Winnebago Trend - First Drive Impressions

[bobcat66]

My wife and I recently test drove a 2014 Winnebago Trend 23L (same as the Itasca Viva) and were very impressed. As previous View owners that was the benchmark for our comparison. We then drove a new 2014 View immediately following the Trend drive as a refresher.

The Trend drove like a large van or SUV and my wife was very comfortable driving it. Below are the overall impressions we came away with:

Chassis Comments
Pro’s
- Peppy take off
- Smooth and easy steering
- Tight turning radius
- Very good visibility
- Much quieter than the View
- Large outside mirrors – both sections of each mirror individually controlled
- Good road manners – less affected by cross wind, trucks and tar strips than the View
- Brakes had a good feel and worked well
- Noticeably less “rock & roll” than the View
- Controls well laid out and easy to read and figure out
- At 6’ tall I was able to stand up in cab making for easy ingress and egress
- Adequate leg room in both driver and passenger seats
- Nice looking alloy wheels and exterior silver paint
- Six air bags
- Cab seats are firm but comfortable

Con’s
- Wind noise from above – could be from around skylight
- Could not get seat backs to adjust forward or back
- Funny looking front end (IMO)– Dodge ProMaster front will be updated later this year

Coach Comments (23L)
Pro’s
- Very space efficient layout
- Lots of interior storage including under the bed which is also accessible from outside
- Cab seats swivel very easily and are at chair height
- Relatively large grey and black tanks
- Reasonable outside storage space
- No noticeable rattles
- Table configuration very user-friendly and can seat 6 if necessary; table is very stable (no rattles or instability)
- Thought of everything in the bathroom (towel hooks, hangers, storage, etc.)

Con’s
- Small freezer
- No MCD solar shades, only blackout shades
- Generator and coach battery only accessible from underneath
- Front outside storage compartment has small door and is difficult to access – limited to small or flexible items like cords, hoses, leveling blocks, door mat, etc.
- A window over the galley would be a nice feature for more daylight
- No personal need for the drop-down bed, but could be used if we have company

Would like to hear from any Trend / Viva owners to see what they think. 🙂

[szn8tt]

Desert Captain wrote:
Dakzuki: The 1,170# of OCCC comes from the Specifications posted in the review (fluff piece), of the Trend 23L in the March issue of Motorhome Magazine (page 58).

:C

For the 3rd time in this thread:
Thought that I would share the following Occupant and Cargo Carrying Capacities (OCCC), per the federally mandated yellow sticker on two actual units on dealer lots.

2014 Trend 23L = 1437#
2014 Trend 23B = 1302#

I physically looked at these two units and saw the stickers.

[Desert_Captain]

Dakzuki: The 1,170# of OCCC comes from the Specifications posted in the review (fluff piece), of the Trend 23L in the March issue of Motorhome Magazine (page 58).

:C

[rjstractor]

szn8tt wrote:
As a % of it's GVWR, it's OCCC is better than Sprinter based B/B+, and frankly, many, many class A's, both gas and diesel.

Earlier I posted that I thought the Trend's weight capacity was likely low. It was a little higher than I thought but still pretty low. The fact that some motorhomes have less than 1000 pounds is downright pathetic. My VW Jetta has a weight capacity of almost 1100 pounds and it's designed to carry 4 passengers and a couple of suitcases, nothing more. A motorhome is designed to carry 4 passengers, food, water, dishes, linens, toys, golf clubs, etc., etc. Plus the weight of any aftermarket accessories. That 1300-1400 pounds gets eaten up quickly. I suppose if there are only 2 people doing nothing but short trips it's probably no problem. I guess I'm a packrat, I would need at least 2K OCCC for a rig to be workable for me.

[Dakzuki]

mlts22 wrote:
I've seen smaller OCCC capacities on a few other "C"s. I've read about some at 800 pounds, which is barely enough for a driver, passenger, a full FW tank, and some bedding.

Because of the small GVWR, there are some engineering compromises, but not as many as the Travato. The only real stickler I see is that the generator is the QG 2800, which is rated to power the rooftop A/C with 300 watts to spare, and that I don't really mind, because I am used to flipping the A/C off when nuking something, and the smaller QG generator uses less fuel per hour, so I have a longer run time.

What I'm curious about is how sleep-able the rear queen is (especially with the headboard that lifts up), as well as the drop-down beds. Since I'm single, I don't need to worry about bumping over someone to get to the bathroom.

The two of us sleep in the rear corner bed of our Navion 24 J (same size bed) and like it just fine.

[Dakzuki]

Desert Captain wrote:
"The RV has decent OCCC for its size so two 6 volt AGM batteries would be ideal (if the space could be made available). "

How does a mere 1,170# of OCCC equate to "decent"? :h That number at best is a joke, who or what are you going to leave home? :S

The numbers I saw were: 2014 Trend 23L = 1437# 2014 Trend 23B = 1302#

For an RV that size it is quite workable. Lots of folks don't carry massive amounts of stuff when RVing.

[Desert_Captain]

szn8tt wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
"The RV has decent OCCC for its size so two 6 volt AGM batteries would be ideal (if the space could be made available). "

How does a mere 1,170# of OCCC equate to "decent"? :h That number at best is a joke, who or what are you going to leave home? :S

As a % of it's GVWR, it's OCCC is better than Sprinter based B/B+, and frankly, many, many class A's, both gas and diesel.

There are lots of RV's that lack decent OCCC and the Trend is just another example. Percent of GVWR is just another way to measure and 12.5% is still a joke. To load anywhere near the normal amount of gear most folks find necessary will be impossible with the Trend without exceeding, probably by a lot its GVWR. Keep in mind that weight is going to be sitting on 4 wheels instead of 6.

So like I asked before what would you be willing to leave home.... tools, toys, pots and pans, toys, firewood, chairs (family members) etc.? My 24' C has 3,368# of OCCC which comes out to 29% of GVWR (11,500). We carry about 1900# leaving us another 1450# of available payload. I cannot imagine ever loading that additional weight but it is nice to know that we could and still be under our GVWR.

The problem I have with the Trend is its ridiculous price for what you get. Review and contrast its specs with some of the other high ends C's out there and the deficiencies of the Trend quickly become glaringly apparent.

As Always.... Opinions and YMMV.

:C

[ron_dittmer]

mlts22 wrote:
Since I'm single, I don't need to worry about bumping over someone to get to the bathroom.

Traveling single??? Oh...you can get into just about anything short & sweet.

I always thought a PC2100 with no slide out and the dinette setup as a day bed would be ideal going solo. Where the couch is, I'd have the factory build a desk/table/counter/cabinets with a TV above the window. That multi-functional area would meet many needs. That rig is a very short 21'-2" long and has all the same amenities as the biggest PCs. SEE IT HERE. I'd even get the smaller v8 engine to save on the purchase price and the 10%-15% gain in fuel efficiency.

Here is the floor plan of the PC-2100 without the slide out option.

[mlts22]

I've seen smaller OCCC capacities on a few other "C"s. I've read about some at 800 pounds, which is barely enough for a driver, passenger, a full FW tank, and some bedding.

Because of the small GVWR, there are some engineering compromises, but not as many as the Travato. The only real stickler I see is that the generator is the QG 2800, which is rated to power the rooftop A/C with 300 watts to spare, and that I don't really mind, because I am used to flipping the A/C off when nuking something, and the smaller QG generator uses less fuel per hour, so I have a longer run time.

What I'm curious about is how sleep-able the rear queen is (especially with the headboard that lifts up), as well as the drop-down beds. Since I'm single, I don't need to worry about bumping over someone to get to the bathroom.

[szn8tt]

Desert Captain wrote:
"The RV has decent OCCC for its size so two 6 volt AGM batteries would be ideal (if the space could be made available). "

How does a mere 1,170# of OCCC equate to "decent"? :h That number at best is a joke, who or what are you going to leave home? :S

As a % of it's GVWR, it's OCCC is better than Sprinter based B/B+, and frankly, many, many class A's, both gas and diesel.

[ron_dittmer]

My experience with a whole house inverter....

We have a 2000 watt Tripp-Lite whole house inverter and we love how it makes life work in our rig because we boon dock 90% of the time. Our rig does have two deep cycle 12V batteries. If we had only one battery, I could see it being trouble. I considered getting two 6V batteries when it came time to change them out but elected to go with Walmart MAXX batteries for their availability. They have been holding up fairly well, 5 years coming up.

[Desert_Captain]

"The RV has decent OCCC for its size so two 6 volt AGM batteries would be ideal (if the space could be made available). "

How does a mere 1,170# of OCCC equate to "decent"? :h That number at best is a joke, who or what are you going to leave home? :S

[j-d]

x2 for me. When we had the 24-ft, the sofa could be slept on but it wasn't at all comfortable. We always used the Loft. When we were getting our first RV, I insisted on a "bed that could be left made up." The Loft in the 24 was a folding affair with two cushions. We put a Queen Mattress up there so we had to leave it in Sleeping Mode. It had a curtain to draw across during the day. So the coach was not "bed down" but we used it as "bed up."
I would not want an RV that required making up and tearing down the bed every night and day.

[Dakzuki]

mlts22 wrote:
This is good info on the Trend. I've wondered what people would think of it, and the added price tag (about ten grand over a Spirit due to the Euro styling.)

I prefer the 23L floor plan because the bed is always present. The 23 B has a lot more inside room, but having a permanent bed and the larger corner storage space does help.

The only thing I would probably upgrade would be the converter. One dealer said it was a single stage (and he could be wrong.) If it is, it is in a place where there isn't that much room to expand, so I'd probably wind up going with a Magnum Energy MMS 1012 "dogbone" converter/inverter that has four stages.

I would do the converter, and try to upgrade the battery capacity. It does have a group 31 AGM (which ain't bad for a single battery) but more is gooder. The RV has decent OCCC for its size so two 6 volt AGM batteries would be ideal (if the space could be made available).

[ron_dittmer]

mlts22 wrote:
I prefer the 23L floor plan because the bed is always present. The 23B has a lot more inside room, but having a permanent bed and the larger corner storage space does help.

I agree. We greatly appreciate our current rig with main floor permanent double bed and separate dinette. With our first rig, as soon as we had to convert anything, a big hassle quickly emerged. For us it was best to have less in other areas, just to avoid a conversion. With our first rig, we found ourselves always eating on the bed instead of converting it to a dinette. That was ridiculous

The rear corner double bed also offers lots of storage. With our rig, that happens to be a lot of outdoor storage. 🙂

[ron_dittmer]

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