated-for-2003 MPV minivan is that we can’t stop humming it while we drive.

To date, there hasn’t been a lot of design flexibility in minivans.  The MPV is no exception; it looks more or less the same as it has since its last major update in 2000.  In spite of the familiar face, the new MPV has been tweaked.  A mid-year update last year added a …

You’d think that Chrysler would be content to rest on its laurels when it comes to minivans.  After all, the useful little boxes from Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth have fairly dominated the market they helped to create from the beginning.  The latest incarnation features a power-operated rear liftgate and a movable center console, among other surprise-and-delight features, and Chrysler has a van at every conceivable price level in the market, with dozens of trim level combinations to choose from.  So what else is there to do?

Make ‘em easier to buy, …

The Ford Windstar is the only of the Big Three’s minivans with only one permutation.  Chrysler’s various minis are available as two different brands, with two different lengths.  General Motors also produces similar minivans under three different imprints, in two lengths.  But the Windstar stands alone.  There’s no Mercury or Lincoln version, and no short-wheelbase model, either.  The other two minivans sold under Ford’s umbrella, the Mazda MPV and Mercury Villager, are on completely different platforms.

That’s both good and bad.  It’s good because it means that there are no shared …

Picture an average middle-class suburb, in all its splendor.  You know:  tree-lined streets, perfectly manicured lawns, average-sized cookie-cutter houses, average children running and playing, and the sound of sprinklers and singing birds seasoning the air gently.  And in every other driveway, there’s an average minivan.

Okay, now look closer at that minivan.  If you were to slap a badge on it, it would probably wind up being a Toyota Sienna.  That’s not because Toyota sells more minivans than anyone else (that honor goes to Chrysler), but because the Sienna is about …

It wasn’t your imagination; that minivan you saw the other day did have a Warner Bros. logo on it.  And it’s not one of those cheap badges you can get from the WB store, either.  No, this minivan is more than just mass transit for rugrats.  It comes with toys!  It also benefits from other improvements that Chevy has made to the Venture for 2001, with GM’s OnStar system, a parking assist system, and fold-flat captain’s chairs.

The Chevy Venture has always been one of those faceless minivans that sort of …

Mazda’s once-forgettable MPV minvan has undergone a total makeover that transforms it from an afterthought in the lineup to a standout in its class.

Is this exciting to anyone other than suburban parents with large families?  Well, it ought to be.  For the most part, minivans aren’t the stars of the automotive world.  They’re not even the supporting actors.  At a glance, there’s not much difference from one minivan to the next; no flashy styling trends, no high-performance sport packages.  Minivans are all about hauling people and things, and that’s about …