cars news 10: Chrysler Pacifica Is First Minivan to Earn 2016 IIHS TSP+ Award

The 2017 Chrysler Pacifica has earned a Top Safety Pick+ award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Earning a “Good” rating in all five crash tests, the Pacifica is the first minivan to earn IIHS’ most prestigious award this year. The 2016 Honda Odyssey and Kia Sedona were named Top Safety Picks, but failed to earn the “+” designation because they lack automatic braking as a front crash prevention technology. The 2016 Toyota Sienna and Nissan Quest miss out on the awards primarily for their small overlap crash performance, deemed “Average” and “Poor,” respectively.

IIHS says the award applies to 2017 Chrysler Pacificas built after August 2016. Production of the minivan began late February at the Windsor assembly plant in Canada.

The Pacifica performs much better than its predecessor in the IIHS tests. The 2016 Chrysler Town & Country earned a score of “Poor” in the small front overlap test, and was not available with front crash prevention technologies. The 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan received the same scores as the defunct Chrysler.

Safety features on the Chrysler Pacifica include adaptive cruise control with stop and hold, advance brake assist, blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning-plus, lane departure warning, park assist, rearview camera, and more. The 2017 Pacifica has not yet been rated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Source: IIHS