Toyota vs. Honda vs. Chrysler/Dodge
Wheelchair and Mobility Vans
Living with different Abilities can mean
it’s difficult to get to school or work, or out to dinner with family
or friends. According to a 2008 U.S. Census Bureau report, 3.3 million
non-institutionalized Americans over age 15 years use wheelchairs. The
reasons for limited mobility are as wide-ranging as the people affected
by it, and decades spent with the U.S. at war has dropped the average
age of wheelchair users significantly enough that the mobility industry
is rethinking the products it provides to support a growing
demographic. With that in mind, we recently took a look at wheelchair
accessible mobility vehicles from two leading industry players: Vantage
Mobility International (VMI) and Braun Ability. Each has spent decades
converting mostly bone-stock vans and minivans from automotive players
such as Chrysler, Toyota, and Honda
into wheelchair-accessible modes of transportation. It was our hope to
include VPG Autos’ MV-1, in our comparison. Unfortunately, VPG ceased
operations because of financial reasons during scheduling.
About the Testing
Several of the staff were wheelchair
users, to offer insight from a user’s perspective. While Elias uses hand
controls to drive his own vehicle, none of the vans featured such
controls, so instead Elias offered his opinions on ingress/egress, ride
comfort and noise as a passenger in a manual wheelchair. Jim Sanders has
worked on and seen these vans from their inception in the late 80′s to
what they have evolved into today. His 27+ years of hands on
experience offers a unmatched practical and theoretical foundation in
vehicle modifications for individuals with disabilities. All four of
the vans featured side entry ramps to the passenger area, rather than
lift-type systems. Because of limited time with the vehicles, and in an
effort to focus more on functionality as to ingress, egress and
usability. This test merely encompasses our general impressions of each
vehicle with some of us as newcomers to the mobility vehicle industry
and others being seasoned experts. We hope to offer a more in-depth long
term look at mobility vehicles in the future.
VMI Toyota Sienna (Base MSRP: $24,995 + cost of van)
The Toyota Sienna is Phoenix, Arizona-based VMI’s bread-and-butter mobility van. VMI sells more Siennas
than any other model, and, like Braun, works directly with Toyota in
the conversion process. While all modifications are made at VMI’s
headquarters, Toyota was a consultant on the integration of VMI’s
mobility-specific features and the vehicle alterations needed to make
everything fit properly. And those modifications are significant. The
VMI Sienna’s rear axle and seats are moved rearward by 12 inches to
extend the amount of usable passenger space inside the minivan, while
the floorpan is dropped 14.75 inches to allow more headroom and a lower
ramp angle for easier entry and exit. The structural revisions require a
revised rear suspension, exhaust system, fuel tank placement, and the
alteration of other smaller components. The modified vans have been
crash tested to ensure that they maintain at least the same safety
rating as they did before the conversion.
VMI is a leader in what is known in the industry as the “in-floor” ramp style, and this Toyota Sienna is equipped with such a system. In contrast to the “fold-out”-style ramp,
the in-floor unit is sandwiched between the passenger floor and the
bottom of the vehicle. It deploys horizontally from the vehicle and
drops to the ground near the end of its extension. The chief advantage
of an in-floor ramp is that it doesn’t intrude into the passenger area
of the van when stowed. This leaves more room for people, doesn’t limit
front passenger seat travel, and also keeps the vehicle free of debris
or moisture the ramp might pick up.We found VMI’s control system very
easy to use. There are three buttons that will simultaneously open the
passenger-side sliding door and deploy the ramp: one on the keyfob, one
near the door in the rear passenger area, and one on the vehicle’s
center console. This allows the door to be operated in nearly every
circumstance. One useful feature of the VMI ramp system is another
button near the steering wheel that allows the passenger side door to be
opened without deploying the ramp, in the event that no wheelchair
needs to be loaded.
Obviously, longer ramps with lower
extension points mean the wheelchair user has less of an approach angle
to tackle, and means it’s easier to enter and exit the vehicle. To this
end, VMI’s van is equipped with a lowering system dubbed Powerkneel that
drops the passenger side a couple extra inches to allow for an
8.5-degree ramp angle, allowing our wheelchair user onboard fairly
easily, even with a manual chair. Once inside, the VMI van boasts
impressive interior space, with 65.5 inches of length between the front
and rear seats and 61.5 inches of width between B-pillars to maneuver a wheelchair
— enough room for Greg to get into riding placement, and enter and exit
the vehicle fairly easily. To gather on-road impressions in each van,
Greg wheeled into the space made vacant by removing the front passenger seat.
In the VMI Sienna, the seat is removed by pulling a strap behind it
while pushing the seat upwards to release it from the floor. The seat
disengages fairly easily, but like all the seats in our test vehicles,
it wasn’t particularly easy to remove from the vehicle. Not only are the
seats in these vans heavy and cumbersome to move, but the wheels they
roll on are small and easily halted by small surface irregularities. It
took a 30-something editor in average shape a full minute or so to
remove a passenger seat from any of our vans. Once the seat is removed,
it must be rolled — we found the seats too heavy and awkward to carry
comfortably — to a storage location. This took another couple minutes
despite the van being parked just outside our vehicle workshop, because
of the awkwardness of maneuvering the seat on its rollers.
Once we were strapped in, we found the VMI Sienna
to be pleasant enough to drive and ride in. The van rode and performed
much like a standard Sienna, with a couple notable exceptions. Despite
making sure both front and rear passenger side doors were shut properly,
we heard a larger-than-average amount of wind noise coming from those
areas. We also heard quite a lot of exhaust noise coming from underneath
the front of the vehicle, and it often was louder than the wind noise
and more irritating. We suspect the former is a typical side effect of
the VMI conversion, but wonder if the latter may be an abnormality.
While there were a few small creaks and rattles while driving, the
overall level of such noises was much lower than any other vehicle in
this test. We were also most impressed with the ride quality of the VMI
Sienna, because it felt the most like a stock Sienna. VMI offers a
3-year/36,000-mile warranty on its ramp equipment, along with any
modified section of the van on each model it sells. Toyota’s warranty
coverage remains intact for any un-modified portion of the vehicle.
VMI’s recommended annual service on the in-ramp system is free of
charge.
Braun Ability Toyota Sienna (Base MSRP: $26,600 + cost of van)
Though Indiana-based Braun Ability
represents the fold-out school of ramp design more than the in-floor
school, citing lower cost and less complexity as key advantages, we
requested an in-floor version of its Sienna for a more-or-less
apples-to-apples comparison to the VMI product. (More on fold-out ramps
later.). We mention this in the sake of fairness — while VMI tends to
favor its in-floor tech, Braun is enthusiastic about fold-out ramps, and
each company’s sales of those products reflect that idea.
Like the VMI Sienna,
Braun’s version features a lowered floor, though with a 12.5-inch drop
it sits a quarter-inch higher than the VMI van. The rear axle remains in
the same position as stock and the Braun’s suspension is largely stock
as well. We found the Braun’s sideskirt styling (to improve aerodynamics
and reduce visual height of the drop-floor van) a little more flashy
than the VMI Sienna’s, and the gap between tire and wheel arch in the
Braun was greater than that on the VMI — likely a product of unique
suspension relocation after the floor drop. The Braun’s interior styling
is up to par compared with the competition. The ramp-specific controls
are laid out in a similar fashion to that in the VMI Sienna, though
Braun sticks with OEM symbols on its door/ramp buttons, where VMI prints
its brand name on the button face. The Braun loses a little bit of
interior space to the VMI product: Interior height in the center of the
passenger area is 58 inches versus 61.8 inches in the VMI, and because
Braun retains the stock rear seat position, length of the passenger area
is less, at 45 inches. The Braun’s rear-door opening width is a
half-inch wider at 31 inches, but it loses out in height at just over 54
inches compared with the VMI’s 57 inches. Braun also makes a tall-roof
XT version of its Sienna that ups the door opening height and rear cabin
height by nearly 2 inches each.
In operation, Braun’s in-floor ramp was
also slightly behind the performance of VMI product, though this might
be expected given the two company’s different focuses. Speed of
deployment was roughly the same, but the Braun’s ramp gave a slightly
louder “clang!” as it hit the ground, seeming to drop a touch harsher.
Braun’s Sienna also lacked the ability to disable ramp deployment from
the door-opening function. While this isn’t a huge deal — especially
given that these vans have two rear doors to exit from — it is a nice
convenience feature that Braun might consider adding in future products.
At 8.8 degrees, the Braun’s ramp angle is competitive with VMI, making
entry and exit similar, though taller wheelchair users will have less
headroom across the doorway. Braun also uses a hydraulic “kneeling”
system to lower the vehicle for easier ingress.
Removing the front passenger seat was
equally difficult on the Braun van as it was on the VMI product. On the
road, the newest Braun Sienna had a quieter ride overall considering the
lack of both excessive wind noise and exhaust noise that was annoyingly
present in the VMI. Braun claims to have reduced noise suppression by
25 percent starting with its newest models. Unfortunately, we heard
slightly squeaking and rattling coming from the Braun Sienna’s structure
— possibly a byproduct of what felt like a much firmer ride than the
VMI version. Similar to VMI, Braun also warranties all modified aspects
of its vehicles for 3 years and 36,000 miles.
VMI Honda Odyssey (Base MSRP: $24,995 + cost of van)
Both VMI and Braun Ability offer mobility vehicles based off multiple platforms. Among those options are VMI’s Honda Odyssey conversion. Like the Sienna, VMI offers Odyssey conversions of any trim level that offers power doors.
Our VMI Odyssey featured the same
in-floor ramp system as the Siena, and it worked in an identical
fashion, with three buttons available to open the sliding door and
deploy the ramp (along with the same ramp disable switch). The Odyssey
features a 12.75-inch floor drop, though headroom in the rear area is
nearly two inches less than the Sienna’s, while useable floor space
between the front and rear seats is nearly four inches less. Ramp angle
is 8.0 degrees, comparable to the Toyota.
Though we’re generally fans of the stock
Odyssey (in our last minivan comparison, the Honda finished second to
the Toyota), we were impressed with VMI’s conversion. The Odyssey rode
noticeably stiffer than either Sienna, even the firmer Braun version,
while transmitting some light interior rattles and creaking noises on
rougher patches of pavement and around turns. Passenger side wind noise
was still there and we had a light rattle from the floor over rough
roads. Also considering that a Honda Odyssey EX (the lowest trim level
with power-sliding doors necessary for the conversion) starts at roughly
$2000 more than the cheapest Sienna with the same feature (LE trim
level), we’re convinced the Sienna is a better value.
Braun Ability Chrysler Town & Country (Base MSRP: $23,300+cost of van)
Braun’s Chrysler Town and Country was the only van of our group to feature a fold-out style ramp — one of this conversion company’s specialties. In contrast to the ramp extending from underneath the floor, a fold-out system is stowed vertically, folded in half behind the front passenger seat. When the ramp is deployed, it lowers outside on a downward-angled plane, extending the folded portion before it makes contact with the ground. Braun claims that a key advantage to the system its ability to extend next to the majority of curbs. Because the ramp folds down more vertically than horizontally, the ramp theoretically will land on top of a curb, instead of hitting it on the side. Though VMI says its in-floor ramp will deploy on any surface up to 10 inches tall, Braun’s fold-out ramp would potentially be able to go taller.
The Braun fold-out ramp worked using the
same types of controls as its in-floor unit and we found operation to
be fairly smooth, though deployment seemed to take several seconds
longer than the in-floor version. That said, in our limited testing we
found the cons of the fold-out ramp to outweigh the positives. The
primary con is that when folded in the van, the ramp takes up quite a
bit of room that could be used for people to stretch out, or to store
gear and supplies. It was also noisy, clanking and banging its folded
sections against itself over road imperfections on our driving loops.
We were also unimpressed with other
banging noises we heard, including a loud noise that seemed to come from
the rear cargo compartment. A search of the area for the source of the
noise failed to discover a cause. As we’ve found with stock Town and
Country vans, our conversion was also less pleasant to drive than the
Toyota or Honda vans, with a less-responsive powertrain, poorer ride
quality, and a heavy, blunt feel behind the wheel. All that said, our
extra-tall XT version of the Chrysler did offer the lowest ramp angle at
7.5 degrees, while offering the greatest rear passenger area height (61
inches) and width (62 inches) — both measurements 0.5 inch more than
the VMI Sienna. Unfortunately, a half inch and a half degree didn’t make
up for the Chrysler’s shortcomings.
