2019 Sprinter Chassis

[bclemens]

I'll be taking home our first Sprinter on the 2019 chassis this weekend. While it will be a mess for model year (since its mid-year), we figured this was a good opportunity to also update a whole host of other things....

Wood
Multiplex
AGS
Furniture
Safe

I'll try and get a few more sneak peeks....but until our dealers see it, I can't give the farm away.

[cooper16]

Bring on the sneak peeks.

[Tmrut5]

Will the AGS have a shore power connection so that if the RV park goes out the generator will kick on and run AC. During my last trip that happened and it was hot out and I have dogs. Fortunately we were there and the outage did not last long. I am hoping it does. You are currently building mine now.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Tmrut5

Will the AGS have a shore power connection so that if the RV park goes out the generator will kick on and run AC. During my last trip that happened and it was hot out and I have dogs. Fortunately we were there and the outage did not last long. I am hoping it does. You are currently building mine now.

That's what AGS does.

[bclemens]

Weekend was a good test.

The only way to describe the chassis is that it went from being designed by the Flintstones, to being designed by the Jetson's. It's almost TOO advanced.

I loved it, but there is going to be a steep learning curve. The touch screen is super cool, but at 10" wide the right side is a little hard to get to. UNTIL of course you discover the magic buttons. On the steering wheel there are two small buttons. They are "touch controls". The right side lets you scroll, swipe, etc on the 10" screen. On the left side, there is another one that does the same thing for the Speedo screen. Super intuitive.

Two things I did not love (but will get used to).
1. It has all the gadgets. (3) USB's in the UPPER dash area, I wish there was one down on the face so I didn't have to have a cord running across the dash. Problem is ALL of them are USBC. Who has a USBC to USBC cord laying around? I know that is the way it is going, but even my newest iPad pro has a standard USB port to USBC for the iPad. I couldn't plug anything in. (I'll get an adaptor, but they are still a few years ahead on this one).

2. I did not love that the seat controls are in the door. While its cool that they made the controls look like the seat (base and rear)...they're on the door. So I am leaning slightly forward to control them. Which means I am not in my normal seating position. On the seat base would have made much more sense.

Voice control was pretty cool. I said "Hey Mercedes, Navigate to Starbucks" and it pulled up a list of the closest ones and we routed to it. Although sometimes it did not find what I was looking for. So cool, but somewhat limited still. Like all things, I'll sure it will get better.

I did not play with a lot of the POI's, but when you route to a point (let's say a rest area or your camping spot for the night), there is button to show POI's near your destination. So if you want to fill up right before, or grab dinner cause you're getting in late, this is a pretty cool feature.

Also on the radio side, it shows the station like an album cover and you can swipe through stations either on-screen or with the magic button. Not sure how functional the pictures are over text, but it looked really cool to see the station logo on there. XM was the same way.

The manual is IN the radio...which came in handy because I had a couple of things I didn't understand. A quick search of the manual yielded some answers.

AC worked well. Stupid me said not to fill the LP since I was not going to need heat or hot water, but forgot this was an LP gen. So, just cranked the dash air to take a nap in the back during a swim meet. It was 87 outside...but with the dash air cranked, it could keep it very comfortable at about 74-75? with NO cab shades up (all blinds drawn). (I pulled this from the line before it was done). My feet got a little cold because the air was blowing on them from the front dash.

I used the Equalizer app for the jacks....I would like to incorporate that into our multiplex, so its just one app. But once they are down, then everything is on the Firefly app and that was very intuitive. AGS control is on the app and main touchscreen, but the settings are ONLY on the touch screen. It is one screen and SUPER easy to use. Quiet time start, end, voltage trigger, HVAC trigger. All right there. I can set the whole thing up in about 15 seconds.

I also like have inverter control on the app. I laid down to test the TV and the TV's weren't working. I remembered that the inverter was likely off so I pulled up the app and turned it on. I heard it click. Still no TV. So, as I would tell anyone, I went and checked the GFI on the inverter and sure enough it was tripped. Once I reset, TV's came on. So it WOULD have been really cool and convenient had I checked the GFI first. TV's pulled in a gazzillion stations. How in the world are there that many local channels with just crap programming/??

Anyway, I'll see about posting some more pics, but I realized all the ones I took were for engineering comments and suggestions.

[Tmrut5]

Thanks for the review. I can't wait for mine to show up. I picked the same color with the overhead cab.

[bclemens]

It looked good and matched by house...I was sad to see it leave.

It was also really nice after testing the Force HD...instead of backing out the drive, I could 3-point turn and drive straight out. That is certainly a benefit of the Isata 3.

[Tmrut5]

Originally Posted by bclemens

It looked good and matched by house...I was sad to see it leave.

It was also really nice after testing the Force HD...instead of backing out the drive, I could 3-point turn and drive straight out. That is certainly a benefit of the Isata 3.

The size of the Isata 3 is exactly why I sold my big 5th wheel. Alot more nimble. Small enough to be able to go many places without a tow vehicle, and strong enough to pull one if you need one.

[bclemens]

We were at a school parking lot under construction, we navigated Subway, Dairy Queen, Starbucks. No tow vehicle, we just parked out a tiny bit so we didn't get trapped. we got in and out of everywhere we needed to (and some side roads) with zero issue. Power is plenty and I was happy with how quiet the unit was. My wife was carrying on a conversation with our daughter on speakerphone while we were doing 65. No issues...other than the normal annoying ones of people being on speakerphone to begin with

[Magnatudes]

Originally Posted by bclemens

We were at a school parking lot under construction, we navigated Subway, Dairy Queen, Starbucks. No tow vehicle, we just parked out a tiny bit so we didn't get trapped. we got in and out of everywhere we needed to (and some side roads) with zero issue.

This is why many of us want a short I5 or M2. More like 28ft max bumper to bumper with clever use of slideouts. It's not about faking campground limits only.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Magnatudes

This is why many of us want a short I5 or M2. More like 28ft max bumper to bumper with clever use of slideouts. It's not about faking campground limits only.

Yes but I would say I did the same thing with the 30FW. We did not have a tow vehicle during the Tennessee trip either and we had no issues. Same basic scenarios.

I sort of look at this in regards to national parks and "The Road to the Sun". I can make them smaller, but there is no magic number other than the "cut off". If you're going to be small...to take full advantage, then you need to be 21-22'. Everything beyond that comes down to personal preference or is an arbitrary number. Logistically there is no difference between 30' and 28'.


If we try to apply logic...
A standard parking space is 18' So if I take two, I can be 36'. Personally I hate to stick out to the edge in any vehicle, so if you take two feet from each end, that leaves you with a 32' being as big as I would want in a double space. (and we have the 30FW)

My Jeep is just over 15'. So two would be 31'. (we have the 28SS)

Unless there is a limiting factor other than preference or unique scenario (my garage is 30'), I'm not sure sacrificing something to get to 28' makes much sense over 30'

[milkman55]

Now that you have driven the new Sprinter chassis, how would you compare the sound level to the old chassis? How do you think they accomplished the sound reduction.

You recently drive the 34KD and last year the I5 on extended trips. How would you contrast the sound level of all three chassis?

I would like to upgrade to the I5 or 34KD, but the sound level must be improved over our 2017 Isata 3. Just too loud at highway speeds to talk without shouting.

[bclemens]

I think this sprinter is the quietest of the 3. But I think the Isata 5 was quieter than the old Isata 3. Part of that is the engine way out front and low RPM's for max output.

But I never thought any of them were too loud to talk.

[Magnatudes]

Originally Posted by bclemens

Yes but I would say I did the same thing with the 30FW. We did not have a tow vehicle during the Tennessee trip either and we had no issues. Same basic scenarios.

I sort of look at this in regards to national parks and "The Road to the Sun". I can make them smaller, but there is no magic number other than the "cut off". If you're going to be small...to take full advantage, then you need to be 21-22'. Everything beyond that comes down to personal preference or is an arbitrary number. Logistically there is no difference between 30' and 28'.


If we try to apply logic...
A standard parking space is 18' So if I take two, I can be 36'. Personally I hate to stick out to the edge in any vehicle, so if you take two feet from each end, that leaves you with a 32' being as big as I would want in a double space. (and we have the 30FW)

My Jeep is just over 15'. So two would be 31'. (we have the 28SS)

Unless there is a limiting factor other than preference or unique scenario (my garage is 30'), I'm not sure sacrificing something to get to 28' makes much sense over 30'

It's not just the length of the vehicle, it's also the wheelbase and turning radius. Let's not forget that a shorter wheelbase (~190-210") is more versatile than 238" & allows for a turning radius to squeeze into a slot without jerking around several times. Less rear overhang will limit to possibility of bottoming out up a steep slope when creeping over rough terrain in order to access a remote dry camping area and less tail swing around a tight corner. And in the case of towing, the shorter the coach the shorter the train.
Many of us do not spend time in parking lot style campgrounds made for giant rigs and child amusement parks. I'm sure I am not the only one with a limited storage facility either. I certainly want to be able to walk around my coach while in storage for the winter and when you get to 31-32 feet, you need to have a facility with interior clearance of at least 37 feet or more.

I bet there are a lot more reasons why so many on this very forum want a 28ft or less. In other words, why are there so many Isata 3's sold and why are so many folks looking for more CCC. Build a vehicle that targets the majority of potential upgrades & the reasons for why sheer numbers have purchased Sprinter-based RVs, Dynamax-built & others. Do the 4 season extreme, larger tanks, tall storage, decent shower, fulltime bed, even dual slideouts like an RW, even if it requires newly-designed slides.

Respectfully, every manufacturer has something in the 31 foot range, but not an innovative "extreme" 28 footer that could morph into a 31 footer at the flip of a switch or two. I submit you should consider creating a whole new design from the ground up. Do a poll of existing customers to see what they think.

[bclemens]

That's the thing, I've been selling Class C's for 17 years. There is a reason that most OEM's don't have a 28' unit. Because people that want to be short, want to be short and will accept the floor plans that are 24-25'.

When I was at Sunseeker, we built a 28' unit. It was a GREAT rental, but a terrible retail piece. Reason being, people that wanted short, wanted 24'-25' People that only "thought" they wanted short did not want to give up a sofa or dinette, which to have both puts you back to 30' on an E450. Longer on a ram or M2.

We can take a poll and lots of people will want a 28' unit or less....until you start showing floor plans. Then suddenly things go sideways and support splinters into "have to have this, have to have that"

While at Sunseeker I also helped design the 2500TS. The goal there was to get a wardrobe, walk around queen but keep it small. It is a triple slide. Bumper to bumper that is 27'-7" on an E450 and it STILL has a wedged/hinged mattress.

There is just no way around it. To keep the mattress fixed, it has to be 30' on a Ram. (Ram chassis being longer than the E450, its 28' on a Ford). Same as the M2. If you did a sliding bed...you can get back about 14", but that is 14" we really need to make the tanks work.

That is why the majority of vehicles sold are either in that 25' range or the 31' range.

[FOURWHL]

I carry USBC to USBC ....

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

I carry USBC to USBC ....

Of course you do

[Goatdog]

Originally Posted by bclemens

That's the thing, I've been selling Class C's for 17 years. There is a reason that most OEM's don't have a 28' unit. Because people that want to be short, want to be short and will accept the floor plans that are 24-25'.

When I was at Sunseeker, we built a 28' unit. It was a GREAT rental, but a terrible retail piece. Reason being, people that wanted short, wanted 24'-25' People that only "thought" they wanted short did not want to give up a sofa or dinette, which to have both puts you back to 30' on an E450. Longer on a ram or M2.

We can take a poll and lots of people will want a 28' unit or less....until you start showing floor plans. Then suddenly things go sideways and support splinters into "have to have this, have to have that"

While at Sunseeker I also helped design the 2500TS. The goal there was to get a wardrobe, walk around queen but keep it small. It is a triple slide. Bumper to bumper that is 27'-7" on an E450 and it STILL has a wedged/hinged mattress.

There is just no way around it. To keep the mattress fixed, it has to be 30' on a Ram. (Ram chassis being longer than the E450, its 28' on a Ford). Same as the M2. If you did a sliding bed...you can get back about 14", but that is 14" we really need to make the tanks work.

That is why the majority of vehicles sold are either in that 25' range or the 31' range.

I love my 2500TS! I've had it 5 years now. Comes in under 28', sleeps six, walk around queen,triple slides make it very roomy when camping. Thanks for the unique design.

Looking forward to the new shorter Super C

[Railroader]

What are you using for tires on the 2019 chassis?

[bclemens]

Well, we use whatever Mercedes uses. That, as we have seen in the past can vary, but today, they have Continental VanContact AS on them.