Senior Editor Seyth Miersma checks off the plusses and minuses of using a moving van as a daily driver.
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SEYTH MIERSMA: I'm in a vehicle that really kind of belies the name of this video series, "Daily Driver." This is the 2015 Ram ProMaster cargo van, and I'm in the high-roof, extended-length version of it. You can see that it's got an empty cargo bay behind me. And it's a little strange because what I'm doing right now is commuting in it, which is definitely not what this van is made to do.
But the single strongest attribute of the ProMaster [INAUDIBLE] that I found was its maneuverability at low speeds in and around town. And that wasn't really something I expected. I knew from driving the rest of the big vans in this segment-- I've been in various sprinters over the years, although not the brand-new one, and I put a lot of miles actually on the Nissan MP. They're all meant to be more nimble than they would seem from their exterior. But the Ram feels kind of a class above.
It turns on a dime. It's really, really easy to pull up close to a curb or another car and be able to just get in and out of the space with very little room around you. I had no problem getting up to speed with the rest of traffic. Merging and passing aren't really an issue. Sometimes, you'll hear her struggle a little bit if you really put your foot in and you're trying to get around somebody, but that's just wind resistance in [INAUDIBLE] van. That's to be expected.
Another aspect that I was really impressed with the ProMaster is the 3.6-liter V6 engine, both in terms of its performance and its economy. So it's putting out 280 horsepower, 258 pound feet of torque. It's a huge fan. It's not quick. The cargo area back there is really nice. Not only is it tall enough that I can stand up in it-- I mean, this vehicle is close to 9 feet overall from the exterior dimensions.
Access to the cargo area is just as easy as you would hope for, too. Got a big, big sliding door over here. The rear doors open completely flat so that it's easy to both maneuver and to get stuff in and out. Obviously, the load floor is pretty low, easily accessible. You got the UConnect screen, nicer head unit. It's great. It's got nav. Actually, if you're going to be doing stuff like anything on the highway or going to strange places, it would be really helpful to have. It's certainly not a plush sound system or anything, but for a van, it does feel high end.
My biggest problem when I first got into it is that at highway speeds, doing just a little under 70 right now, that same steering that's so maneuverable around town is really, really busy on the highway. And that's in the sweet spot around 70, really no more than 75 miles an hour. I found that if I accelerated much beyond that, the stability issue gets a little bit worse. On the highway, this is just not a very pleasant vehicle to be in.
So after driving it for a week, I can definitely say that the ProMaster is not the world's best daily driver, and I think Ram would be totally OK with hearing that. It's made to do other things. All right, van geeks. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you on the next "Daily Driver."
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