hello,i am new.was going to buy a solera from boat/rv but after reading some post about the dealership and the incorrect fuel mileage i dont know.is there that much differance in differant models and manufactures on sprinter chassis.i realize weight and height can make a differance but most look the same.if ours only gets 12-15 my wife will kill me!and what about boat/rv good or bad?
There is certainly a difference in mileage between the Sprinter models. It is not only weight and height influencing the mpg numbers. The Solera is certainly not the most aerodynamic design available. The large overhang over the cab is the killer (and a couple of other aerodynamic tweaks the competition does). Making it smaller (like the Winnebago and Four Winds) will improve the mpg figure somewhat. The best mileage you can probably achieve with the View Profile as that is not as tall and has litterally no overhang - however the floorplan is useless in my mind.
Having said all of that we still went with the Solera for several reasons the most critical being price. Even with 3mpg difference it takes 250K miles to make the difference up given a cost of $3.50/gal of Diesel.
We're getting anywhere from 12mpg (~70mph) and up to 16mpg when cruising along back country roads (i.e. Highway 1 in CA along the coast). If you compare that to a V10 powered gasoline RV it is impressive (where getting into the 2 digit mpg figure requires someone else pushing or pulling it). In real world conditions the more aerodynamic versions will get 2-3 mpg more than the Solera.
The bigger problem for the Sprinter based RVs is the weight limits. If you plan on 4 adults traveling you will have to pack light. Winnebago does not publish UVW (like Forest River) and I assume the weight is within a few pounds in comparison.