A few things not spoken of yet, are that the 6-lug vans lost quite a bit of turning radius when compared to the older vans (My '05 replaced '93). It's a bit harder to park than the 5-lug vans.
The newer brakes definately are worth the change. The new van stops like a BMW. Also, the '05 has over 80,000 miles on it, and the brakes are only about 1/2 worn. My '93 was on it's third set of front pads by 80.000 miles.
The other thing I really like on the '05 is the retained accessory power. I think this was introduced in '01. This keeps the van's accessory power on (without the key in the ignition) until someone opens a door, or 20 minutes, whichever comes first.
Last; if you accidently leave any of the interior lights on, the newer vans will shut them off in time to save your battery from killing itself. Don't know when this was introduced...