Will the Pacifica be AWD?

For quite some time, there has been talk of an all wheel drive version of the Chrysler Pacifica.

All wheel drive was dropped from Chrysler minivans many years ago, due to lack of demand. Now that AWD is trending upwards, it has become more valuable, but installing a driveshaft to reach the rear wheels would kill storage space — a key selling point in the minivan with fold-in-floor seats. They could make two different floor pans, but that would dramatically increase the cost.

The hybrid turns out to be the answer. It doesn’t have second-row Stow ’n’ Go, but it does have both motors and a gasoline engine. While the current hybrid (not in production yet) is not all wheel drive, the technology allows a future one to be. Packaging might be difficult in back, with the motors possibly intruding on interior space, but it’s not impossible.

The concept has already been proven on other cars, and it’s may be a matter of time (at least a year) before it hits the Chrysler Pacifica at last. By then, the Pacifica-based crossover should be out, and for that, AWD seems to be more important.

There has been no official announcements on AWD either way, except that the currently made Pacifica is front wheel drive only.

Read more at: http://www.allpar.com/news/2016/04/where-is-the-pacifica-awd-31589