1997 GMC Safari SLE An oldie but very, very goodie. By Don Fuller, New Car Test Drive .com

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.