What the Safari offers, in quantity, is room, more of it than any other minivan you can buy. There's seating space for eight adults - real move-around seating space, with ample legroom at every position. And the maximum cargo volume of 170.4 cu. ft. is substantially more than even the largest front-drive minivans. The Ford Windstar, for example, maxes out at 144 cu. ft. The Safari is a tad more spacious than Ford's rear-drive Aerostar.Getting into all this space does have some drawbacks, though. The Safari sits rather high off the ground, and the climb into the front seats requires pulling yourself up and in, just like a full-size van. Once there, you'll see a dashboard design that's showing its age. The instruments themselves are easily visible, but some controls are awkward. You have to peer around the steering-wheel to see the climate controls; the power-mirror switch is a long reach away on the upper instrument panel; and the power-window switches are mounted flush on the doors, making them hard to see and awkward to use. Another drawback to the interior is the narrow front footwells. The front fenders intrude a bit, which limits the amount of space for your feet. However, there are lots of storage bins, map pockets, cubby holes and other places to stash personal items, and there are plenty of cupholders. And, of course, there are several sound-system options. The seats in our Safari SLT were very comfortable, and moving around inside was easy, with a wide walk-through space from the front seats to the middle row. And it's all put together well. Our Safari was devoid of rattles and squeaks, its doors closed with a solid thunk, and it had the solid feel that goes with good engineering and assembly.
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