GMC Safari Overview

To many observers the van world consists of the giants (most often seen doing airport shuttle service) and the minivans (most often seen packed with kids and soccer gear). Somewhat overlooked is the middle ground, where you'll find the GMC Safari, its mechanical twin the Chevrolet Astro, and remaining stocks of the Ford Aerostar, which has reached the end of its production run. What sets these apart is that they are larger than the minis and are rear wheel drive.

While these mid-size vans may seem to be technological throwbacks, they serve a very real and valued purpose: With more power than the minivans, and with rear-wheel drive, they can tow much heavier trailers than the front-drive minivans can handle.

If your summer vacations or recreational pursuits include a boat, camping trailer, jet skis, dirt bikes, race car or anything else that rides to the play site, and if your tow vehicle is also going to have to serve daily use and you don't want to be forced into manhandling some monster through city traffic, one of these mid-size vans could be for you.

Among the available crop, we think the Safari and Astro rank very high. They're big enough to handle a fairly heavy trailer, without the trailer handling it. Playing a major role is the 4.3-liter V6 engine that delivers lots of torque for those big loads; it's by far the strongest powerplant in the segment. And just because a vehicle is rated for a certain trailer weight doesn't mean it will deal with it comfortably or easily, because the rating might be near the upper limit of what that vehicle actually can do. But the Safari and Astro have the size and power to deal comfortably with a trailer weighing 5500 pounds. These are great tow vehicles.