First Ram Promaster van class B

mumkin wrote:

Davydd wrote:

mlts22 wrote:
Here is another video, which does a somewhat decent walkaround of the Travato.

That video is mostly about the ERA not the Travato. There was just a little bit on the Travato at the end and not a complete walkaround.

I thought it was pretty complete. Only the first minute was the exterior of an ERA. The last two minutes of the three minute video was of the exterior - didn't show us the storage though - and most of the interior of the Travato. It didn't show the bed down, but showed the bath, galley, fridge... and two men using the dinette area.

The way the bed folds up is interesting.

The first time I watched that video and posted my comment it got cut off on me. I watched it a second time to see the whole video.

I'm not impressed with this effort.

How do you stand at or sit on the toilet with the wheel well in the way?

The kitchen counter has no counter space as it is taken up by the sink and stove with covers. That's nice to use for temporary storing of stuff in camp but not for cooking.

My guess is the bed is at best 54" wide. That's a standard double width but in this day and age not very desirable for two people. Nipping out the corner for the bathroom door doesn't help.

They put an ottoman blocking the sliding door opening I assume to be part of a bed extension (is it?) as well as to be able to sit at the table. The table is an odd shape. The rear seat faces forward. The ottoman faces sideways. The cab seats are shoved forward to enable the table to fit. If the cab seats don't turn to face the table then this is the most ill designed setup I have ever seen in a B. If the cab seats turned you would think there would be no need for the ottoman and could extend the kitchen counter over.

There appears to be a real lack of storage other than a huge catch all potential under the bed. You have to balance storage with people and to imply this B could sleep 3-4 people is ridiculous.

The maximum 20'-10" long van which is 18" longer than a short Sprinter (RT Agile), 11" shorter than the pre-2007 Sprinters (my former 2005 P-W Plateau), 23" shorter than current regular length Sprinters (my 2011 GWV Legend) and 39" shorter than extended Sprinters (ERA) is going to be a challenge for designers. So base cost will be $10,000-$12,000 less than the Sprinter it appears and maybe cheaper still simply because it will be impossible to provide as much inside as the Sprinters. As it appears it will have a niche because of cost but will not be a direct competitor with the Sprinter on comfort and features. It will have design limitations similar to the short wheel base Sprinters.