Hello from Europe! And why is USA so (UNINFORMED/UNDER-EQUIPPED)

[b dkw1]

they fly down the road

That is about the only thing I disagree with. The ones I have rented have passable power, I would never describe them as flying. They do however have great fuel economy.

The sliding paper window screens are not drunk girlfriend proof either.

Our last rental in Austria.

 

[Buliwyf]

Man, the "stupid insert-whatever-country/continent-you-want-here" vibes. Why all the negativity? Not to call you out specifically, Buliwyf, but I did notice "12 Ducati Panigale 1199S" in your signature. Last I checked, Ducati is from Italy, which, also last I checked, is still in Europe. But anyway...

Christian, thanks for the links, pics and vids. Good stuff, cool ideas to incorporate!

Did you read the thread title? We're you expecting a polite response?

The Spinter I delivered from Cleveland to Atlanta was pretty weak. Hopefully the camper versions are based on the bigger drw models, and more robust underneath.

 

[polomasta]

Lol OP says he's from the US in the first sentence... people need to chill out. The US market is responding to demand, hence the Winnebago Revel. If it sells well I'm sure other manufacturers will follow. That being said, there are SO MANY conversion companies out there now that offer alternatives to Sportsmobile. Off the top of my head:

• Expo Vans
• Benchmark Vehicles
• Freedom Vans
• Nomad Vanz
• Outside Van
• Vanlife Customs
• Advanture
• CampoVans
• Terranaut Vans

 

[kevman]

I'd argue that it goes beyond RV's in North America when it comes to uninspired design. Why do RV's in North America suck? Primarily because we have the space for large uninspired under designed boxes. In Europe they need to make things small and to get the features they want they need to be designed well. Here you just keep building it bigger. Same goes for our houses and furniture. Build bigger - not smarter!

Well that and the RV industry is the biggest group of junk dealers around. At every step along the build the components used in North America are garbage to save costs. Compare the stuff from Camco or JR Products (on almost every RV built in North America) to the equivalent items on a European made unit and there not even close.

 

[MarcusBrody]

I was wandering through an RV dealer lot the other day. I would love something with the layout of the Transit-based Coachman Freelander Micro (built on the Transit Chassis) for a 3 person basecamp style vehicle for skiing and mountain biking (plus to use as an extra guest cottage at our//my parents house when we're visiting one another), but 1. The build quality was pretty terrible 2. It seemed pretty much impossible to winterize (and so cuts out one of my major usages).

That being said, a high quality winterized version wouldn't cost the $60,000 they were asking for the one on the lot, so it would probably price me out anyway.

 

[CSG]

If you want to see the worst junk imaginable, take a look at Jayco's basic travel trailers. Embarrassingly bad. I thought one of their little Baja models might be good to tow with my LC. Just no.

 

[fire_strom]

Idiocracy and irrelevancy.

DOT/EPA!

X2

 

[luthj]

Yeah, its hard when we cant get good stuff imported. DOT and EPA requirements are not that different than europe, but testing to conform is not cheap, and most European companies won't go through the cost for the risk. The agencies in question have zero flexibility on imports, either it meets spec provably, or it doesn't.

The reality is that if the EPA didn't enforce the rules rigorously, People would import smoke belching stuff from the third world (in large quantities). If DOT didn't enforce safety standards, people would buy cheaper model cards (Nissans for example) sold in mexico. The difference in crash safety is amazing, with 200lbs less metal in a Nissan sedan sold in Mexico, no airbags, ABS etc. If big auto had their ideal, they would still be selling noxious fume belching deathtraps from 60+ years ago. All things said, the NA auto market is pretty varied, and costs are reasonable.

There is a decent middle ground here though. Canada for example with the 15 year rule. Or maybe a method to do an abbreviated emissions test on imports?

The other issue is that the NA market simply does not know what its missing. Many traditional RVers I meet are amazed that our van is 4 season capable, has convenient diesel heat, lightweight, etc.

In much of Europe space is at a premium, and creative and refined designs are the norm, we are spoiled in much of NA with large homes, cheap materials, and inexpensive fuel.

The other side of this conundrum is that the rest of the world simply doesn't have the huge variety of cheap consumer goods we have (amazon anyone?). There are no wrangler jeans or big pickup trucks in europe.

 

[Regcabguy]

He- Capris are the rage there though.

 

[Paddy]

Exactly right. Thats the way business works.
As an aside.
Its unfortunate the throwaway lifestyle is better established in the consumers mindset.
An entrenched monster. Unlikely to change soon.

I think this is wrong. Americans buy what’s offered and in the rv industry that is still grandmas doilie laden plush carpet monstrosity that has been for ages. Simply out Americans don’t know what they are missing. The very fact that SMB doesn’t use cassette toilets is a perfect example. Who has a dedicated rv dump in their driveway? Why on earth would you want a black tank on a weekender type van?

 

[Paddy]

M1078, I was about to reply to you, and tell you your response was out of line. But then, I realized, that the title called the USA stupid, and that was a little out of line too.

I've noticed these extreme / sharp titles have infected the internet in a real bad way lately. I understand that some people just crave attention, and in some cases there is a lot of profit tied to clicks / traffic on many websites, so content posters use whatever title they think will get the most attention, and traffic. But, I'm finding it really irritating, how inflamitory article / video / thread titles are getting.

Why does it always have to be "13 things we HATE about the new JL" when it's just some vloger with a pretty face going on about cupholder design and other insignificant dislikes. Why does it have to be "Will GM buy back my ZR2 Lemon?" When it is just some entitled rich kid that found a stitch out of place on his seat.

/Rant

Maybe I’m tiredness of jd power type articles that powder puff the butts of every product they review. I don’t know about y’all but I always read the negative reviews first. Sorry if my title was too negative for ya, but not really. I do think America is way off base on a lot of things, but I’d rather keep this thread about RV.

 

[Paddy]

EPA arguments don’t add up to me. These campers are all based on sprinters, ducatos and ram vans. Oh ya those new weird looking ram vans we have now to compete with the hugely successful sprinters in USA? They are called fiats and Peugeot’s over here lol. And sprinter format vans have been running here since the late 80’s and longer.
And since when are American pickups inexpensive?!

 

[Paddy]

This camper was great. Manual trans. FORD chassis. Super comfy for two dudes. We drove it in places so,e people would be worried with a car

 

[Paddy]

Here’s a cutie we saw in the camp ground

 

[Paddy]

Where is a ******** box Sprinter van going to go?

Oh look, more pavement. Yay. Stupid Europeans and their weak sauce as usual.

Ever heard of unimogs?