Sitting in the Aerostar's driver or front passenger seat is a little like looking out
the windows of a posh second-story restaurant. Quite a view, quite an elevation.
One of the higher rides on the road contributes to the same sense of command that a
lot of folks favor in sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks.
This van is major-league comfortable. The front captain's chairs, for instance, have
the firmess and contours you want for support and stability, with enough give to keep
lower backs and legs happy over a long, long haul. One element of our test included a
240-mile night trip in the dead of winter. Although that kind of driving can build
tension, all hands arrived at our hotel fresh and relaxed, including an 8-year-old who
was able to stretch out and snooze most of the way.
Cargo room, obviously, is the other big plus for this van, particularly with the rear
seats removed. The downside to seat removal is that it's a task better left to your
friendly neighborhood NFL lineman. Too much weight, too much work. In this area,
virtually all of the newer front drive minivans have an edge.
But once the seats are extracted, and the linemen have gone home, cargo space totals
139 cu. ft., a number that zooms to 167.7 cu. ft. in the extended model. Although the
new Chrysler minivans now offer similar cargo capacity, that's still a lot of room to
put stuff--lumber, bicycles, wading pools or all the bags of springtime topsoil your
garden will ever need.
As for the Aerostar's cockpit comforts, instrumentation is basic and no-nonsense, with
clearly displayed gauges and handily positioned controls, such as the headlight
switch, rear defroster and the climate controls. One thing we didn't care for was the
hard-to-find horn buttons, which could be tough to hit in a split-second situation.
Another troublesome exception--push-button audio controls. These exercises in fingertip
dexterity may be fine for a sobriety test, but we found them unnecessarily challenging
to use when the van was moving.
We also noted the absence of a front passenger airbag. Ford's resistance to this
passive safety installation, which would entail a significant interior redesign and
retooling investment, indicates that the Aerostar is still on the endangered species
list.
There are vans with greater getaway acceleration than the Aerostar. GM's Astro/Safari
twins have distinctly more punch, as well as higher towing capabilities, though they
still suffer from cramped front footwells.
On the other side of the ledger, the newest front-drive minivans provide a smoother,
more car-like driving experience. The Aerostar, after all, is essentially a truck at
the chassis level.
But even so, we liked the way this van performed on long trips. The ride quality might
be a trifle firmer than, say, the Windstar, but it's non-intrusive on the open road
and the high seating position delivers a commanding view. And we found that the
standard 3.0-liter engine had plenty of get-up-and-go in passing situations, an
activity that was enhanced by the overdrive on-off switch, handily set into the end of
the steering column-mounted shift lever. Switch the overdrive off for a little extra
go, switch it back on to resume cruising.
The Aerostar is equally comfortable around town. For all its size, it's just as
maneuverable as its front-drive rivals, a rear-drive advantage that shows up in a
relatively tidy turning circle.
It also does a good job of keeping up with urban traffic. The standard V6 is adequate
for basic light duty, but not much more. The larger V6, with its extra low-rpm grunt,
is a much better choice for the kind of heavier hauling that is really this van's
strong suit. In this sense, the fact that you get a larger van with the larger engine
makes sense.
On the other hand, more room means more money. The extended Aerostar starts at
$21,120.