The wife and I are thinking about moving to a larger RV than our current Roadtrek CS Adventurous XL. The reasoning is the class B Roadtrek gets cramped with the two of us and 2 dogs on 2-3 month trips, plus we’re pushing the tow limit with our Jeep Wrangler 4 door. I know one of the reasons to have a class B is that you don’t need a toad, but we like to do some off roading plus it can be a bit difficult to find a parking spot for a 24’ vehicle at times when we want to go to urban destinations.
One unit that interests us is the Dynamax Isata 5 due to its towing capacity, price point and floor plan.
A local dealer got one in recently so we took the afternoon to have a look.
First Impression
The coach we looked at was a 36 DS in Cabernet. The paint job was very nice, better than I’ve seen on more expensive units. Driver’s seat had plenty of room and the floor plan well thought out. Controls for slides, leveling, inverter are easy to use, especially with the multiplex wiring. The bed is usable with the slides in, important if you do overnights in Walmart or truck stops. Tank capacities seem sufficient for several days boondocking. Options on this one were 200 watt solar panels, 8 kw generator and vinyl floor in the bedroom area. It had the standard 2 AGM batteries but it would be very easy add 2 more in the pull out battery tray.
Likes
The wife liked the kitchen layout with 3 burner propane stove, convection microwave, dual sinks and the below counter trash can. Bath size is sufficient. I’m 6-1, 200# so the shower is a little tight but acceptable. Lots of storage in the bath. The bed is comfortable and the 2 side tables (really small places to put a glass of water) were sufficient.
The Ram chassis was incredible. I only drove for a few miles but very impressive power and ride. It had about 1600 miles on it and the dash showed 8 MPG. I’m sure that will go up as the drivetrain breaks in. I have no doubt the chassis will have any issue pulling our Jeep. There is also an integrated trailer brake controller and exhaust brake. Seating is comfortable, but if there are seat heaters we couldn’t find the controls.
Improvements
The biggest improvement I would make to the Isata is in the quality of the cabinetry. At first glance it looks nice, but under closer examination it looked to be vinyl covered. Drawers were glued and nailed together. The dual recliners were ok but could use higher back / head support.
We don’t tailgate. We like to go to places to get away from civilization and enjoy peace and quiet, but the Isata comes standard with an outdoor TV. I would rather see the cost put into better cabinetry
Overall
The Isata 5 is a very usable floor plan on a great chassis. The Ram / Cummins is very drivable and reliable (in my experience). Overall build is good but would benefit from better cabinetry.
We really liked the coach. We prefer the Granite color scheme that matches my Jeep so we’ll wait until the dealer gets one (next month?) and try to make a deal.
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