Forum Discussion

Desert_Captain's avatar
Desert_Captain
Explorer III
Jul 18, 2022

Its great to compare/contrast similar C's...

A good friend stopped for a short stay at our home on their way home from a 6 week coast to coast trip in his 2019 24' Sunseeker. I set them up in one of our driveways complete with 30 amps and we spent a couple of days reconnecting and comparing and contrasting our amazingly similar coaches.

Ours is a 2012 Nexus Phantom 23P {24'} with the same 6.8L V-10 though Joe has the six speed vs my 5 speed Torqueshift transmission. Ours is on a 2011 E-350 chassis GVWR 11,500# and his is an E-450 coming in at 14,500# and he has a large street side slide and auto levelers.

The floorpans are remarkably similar and he can access everything with his slide in and we opted for no slide or levelers. I get a little better mileage at 9.5 non towing and he has yet to see 9. I attributed to his lack of a ScanGauge which will really help you to be more efficient along with the different rear end ratios, mine is 4:10 his 4.56 along with the increased weight of the E-450.

He has a Nissan Versa for a Toad with the Blue Ox system and I must admit to being very impressed. I got a decent tutorial as he unhooked and reconnected and it was very straightforward. I often tow my 6 X 10' {8' tall} cargo trailer hauling either my Can Am Spyder for fun and light Toad duties or my Rzr SXS. With either the trailer comes in right around 2,500#.

We have 75,000 miles vs his 22,000. Interiors are very close to the same both having 3 burner stoves with ovens, nice microwaves etc though he did lust after my power drivers seat and I after his cabover bunk ladder. Fit and finish wise they both gave the edge to our Nexus which made me smile. Ironically the first Class C I ever looked at was the same model Sunseeker that they have but it was in an other state so I returned home to shop and ended up buying our Nexus used with just 6,205 miles.

We are both happy with our coaches and they fulfill ours needs nicely, it is just the two of them and their dog and we are the same except our pooch has gone over the Bridge... sigh. We concluded the coaches were more alike than different and we really enjoyed inspecting them side by side. I think I've convinced him to add a Progressive Industries EMS and a ScanGauge {I love spending other peoples money}. :B
  • I guess there is so much you can do regarding floor plans when dealing with all the things that need to fit in a very small space. The layout all has to fit the chassis as well. The holding tanks , plumbing and storage areas .
    One thing that stands out that i remember was when i looked at a Thor Axis 24.1, i discovered that the bathroom sink drained into the black tank. Thor said the chassis did not allow a gray tank due to lack of space with that floor plan.
    The 24.1 is a small class A cabover style on a E450 .
  • My floorplan was introduced in the mid 1970's (1979 first used my manufacture) and ran continuously by the industry until about 2005 (discontinued by my manufacture in 2002) with what appears to be only different choices in material/fabric and the graphics changed outside. I'm sure they updated the mechanics and such, but to the eye, the layout did not change at all. Even today the new Gulfstream BT Cruiser 5210 uses the same floorplan.

    I guess when they find a layout that works, they are hard pressed to mess with it.
  • 4x4van's avatar
    4x4van
    Explorer III
    Amazingly, the similarities in ALL RVs are more numerous than the differences. It really does boil down to the old adage "floorplan first"; if that works for you, the rest is just minor details.