We rented the Transit Storyteller Overland. Time for an update.
@ruadhrigh to answer your question, well a trailer is a massive PITA. You can’t park anywhere, it’s worst than anything offroad, etc.
A pop top sprinter would work well but I have not seen a model that I like like the ST.
So, in one world it was great in so many aspects. During that rental I focused on comparing everything I could with the Supertramp.
- driving parking etc, was super easy. I have no idea what ruadhrigh is talking about with a lifted Transit driving bad, this drove like a sedan. The front visibility and short hood is game changing. It made things easier both on and off road, which brings me to:
- offroad: we were positively suprised. The visibility and short front end makes it easier to offroad than a pickup seriously, until you reach impassable terrain of course. But maneuvering in between massive rocks etc was super easy. You practically see your front wheels. For someone like me used to drive with a huge hood and always guessing where my wheel placement is, it really made my life easier. Washboard was better than expected but not comparable to a vehicle on 37s aired down with nice shocks of course.
- having large windows in all direction (windshield, and both sides of the van) is game changing. I dont think I could live without it. We spent a lot of time in the van due to weather and we spent that time looking out the windows doing whatever we were doing. What’s the point camping in a magic spot if what you see when you sit in the camper is your kitchen with a white wall behind it?
- The 12kwh battery is game changing (you will hear that a lot). The crazy part is it’s charges at 9000W when you drive!!! How incredible is it to have essentially unlimited power? I mean we drove from camp to a hiking trailhead for 20min it was at 100% again (and had we had not, we still had power for days). Our power consumption (hot water, showers, heating, fans, lights, charging stuff…) was on average 200-300W. There is simply no way I could make power work in a Supertramp. And that is without AC imagine in summer.
- Hydronic heating that pulls from the gas with on demand hot water, not having to worry about altitude or refill propane was great. Shower is setup in 15 seconds, much better system than the LT.
- A massive advantage is when you park to camp, your living space is already warm. Your bed is warm, your furnitures are warm, thanks to the cabin heating while driving. This is game changing. You park, you stay in your t-shirt and just move back 2 feet to your lounge and enjoy your evening. I repeated this scenario in my head, and realized with the truck I would need to dress up (below freezing outside and snowing), go setup the camper, then turn on the heat and freeze my butt for 30 min while it heats up.
- Getting in and out of the van was super easy and I thought I would not care but I realized we did get in and out a LOT.
- The rear seats that transform into lounge was great and used all the time. I was lounging a lot to read books with the back inclined and could not help but thinking how uncomfortable it must be in the LT with the straight back wall.
- Insulation was great and no condensation, below freezing outside, 70F inside.
- The way space is utilized for cargo, passengers, use of the front / seat cabin part of the living space cannot be beaten.
- The quietness from the weather due to not having a pop up was great.
- It’s shorter wheelbase and shorter in length than a F250 both of which help greatly on trails.
So in short we loved it. But what about the cons? There are a few big cons:
- when the offroading becomes rock crawling you won‘t compete with a 37in tire pickup. My best way to put it is that the capability of this van offroad is surprising and equals a subaru forester with better visibility. Still that’s no Jeep far from it. The Sprinter chassis with the proper lift and tires is even better
- Front seat comfort is average and legroom is poor.
- Technology is ridiculously bad. You pay all that money for a van and end up with fabric seats, no heated nothing, no safety assists. It frankly sucks and it pretty much is my biggest deal breaker with the van.
- I like the rugged aspect of a pickup, being able to go most places. The van is more stressful because if you don’t make it past the obstacle your are tackling then good luck.
So what will we do? I don’t know. I think the LT lost a few points in the equation. They need a decent power option and go full electric ditching propane. Their actual feedback is that nobody need more power than they offer. I work in sales and I would never tell my customers they don‘t need what they ask for. Our power consumption was not that high. We did not even use starlink or PCs to work. I could see a huge amount of people needing more power than they offer, so I thought their reaction was really out of place.
Also, they need Hydronic heating with recirculating hot water. And all of that while being 180K max with the pickup. Then it becomes more comparable, and essentially you would trade off-roading with living space and usability when debating LT vs Storyteller.
The Transit? Well I don‘t know that I can live with the poor tech and lack of space for my legs when driving. It’s just really bad. And at the end of the day you spend long time driving. If we find a good deal to swallow that compromise, maybe?
The Tune option remains. It’s interesting because budget friendly, can build the interior as I want with all the battery power I want, etc. And I can put it on an efficient full size F-150 again optioned how I want. Comes with many compromises but at least you don’t pay the price of a condo for it like for the ST and the LT.
There is no perfect option, and everybody’s need is different. I am glad we do have so many options and hopefully my little train of thoughts and experience in the last few pages will help others having similar dilemma.
I encourage everybody to rent and try all options. I sat 1 hour in a Transit and Storyteller and it brought me NOTHING compared to living the experience for several days. If I could rent a Supertramp this would be my next move but I won‘t fly to Denver to sit 1h in one. Maybe it would surprise me like the Transit did? I would love to try for sure, it would only be fair to spend an equal amount of time before making a final judgement.
.