The Chevrolet Venture is a minivan produced by Chevrolet from the 1997 to 2005 model years. The Chevrolet Venture had replaced the Chevrolet Lumina APV. The Chevrolet Venture had also had identical GM minivan siblings: the Pontiac Trans Sport/Montana, the Oldsmobile Silhouette, the Chinese-market Buick GL8, the European (except for the UK) the Opel Sintra, the United Kingdom-market Vauxhall Sintra minivan.
The Chevrolet Venture, along with its other GM minivan siblings, was built at GM's Doraville, Georgia, assembly plant. The Buick GL8 was made by Shanghai GM, and it was built in Shanghai, China. The Opel Sintra and the Vauxhall Sintra were also made at GM's Doraville, Georgia, assembly plant.
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Use of Name
The Venture name was first used on a 1988 Chevrolet concept car.
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History
The Venture was introduced in 1996 for the 1997 model year as a replacement for the radically styled Lumina APV. In the United States, it was also sold as the Oldsmobile Silhouette and the Pontiac Trans Sport, which was later renamed as the Pontiac Montana for 1999 (2000 in Canada). The Venture came in three trim levels, the base, LS, and LT. The base models of the Venture were short wheelbase models which came equipped with cloth upholstery, front bucket seats with fixed head restraints, a 2nd-row 2-passenger bench seat, and steel wheels. The LS came in both short and long wheelbases, and offered aluminum wheels, a varied seating configuration, adjustable head restraints, side airbags, power windows (optional on the base models), and a remote keyless entry system. The LT model was an upscale of the LS and was exclusively a long wheelbase model and offered a power driver seat (optional on the base and LS models), optional leather seats, a roof rack (optional on the base and LS models), and a driver side sliding door (optional on the base and LS models from 1997-1999). The anti-lock brakes were standard on all Ventures from 1997-2002, but became optional on the base models later on.
The Venture and its siblings were powered by GM's 3.4 L LA1 V6, rated at 180 hp (134 kW). After 1999, the engine was slightly redesigned to produce an extra 5 hp (4 kW), for a total of 185 hp (138 kW), and the alarm system for seatbelts, door ajar, low fuel, etc. have been changed. All Ventures used a four-speed automatic transmission. The Venture was one of the few minivans to have an 8-passenger seating configuration as an option when most minivans seated up to 7 passengers. In 2000, the driver side sliding door became standard on all trim levels, when the passenger side only sliding door models of minivans have rapidly fallen out of favor since the 1996 models of Chrysler minivans. The exterior was refreshed in 2001, a back-up alarm was added to indicate possible obstacles behind the vehicle, and all-wheel drive was introduced in 2002. Also for 2002 was a new steering wheel equivalent to the 2000-2005 Chevrolet Impala, replacing the steering wheel equivalent to the 1995-2001 Chevrolet Lumina. New for this generation, cabin air filters were installed, and the filters can be accessed from behind an access panel easily accessed from inside the glove compartment.
The optional 2-3-2 seating configuration was dropped in favor of the more conventional 2-2-3 and 2-3-3 seating configurations. The 2-3-3 was the standard for the Chinese-made Buick GL8, and a 10-seats arranged in a 3-4-3 configuration was used in a Chinese-made version of the Chevrolet Venture for export to the Philippines where 10-seaters are favored with lower taxes. Reviews and sales were generally lukewarm, especially about the relatively narrow cabin due to being designed for European roads. The vans came in both short and long wheelbases, and all-wheel drive versions like the Chrysler minivans. The third row bench seat was designed to fold flat (introduced for 2001 and available on LS and Warner Bros. models), but forming a higher floor unlike the Honda, Mazda and Nissan minivans that folded into a well behind the third row.
The Venture was replaced after 2005 by the Chevrolet Uplander, which was essentially a facelift with one long wheelbase configuration, and a longer nose which served chiefly to improve crush distance and styling more like an SUV. Only the long-wheelbase Venture was sold for 2005 in the US but the short-wheelbase was still offered in Canada. Production of the Chevy Venture ended on June 24, 2005.
Model year changes
- 1997 model year-Introduction of the base model in early 1997. The 1997-1999 Ventures were their new version. The LS model is also introduced in 1997.
- 1998 model year-Available Versatrak all-wheel-drive system, power sliding doors and available OnStar were options on all models. 1998 is also the last year for the base model.
- 1999 model year-New wheels are introduced as an optional feature on the Venture for 1999. A new Warner Bros. Edition is also introduced for the 1999 model year on the Venture, along with a built-in TV system with a DVD-player and a built-in VCR system as well.
- 2000 model year-The trim announced for 2000. A new LTV (LT VERSATRAK) trim is introduced with the Versatrak all-wheel drive system
- 2001 model year (mid-cycle refresh)-OnStar is now a standard feature on the Venture. The Venture had also received a mid-cycle refresh with a redesigned front grille that matches the Chevrolet Impala's front grille. The 2001 Venture had also received a redesigned new steering wheel.
- 2003 model year-More equipment packages were introduced for 2003. The Venture is now available with XM Satellite Radio.
- 2004 model year-The Versatrak system was discontinued. The LT trim is discontinued. A touchscreen navigation system is now available as an optional feature.
- 2005 model year-This is the last year for the Venture. The Venture is unchanged. The short-wheelbase version of the Venture is now only available to rental car companies and to the fleet-market for the 2005 model year. The Venture is replaced with the Uplander.
Trim Levels
- Base: The base model introduced in 1997.
- LS: The LS model- introduced 1997 and was a level above the base model.
- LT: The LT model was introduced in 1999.
- LTV: The LT VERSATRACK model was introduced in September 2000.
- Warner Bros. Edition: Introduced in September 20, 1999 for the 2000 model year.
Warner Bros. Edition
A Warner Bros. edition, introduced on September 20, 1999, included leather and cloth seats, built-in child restraints, Warner Bros. badging with Bugs Bunny leaning against the Warner Bros. logo, and an DVD entertainment system, a novelty at the time (however, some editions included a VHS player instead).
The Warner Bros. edition was a very rare model that was only produced for the 2000-2003 model years and the only model to come with a monochromatic exterior (like its Silhouette twin) as opposed to black accents that the other Ventures offered and this model only came in four colors: Blue, red, silver, and black. These models included VHS and DVD compilations of Looney Tunes, girls pajamas, a cooler with can holders, a special keychain, and a beach blanket, as an amenity kit.
Safety
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 1997 Chevrolet Venture a rating of four stars out of five in a head-on collision, and five stars in the side-impact collision. Tests on subsequent model years yielded results of four stars in most categories, and three or five stars in others. The NHTSA does not conduct offset frontal crash tests.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested the Pontiac Trans Sport (a twin of the Venture) in late 1996, and it received a "Poor" rating in the 40 MPH offset frontal crash test for poor structural performance, and was ranked as the "Worst Performing Vehicle" of all the vehicles tested, with test results indicating a high risk of serious injury or fatality. This result affected both the Venture's and the Silhouette's safety reputations (as well as the Pontiac Montana/Trans Sport). Its European twin, the Opel Sintra, did badly in the EuroNCAP's crash tests as well, with only two stars (out of five).
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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