Tracker Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-comparison/ Changing from 215/70R 15 to 225/65R 16 has about 2.5% greater circumference which makes about 1 mph difference in speedo reading from 50 mph to 51 mph - so, as suspected, not enough to matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Increasing the tyres’ rolling circumference wiil result in a previously accurate speedometer ‘under-reading’. However, as speedometers invariably over-read, a sub-3% increase in a vehicle’s overall gearing shouldn’t be harmful speedometer-wise. Based on Continental’s data, a 225/65 R16CP VancoCamper tyre would have a rolling circumference around 2.2% greater than that of a 215/70 R15CP. This increase might not sound much, but it applies in every gear. So 1st and reverse gears are higher than previously, as is top gear. If a heavily loaded motorhome with the 15” wheel/tyre combination were tricky to start on, or reverse up, a steep hill, it will be even trickier with the 16” combination. If it required a fair amount of down-changing from top gear to maintain progress with 15” wheels, even more down-changing will be needed with 16” wheels. As far as I’m concerned fitting alloy wheels on motohomes is like putting lipstick on a pig, but I accept that many people will consider alloys desirable. I’d argue, however, that increasing the standard overall gear-ratio of a motorhome for what are essentially cosmetic reasons is a perverse idea. It’s also worth remembering that Fiat-based motorhomes and gear-ratio choice has a very chequered history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-12 7:32 AM As far as I’m concerned fitting alloy wheels on motohomes is like putting lipstick on a pig, That is true for the white box CBs, which are indeed a blot on the landscape, but on a PVC they can look great B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-11 8:10 AM Robinhood - 2014-08-10 2:08 PM ...It is, of course, entirely possible that Rapido have ordered a batch for conversion without ESP as a cost-saving exercise, but it would be a bit méchant. ;-) ...I’ve dug out a quote for a 640 model given to me in March 2014 by a French Rapido dealer. This included a price of €552 for “ESP” and the prices for cab-blinds and entrance-door fly-screen were within one euro of the figures for those options in the 2015 price listing. I might believe that the €550 price for "ESP et TRACTION+” in the 2015 listing has just been cut-and-pasted from the 2014 listing and all it really relates to is TRACTION+, but that wouldn’t explain the apparent lack of an ASR On/Off button on the dashboards of the Rapidos in the advertisements I gave links to... For anyone interested, the lack of an ASR On/Off button I mentioned above is apparently a red herring. I managed to see a couple of Fiat Ducato X290-based motorhomes yesterday at the Malvern show and one of them had no ASR On/Off button (the other had Traction+). I asked the salesman about this and he confirmed that Electronic Stability Control was indeed a standard feature of the X290 Ducato, but the ability of a driver to temporarily disable ASR was no longer provided - hence no ASR On/Off button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Muswell - 2014-08-12 8:50 AM Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-12 7:32 AM As far as I’m concerned fitting alloy wheels on motohomes is like putting lipstick on a pig, That is true for the white box CBs, which are indeed a blot on the landscape, but on a PVC they can look great B-) I think 'Pig's' look quite cute with a bit of 'lippy' on, Beauty is surely in the eye of the beholder. ;-) Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-11 8:10 AM Robinhood - 2014-08-10 2:08 PM ...It is, of course, entirely possible that Rapido have ordered a batch for conversion without ESP as a cost-saving exercise, but it would be a bit méchant. ;-) That would be odd... It would appear that Rapido can order X290 Fiat Ducato chassis without the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) system that is widely-understood to be standard equipment. The Rapido 2015 catalogue is (finally) available on-line and ESC is clearly stated as only being standard fitment on models with a Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) from 4250kg-upwards. For models with a lower GVW the ESC system is a cost-option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 .....aye, it's a cost option on the new Hobby Vantana PVC, as well. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I’m beginning to wonder quite how ‘standard’ Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is with the X290 and (perhaps more to the point) how a motorhome buyer easily identifies that his/her X290 actually has it. The Rapido cost-option is ESC combined with Traction Plus and it’s easy to spot whether an X290 has Traction Plus because there will be a “T” button on the dashboard. So the presence of a “T” button should indicate (at least with an X290-based Rapido) that the motorhome also has ESC and, if there’s no “T” button, that the Rapido does not have ESC. Ignoring Rapido, if ESC is supposed to be standard on the majority of X290s, is there anything on an X290’s dashboard or display-unit to reveal its presence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 3, 2014 Share Posted November 3, 2014 ...just as a follow-up to this, I note that the Campereve (part of the Rapido Group) brochure has, in small print under the base vehicle options listing, the words "Definition of the Campereve carrier is different from the original commercial definition from the chassis manufacturer.". ESP is only an option on these conversions. ....I haven't checked for similar wording in ant Rapido documentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I believe there is no similar wording in the 2015 Rapido documentation (I have French and English versions). As far as ESC is concerned, the Rapido brochure has a paragraph in the standard equipment section where the ESC system is briefly described. The specific motorhome models in the Rapido range where ESC is fitted as standard are also defined, with the caveat that ESC is an option for remaining models. Having looked at the dashboards of (according to my long-suffering wife) far too many X290-based motorhomes at the recent NEC Show and at a earlier French exhibition, it’s clear that a lot of 2015 X290 models don’t have ESC as standard. It should be possible to tell visually from the dashboard buttons if an X290 has ESC and I’m pretty sure there’s an illuminated icon on the dashboard display to confirm the system’s presence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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