Forum Discussion

rvit's avatar
rvit
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014

would you sacrifice drivability for more livability?

For those who wish they could have a bigger RV but love their B, I offer my impressions after my first 1200 miles in 2014 Pleasure Way Pursuit.

First of all, if you use your B as a daily driver/second vehicle, you can probably stop reading. The Pursuit would be impractical in that use. But if you would consider trading some of your drivability to get more livability, read on.

A standard parking space is 96" wide and 22' long. The Pursuit is 90" wide and 22' long making it legal almost anywhere. But that's about the end of the similarities with your B.

The bad from the B perspective includes 12 mpg, it is not nimble, gets pushed around in the wind, and while it will fit in that parking spot, it will take a couple of try's to get there.

If you're still reading, it gets better. This is a very livable RV. After my 900 mile trip home alone from the dealer (2 days) I stepped out of it rested with no aches or pains (I'm 60) and announced to my wife that I could live in it(alone). It was amazingly comfortable and well thought out in it's design. It has 6'8" of headroom and while it's space you don't use you certainly feel it. It comes with most everything you need standard,

My wife and I (and the dog)then took it out for a night so she could try it. We drove 100 miles and spent the nite in a "Park and Ride" in Mass. A little more crowded but we could pass each other in the galley with no trouble. We could even have our own space with the ability to spin the front chairs and set up the 2 included tables, one up front and one in the back.

But I would think that the most appealing feature to a current B owner would be the bathroom with a real shower and separate toilet. It's not a big shower but I'm 210 lbs and was able to do everything I do at home. My wife said shaving her legs in it would be impossible.

We didn't want to be limited in where we could go and my wife demanded a real shower, so the Pursuit became one of very few choices for us. I don't know what kind of deals the high end Bs like Roadtrek and Airstream offer, but I paid under 77K for this new Pursuit which listed for 108K.

I'll try to answer any questions.
Class B

29 Replies

Show More
  • NoVa_RT's avatar
    NoVa_RT
    Explorer
    Apr 20, 2014
    There are trade offs in any RV choice. We want to be able to park in the driveway without blocking another vehicle, and really like the ease of driving & parking a Class B most anywhere. That said, it'd be nice to have a larger bathroom, but we make do and utilize campground facilities when we want or need a bit more room. If our situation changes, we might opt for a bit more size, but there are negatives to such a trade off, too.
  • jjrai's avatar
    jjrai
    Explorer
    Apr 20, 2014
    The big units are certainly nice, but if you want to be imaginative in where you sleep, less is more. IMHO, getti g just big enought o get a dry bath is a nice place to be.
  • rvit's avatar
    rvit
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    I think that's the whole point of the Pursuit, I doesn't give up the most important benefit of the standard B, park-ability. I can legally park any where a B can park. Yes, we have made other sacrifices but in our case, we have other vehicles designed specifically for those other tasks. The only other advantage of a B that I will miss is the ability to open them up with the slider and back doors. I'm sure them helps minimize their size limitations when at your destination. We don't want to spend our time in campgrounds and the minute you buy a 30 footer, that's where you will wind up.
  • jjson775's avatar
    jjson775
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    We certainly loved our Excel and went everywhere in it. I think the Pursuit will give us 75% of the mobility we had before. We also like the double door fridge and the overhead bunk for our granddaughter. Our needs our different now after seeing 44 states, 6 Canadian provinces, 2 Mexican states, 42 national parks, etc, etc. A 30 foot Winnebago is an entirely different animal and Winnebago quality is not in the same league with Pleasure Way or Roadtrek. Just my 2 cents.
  • rvit's avatar
    rvit
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    We originally put a deposit on one with the u-shaped couch, but with further consideration changed to the electric sofa model. The U-shaped comes with more outside storage than the other including a small pass-through area but was not as comfortable to sit on as it might look. The other negative with that set-up is the location of the tv up front. If one person is watching tv, anyone else doing anything around the coach (cooking, using bathroom) would constantly be blocking their view. I would have to turn up the volume sitting that far away.

    The electric sofa model, with a smaller tv in the back allows one person to sit close and watch without affecting what your co-occupant might want to do. We lost some outside storage but gained a bunk bed which we will use for storage. It was the only way to carry 2 nice folding chairs (other than those chairs in a bag)

    The distance on either model from the back to the end of the seating area(beginning of galley) is 60". Both beds when converted are 60" by 80".

    Another advantage of the electric sofa is the flexibility to partially recline it to suit your taste or slide it forward to provide a lot of storage behind it. So for someone going camping they could store anything they would be removing when they got to their campsite. It would have to be removed before you could turn it into a bed.
  • francheska's avatar
    francheska
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    We love our PW Excel. I have upgraded it so it handles well. But when the time comes we are going to look
    at a Pursuit. The only down side to us is the couch bed like in the smaller B's. But we want to be under 24' in length. Still waiting for the new Ford van to be converted.
  • charles's avatar
    charles
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    If your going to give up all of the benefits of having a Class B, I would not go to a small Class C or so called B+, for $77,000 you could have purchased a 30 foot range Winnebago Vista Class A with lots of room and "stretch your legs" comfort. More storage, more capacity, a slide or two, larger TV's, larger shower, you would give up MPG but you could live in it with your wife instead of alone. I like to be able to park wherever I want, use it as a back up vehicle, travel and site see with ease, even haul a few large things from time to time by opening the back doors and lowering the sofa into a bed, you can only do these things in a true Class B.

    Nick
  • Horizon170's avatar
    Horizon170
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    I looked at their site and that is a very nice RV. Just wondering if you could get one with single beds down each side that could be left made up all the time? Maybe eliminate the bathroom vanity on one side and the computer work station on the other. If you have the horseshoe couch how long is the side space for beds on each side?
    Thanks
    PS, you did good on the price.:)
    PPS, I don't think the driving is much different on a narrower one, at least for me it wouldn't matter.
  • jjson775's avatar
    jjson775
    Explorer
    Apr 19, 2014
    I have been waiting to hear about your experience, thanks for posting. I have a Pursuit on order. We are upsizing from a Class B Pleasure Way Excel Our Excel really got "pushed around" in the wind, I hope for more stability with the dual wheels. The bathroom is like a suite at the Ritz compared to our old one, we usually always used campground showers which vary from nice to pretty bad. Outside storage is tight in the Pursuit, it was very generous in our Excel that did not have a generator. It also sounds like you got a very good deal.

    Jim

About Motorhome Group

38,739 PostsLatest Activity: Jul 29, 2025