what are drawbacks of A class?

[Will H]

Lizzie, I found few drawbacks. The main nuisance was getting in and out of our drive due to the increase in street parking by expanding householders who parked in the street. The actual driving was easier and more comfortable than a smaller van and gave a much better 'ride'. I found it easier to go faster than in a smaller van, perhaps because the seating was further from the bodywork there was less outside noise. Narrow roads with overhanging rocks or branches can be a hazard.

 

On the plus side a larger van has more authority in tight spots and without exception 'all other drivers were always' very co-operative in adjusting their movements to make it easier for the larger van. If like us you like your own space then a large A class has an advantage in that with two large beds either person is independent of the other when they wish to sleep, eat. read or watch the TV.

 

So why did we sell it? ... One of us became too immobile to take advantage of it, meaning that it was itself immobile too often as we became tied to local amenities and body repairs.

 

Will86

 

PS All the adverse comments by others never affected us. Heat, cold, windscreen. Particularly the safety aspect from what is a large fragile box on wheels. Such an occurrence in any van is equally as serious with even the strongest surrounding armour and can effect those inside exactly the same ... for ever!

 

Safety has a high sales point. If one is fraught with living safely, then one should never leave their armchair.

[rogher]

goldi - 2015-10-21 9:30 AM

 

Morning folks,

 

Would there be huge heat gain with the big windscreen in hot weather is the question I would ask.

 

 

norm

 

I’ve not noticed that, maybe because there’s a greater volume to heat within? Whist in motion, compensate by using cab air conditioning, else open a window. When stationary, close the blinds.

[Will H]

Size for size I doubt there's any excess heat input. As said there's a larger volume to fill and if it concerns you then cover the window as is done on any 'hot window'

[Brock]

Goldi, you will need to define "huge". Heat builds up when the sun shines on the windscreen. It's not an issue for me but then I don't go to Spain, or similar hot places, in the summer.

[Archiesgrandad]

Our Pilote Galaxy has a drivers door and a passenger door, both with electric windows, in addition to the habitation door.

AGD

[ken the kontiki]

Before we ended up where we are today, we looked at the Burstner Elegance, Dethleffs Esprit and one or two offerings from Frankia and Hymer.

 

Having come from a twin axle caravan with a decent sized lounge (long sofas), an island bed and a kitchen with lots of worktop, these were things we wouldn't compromise on in a MH.

 

Apart from the island bed, none of the A-class MHs could offer sofas we could both lie down on or had decent workspace. So along came the Swift Kontiki 669 Highline which ticked all the boxes - doesn't have the wow factor but we're more into practicality and things being functional.

 

Now if you gave me a new N&B Arto 88F with the extended workspace or an RS Elysian, then I'd be happy but at our budget it was a case of compromise.

[rogher]

To address your point about having an A-class as your first vehicle:

All of my motorhomes have been A-class, so there is your evidence that it is something that you can survive. I would point out, though, that if your first decision is not right you are likely to lose more through depreciation because they tend to be expensive. We have chosen our vehicles based on the layout and base vehicle rather than shape or construction and I would encourage you to do likewise.

[lennyhb]

goldi - 2015-10-21 9:30 AM

 

Morning folks,

 

Would there be huge heat gain with the big windscreen in hot weather is the question I would ask.

 

 

norm

On our way back from Greece, when we arrived in September it was 35 deg, first time we had used an A Class in that heat. We found the cab was cooler as there is such a large distance between you and the screen.

[lennyhb]

Only had an A Class for 18 months so far not found any drawbacks, would never have any other type of van now.

Better insulated much quieter to drive, great view when driving, far easier to reverse due to flat sides.

Hymer have a neat trick of offsetting the passenger seat on the base makes the front more spaceious.

Don't miss not having a passinger door.

[lennyhb]

pelmetman - 2015-10-13 12:28 PM

 

Biggest drawback of that A class screen is in the winter, and your wildcamping or in an area where fitting an external screen might be inadvisable ;-) ...........

 

You'll be spending fair while every morning with a squeegee :D ...........

 

Hardly ever found the need to use external screens, our van like most new A Class vans has heater outlets between the blinds & screen fed from the Truma habitation heater.

[Rayjsj]

I agree with 'ken kontiki' have never found an 'A Class' with a layout we could live with, hate fixed tables as they rob you of internal space, and if you holiday mainly in the UK which we do, internal living space is very important .As is 'Lounging space' so also like long sofa's. Not many Continentals seem to have them A classes included..

[Brock]

Layouts are a personal choice and until we are able to design our motorhome and have it produced at an acceptable cost, we will always have to accept compromises. Hymer's 2016 range seems to have more layouts than anyone. The 544 is a classic layout with an L-shaped kitchen and two long bench seats.

 

I appreciate the point about fixed tables but in use, I have found them better. On site, they can restrict movement and space which could be an issue if you stay on sites for longer periods. We find the fixed table useful when touring, pulling over for a quick bite to eat or even cooking. Some of the newer A-classes have smaller tables. Personally, I've taken to the large fixed table, made it work for me, and enjoy the other benefits of a-classes which are more important to me. Like ray, I have tended to tour in the UK.

 

The Hymer Duo-Mobil was designed for two people but as it is within touching distance of £100k, it's pricey and not worth it in my opinion.

[Brian Kirby]

I think the layout issue is a red herring, in that it has little to do with whether the van is an A class or a coachbuilt. The real issue over layouts is whether one prefers a UK oriented layout, with larger cooker and lounging space, or a continental oriented layout with smaller kitchen block, no oven, relatively little lounging space, permanent bed, and a forward dinette with a fixed table. As George has pointed out, there are no UK manufacturers of A class vans, so all are continental imports so, inevitably, they have continental layouts. Hymer's Exsis ranges make the point. Exsis-i is A class, Exsis-t is coachbuilt, but the same layouts are pretty much available across both ranges.

 

I also think the crash safety issue, on a like for like basis, is a bit overstated. Again, taking the Hymer Exsis range to illustrate the point; identical vans except the one retains the Fiat cab, and the other doesn't. So, same chassis, same layouts, same travel seating arrangements, same engines, transmissions and suspension systems, same body construction except for the cab area, same airbag and seatbelt distribution.

 

What happens in a collision will depend on the speed of impact, the type of impact, and what the vehicle hits. I don't see that it is possible to predict with accuracy that the outcomes of similar accidents in each type of vehicle would inevitably be worse for those travelling in the A class variant. In one accident it may, in another not.

 

Crash testing is limited to production vehicles, and the versions supplied for conversion to motorhomes are not, to my knowledge, included in the programmes. How could the be, as they are not completed vehicles that could be crash tested until they are converted?

 

So would a vehicle that had its body panels (which contribute to its overall crash resistance) behind the cab, plus the cab roof, omitted, and replaced with a mix of ply, MDF, GRP, foam plastic, possibly supported on timber framing and all screwed together, behave in an accident in the same manner as the panel van upon which it is based? And would that same amalgum of parts behave notably worse if the bonnet, A and B pillars and outer wings were replaced with GRP panels?

 

It has always seemed to me that if one wants the security of a crash tested vehicle one should select a PVC, and preferably one with not too many holes cut in it (i.e. no rising roofs or converter's GRP high tops).

 

Slice it which way you like, I reckon coachbuilt vans and A classes are just not the best vehicles in which to have accidents - whether with other vehicles of with sundry bits of landscape. So, believe as you will (wonderful thing, belief, and essential in the absence of fact :-)), but don't overemphasise the added protection of sheet metal pressings that are stressed in ways they were never designed to be stressed, when compared to GRP mouldings attached to the same "chassis" components. In either event the outcomes are, I think, completely unpredictable.