Oldsmobile Silhouette reviews

2004 Oldsmobile Silhouette Interior Features

The Silhouette is a great vehicle for big families, extended families, and multi-generation family units. It rides on a long wheelbase, just a smidge longer than the Chrysler Town & Country, and it compares favorably to that vehicle.

The Silhouette coddles and comforts its occupants. It comes with bucket seats in front and two captain's chairs in the middle row that fold flat. For the third row, GLS and Premiere models offer a choice of three types of seating: a 50/50 split bench that will hold three adults, captain's chairs, or stowable seats. It's a good idea for buyers to spend some time thinking about the best seating arrangement for their needs. Bins and cubbies and cup holders are available at every seating position.

Head and elbow room are generous in all seats. The third-row seats are perched a bit taller than the middle row, so the view forward is clear. Moms tell us that smaller children mounted at such heights are entertained by what they can see out the windows, and that this keeps them quieter.

The seats fold and remove easily. Handy little pictograms on the frames underneath the seats instruct you how to unlatch them from the floor. They are the lightest seats in the business, so removing them is worthwhile when you need greater cargo capacity. However, they are heavy enough that an adult or strong adolescent is best entrusted with moving them across the minivan's floor and into your garage. The available stowable third-row seat eliminates the need to remove the third-row seats.

There's enough cargo space for six suitcases, but you'll have to use the roof rack (standard) if you want to cross the country with the six big folks that the comfortable seats invite.

Premiere and GLS come with smooth leather seating surfaces, but otherwise look similar inside to the Chevrolet Venture and Pontiac Montana. The dashboard is neatly arranged; the gauges are easy to read, and other controls are intuitive, once you get used to the door switches in the overhead console.

A new DVD-based entertainment system features wireless remote control and on-screen programming. Viewers can choose among normal, wide, cinema, and zoom settings on the big, wide 16x9-inch DVD-formatted video screen. Stereo RCA jacks provide inputs for video game stations, camcorders, and wireless headphones with separate volume controls. The rear seat features HVAC and audio controls for AM/FM radio, cassette tapes and CDs. The video screen folds down from the ceiling behind the two front-seat occupants. Passengers can choose among different audio sources. This way the driver can cruise along in relative silence while the rear-seat passengers switch stations or play CDs or watch DVD video. There are even input jacks for Nintendo, Sega Genesis, or Sony Play Station video game machines that play on the flip-down monitor. This all sounds like complex integration, but the end result is simple: No matter where you sit, you can enjoy your own form of entertainment. All of the systems can be overridden by the boss in the driver's seat, which is helpful for parents issuing time-outs to unruly kids.