The Chrysler Pacifica remains almost a secret among SUV shoppers, despite its three years on the market and moderately good sales. The styling draws admiration from SUV and minivan owners alike, while the interior is comfortable and attractive. Handling and ride are both good, with the main drawbacks being price and gas mileage - better than full size SUVs, but not as good as minivans.

The main changes for 2007 were under the hood; styling is quite similar, with the headlights adjusted for Chrysler-brand “scallops” and grooves added to the hood. The interior is largely unchanged. Only when you start driving do you see the massive change that has taken over the Pacifica; even if you knew about the new engine, seeing the horsepower increase (a scant handful of horsepower) is no preparation for the drive. Luxury features are included, such as power seats, AutoStick, SentryKey, an alarm whose controls are on the key itself, a load levelling suspension with height control built in, air filtering, dual-zone air conditioning, powerful stereo, one-touch power windows (on all four, so you can zoom all the windows down very quickly), front and rear consoles, and cruise control.

Optional luxury features of note include a vehicle information center with compass, gas mileage, and other displays and a universal garage door opener (which sits in an overhead row of three buttons between the front dome lights, by the optional hatch opener button). New for 2007 is a new option - the rear view camera, a feature we first saw used by Lexus. You can get this in addition to the normal backup alert, which uses five sensors in the bumper to “feel out” how far away you are from solid objects; this can not only save time and trouble in parking, but can save lives by preventing backup-runover accidents (a huge number of children are killed or injured by people backing out of driveways.)

The system alerts drivers with multiple LEDs positioned over the rear window (where you can see them in the mirror), and with beeping. The rear view camera appears in the navigation system screen, using a camera above the license plate; you get a wide-angle lens view up front, with lines to show you where the Pacifica will be if you keep going backward (that’s a new one on us).