A Class motorhomes ~ driving

[Hawcara]

This is perhaps a silly question, but humour me please.

Recently whilst visiting Highbridge motorhomes, I sat in a Hymer Exsis. The van was lovely inside, but when I sat in the driver's seat, I could not work out how one manages to work out where the nearside corner is.

I have a PSV and an HGV 1 and can always 'guesstimate' or judge where the nearside front corner is, in relation to other vehicles or the kerb, even without the aid of a corner mirror. So how do those who own A class vans do, without thumping something?

I am not seeking to criticise, merely to understand. :-D

[Guest peter]

I never get cose enough to corners to have to worry about it. I just drive it as I would any van.

My peugeot 207 coup'e is far more difficult to know where the whole nearside is and am paranoid about crunching the alloys on the kerb whe parking.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

The very first thing a friend of mine did with his newly aquired A Class was rip off the N/S wing mirror, so not a daft question at all.

I too have held both a class 1, and PSV licence, but the A Class vans that I have seen that retain the original Ducato van base cab layout would faze me as well, with the steering wheel set so far in from the inside of the cab area, no doubt someone will be along soon to say it's a walk in the park though.

[Hawcara]

1footinthegrave - 2012-12-27 4:50 PM

 

The very first thing a friend of mine did with his newly aquired A Class was rip off the N/S wing mirror, so not a daft question at all.

I too have held both a class 1, and PSV licence, but the A Class vans that I have seen that retain the original Ducato van base cab layout would faze me as well, with the steering wheel set so far in from the inside of the cab area, no doubt someone will be along soon to say it's a walk in the park though.

 

That is exactly it. If you sit in one of those Optare buses, (single deck) you get the same effect, yet drive a double deck and it is relatively easy. I used to think that the higher you were, the easier to judge it, but in an A class you seem to be offset. Problem is, I really like them! :-D

[Coachman]

I have had in the past three Hymer a class and never gave it a thought what you are asking, it took no time at all judging distance. Ours all came from Preston and had to drive back down south with no problems.

[Retread24800]

Yes it is scary the first time and driving an A class is no different.

It took me time to find the reference points so that I could judge the position on the road, quickly I found that the gap between the windscreen wipers acted as a good 'aiming' point for each side when lined up with the road markings but you will find or improvise your own in conjunction with your wing mirrors and now after a few 1000Km feel that I can place the van within a few cm of where I would wish it to be on the road, Its far more difficult to tell how close you are to an object in front of you but again you will soon gain the visual clues,  Practice makes perfect and its fun!

 

[rolandrat]

driving an "A" class is just like being in a goldfish bowl, "brilliant". I have owned two Hymers and I thought that they were so roomy and comfortable but her indoors never liked the cooking/kitchen layout so we ended up with Auto-Trails. You soon get accustomed to the characteristics.

[mirage]

I had an "A" Class and actually found it a much better drive than a coachbuilt as you see the true width of an "A" Class in front of you. A coach built is wider behind the driving position passing other wide vehicles seemed to result in the brushing of nearside hedges more often than in the "A" Class. The best drive was the PVC!

[lennyhb]

Hired a Hymer B Class before we brought a van getting in the driving seat for the first time was a bit daunting but once on the road didn't have any problems. The Exsis is actually 6 inches narrower than a standard Hymer B Class.

 

Have to agree with Mirage much easier to judge the width than our current low profile.

[Archiesgrandad]

I had this problem when we acquired our American RV, and it being a left hooker didn't help.

I solved the problem by seeking out a quiet side road, parking the van about 2 feet from the kerb, and when sat in the driving seat I stuck a strip of white tape vertically at the bottom of the windscreen lining up with the kerb, and then repeated the operation with the white line in the centre of the road, I found it really helped until I got the hang of it.

Archiesgrandad

[Mel B]

Hi Alex, I assume this is the one you've seen:

 

http://www.highbridgecaravans.co.uk/usedmotorhomedetails.php?ID=00026847

 

The layout is very similar to your Flash 04 but a bit longer due to it having twin single beds, or a massive double (I assume you're not going to invite 'lady boys' to visit like the Judge! :D ). The Exsis is actually narrower than your current van being only 2.14m wide instead of 2.30, so the 16cm (just over 6 inches) should actually make it easier overall to drive as you won't have to worry so much about the 'bulk' behind you. The Exsis is virtually the same height but about 2ft longer so you'll need to allow for that as it won't turn as nimbly as your Flash 04:

 

Flash 04:

Overall Length: 5.99 m (19´ 8.01")

Overall Width: 2.3 m (7´ 6.62")

Overall Height: 2.71 m (8´ 10.77")

 

Exsis:

Length: 6.73 m (22´ 1.16")

Width: 2.14 m (7´ 0.32")

Height: 2.72 m (8´ 11.17")

 

I can't see that you'd have a problem with the Exsis once you got used to the different cab, in fact it should have better visibility overall.

[Frankkia]

The 1st 8 metre "A" class we bought was a left hooker and we picked it up from Hayes in Darlaston and drove it straight to the Stratford show - (Through Birmingham).

 

The copilot decided it was an unnecessary expense to go on to Alton Towers afterwards. And she has never been on a white knuckle ride since.

 

The best bit of advice I got was from Bill Hayes who said - "Just angle your near side mirror down for the 1st hour or so and you will soon get to know just how far the kerb is". - He was right and I have never had a problem.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

I do think what kind of roads you normally use has a great bearing on the issue, I spent too many years having to "pinch" a bit over the white line in trucks and buses driving in rural Wales, and the surprised looks from other road users as they drove on roads they were not used to, stick some of them in an A class trying to avoid the brambles and overhanging tree's and dodgy stone walls, and I cannot imagine anything worse personally, other than for them to meet the Double Deckers on the Tywyn- Dolgellau route for example, trust me they certainly would not expect that, I know I used to drive that route in the good old Crosville days.

[Brock]

We guess. I've had two A-classes over the last 12 years and my current Hyner 544 of 7 years is harder to guess than my previous Arto. The result is that most people can get a bus through the gap I leave!

 

On most modern personal vehicles, visibility comes second to luxuries whereas on buses and lorries it will probably be higher up the list of priorities.

 

I wasn't keen on the new, wider and longer Hymers because we use ours for days out so do quite a bit of driving. On some roads, it's almost close your eyes and pray [not really!].

 

I am thinking of an Exsis as a compromise.

[Hawcara]

Thank you all for your replies.

We are not considering changing the van yet for a few years, but when getting the van serviced it is rather like being in a toy shop as a child and looking at all the possibilities.

Happy New Year to you all :-D

[pepe63xnotuse]

Probably a question for the ex-coach/bus drivers out there..but wouldn't it help if the mirrors were more forward mounted,like on some of the "flash" coaches?..so that they are viewed through the screen,rather than the side window...? At least then,it would give the option to angle down a mirror to give a kerb-view down the length of the vehicle....maybe ?

 

Failing that...bolt a broom 'andle to the NS front wing and stick a tennis ball on top! (lol)

 

 

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

pepe63 - 2012-12-28 10:05 AM

 

Probably a question for the ex-coach/bus drivers out there..but wouldn't it help if the mirrors were more forward mounted,like on some of the "flash" coaches?..so that they are viewed through the screen,rather than the side window...? At least then,it would give the option to angle down a mirror to give a kerb-view down the length of the vehicle....maybe ?

 

Failing that...bolt a broom 'andle to the NS front wing and stick a tennis ball on top! (lol)

 

 

With all the buses and coaches I drove you had a much greater sense of your position on the road it's really difficult to explain,but it's no doubt helped by the front N/S entrance doors /glass and your peripheral vision seeing your N/S, in the forward mounted mirrors, also the driving position was far more logical than taking a standard van chassis cab and sticking a coach built body around it.

 

Most if not all trucks also have a down view mirror mounted to the top of the N/S door for tight places when a view of the curb is handy, but your absolutely right, forward facing mirrors on all these A Class vans would be a huge help, although of course many folk drive these A class vans apparently without issue,but not for me thanks, every time in the past I looked at them as soon as I got in the driving seat it always "felt" wrong ;-)

[Retread24800]

I have a CD sized convex mirror below each plain mirror slightly favouring the down view. Really useful when reversing into tightish places. 

[Clive]

HGV class 1 and PSV? tut tut. You should know better!

 

C.

 

[tonyishuk]

Only things I have been told about A classes are :

 

Don't break the windscreen, you could be off the road for months

 

DO make sure the bonnet opens enough to get items in like batteries, oil cans and top up the windscreen washers !

 

Rgds

 

[Corky 8]

We had a Burstner Aviano A Class, driving it was no different than any other Motorhome we have owned , The view from the cab was very Panoramic , you soon get use to the distance from screen to driving possition,But that which has already been mentioned access to engine area very limited checking oil etc became a task rather than a routine , I would never buy another A Class, I like to lift the bonnet and see what I,m doing.

[BGD]

Having had two coachbuilts and one A-Class, I'd echo some earlier comments.

 

The A-class "felt" a little wider, but in fact wasn't. It was no more or less difficult to drive.

 

 

 

But, and these are BIG buts for me:

 

1. I became petrified that the windscreen might get cracked....it was an older motorhome, and I discovered that replacement glass simply did not exist any more. Nowhere. A cracked screen would have essentially written the entire vehicle off.

I understand that on more modern A-class MH's, the cost of replacing a cracked screen can run to several THOUSAND pounds.

 

2. Access to engine/gearbox etc on the A-class really was a sick joke, utterly useless.

Basic planned maintenance was a contortionists nightmare.

Any major work required hours and hours of body panel removal. If a garage had been doing that rather than I, the cost would have been astronomical.

On any van-cab based MH, access is absolutely fine, both for maintenance and repair. They are designed with that in mind.

 

3. Cab area body panels are very cheap and easy to replace on van-cab-based MH's. Just scan ebay to see what I mean.

On and A-class, any replacement panels will either cost you literally a small fortune, or be completely unobtainable....meaning bespoke manufacture/repair, which will be equally expensive.

 

 

We're not rich, and for us, reducing the cost of running/maintaining/repairing our MH is a big factor in our vehicle selection. Having dabbled with an A-class for 4 years, we have now deliberately come back to a coachbuilt, to avoid further maintenance/repair cost nightmares........and I'm frankly very very pleased to have done so.

 

 

 

Our 2001 Fiat Ducato 2.8JTD is wonderfully simple, and cheap to maintain.

No flash ECU/EGR/Catalytic converter/computer to blow up or die or get stolen; parts cost tuppence, and everything really is easy-peasy to access in the engine compartment from above or below. Self-maintenance is a piece of cake, and thus saves us a LOT of money.

It just chugs away happily, hopefully for star-ship mileage in the coming years.

We trundle all over Europe, a lot, for longish periods at a time...this coming year we're planning to be away in "Mr Ben" for several tours, for upwards of 25 weeks in total. I feel a lot happier in the knowledge that our van-cab based MH is bog standard Ducato, and that a garage/parts supplier anywhere across Europe should be able to help me, and relatively cheaply, if anything mechanical fails en route.

 

 

For me, having now had both types of MH, coming back to a coachbuilt =Happy bunny! :-D

[neilmac]

We have had our A Class - a Swift Bel-Air 730 for 4 years and agree that it is not difficult to drive or judge distances with.

 

Ours is based on the 2.8JTD also and its a nice, simple and relatively bomb proof setup. Access to the engine is pretty good and cambelt changes are apparently (done at a garage) no worse than a van based Ducato.

 

We did have to have a replacement windscreen a couple of years ago and although Autoglass made a right hash of getting it (see blog), a new one came from the factory (made by Pilkington as per original) although pattern replacements were available in Italy and Japan! Cost was about £2,500 - but that's what your insurance is for, just need to check that the policy has enough cover ;-) .

 

So in my experience I wouldn't be put off owning another A Class as and when we decide to change.

[Guest 1footinthegrave]

No wonder I notice my windscreen excess has gone up, £2500 against a Ducato screen £300, blimey. Imagine the difficulty if one of those got smashed in the back end of nowhere, that in itself would put me off for sure. I'd be curious to know what your excess is now, having just read your blog of the experience puts you head and shoulders above me in the "patience" league, not to mention the stress league !

[neilmac]

Windscreen excess £75 for £3,000 cover - so not really a problem there.

 

And, chances of just the windscreen being 'smashed' to the point of being undriveable are fairly unlikely wherever you are.

 

But you are right about the stress of the windscreen replacement but in fairness to A Class motorhomes the problems were entirely down to Autoglass *-) .