Smaller RV's?

[Jayco-noslide]

I read that there are more people wanting small motor homes, especially younger folks. Wonder if true. I'm skeptical. I'm kind of a minimalist so we've had a 25 ft. 5th wheel (less than 30 ft. 5th wheels very hard to find when we had ours). Now we have a 30 ft. Class C with 2 slides. I wanted shorter but have to give up too much. I wish we could be satisified with downsizing to a MH small enough to drive like a van and not need to tow a dinghy. But at our age, we won't be doing it long enough to justify the high price of replacement. Those small ones really cost a lot per cubic ft. of space.

[garmp]

WE loved our Sportsmobile, but as age and medical issues increased, it was time for a few more conveniences for us. I think your choice of a Sportsmobile is wise, expecially it you park on the street. Much less driving in city traffic. The Sportsmobile is more stealth than the PC2100. It doesn't scream "Hey I'm a RV".
Also there are Sportsmobile groups that meet yearly at various campgrounds. We met with the Midwest Sportsmobile Group (MSG) a couple of times. A really nice group of people/Sportsmobile owners that share hints, stories and general BS as they show off their RV. Not a club. No dues. Nothing formal. If you're interested PM me and I'll share the info.

Good luck and safe travels.

[ctilsie242]

Thanks. I live in an urban area, so anything longer than 20-24 feet isn't doable, and even anything longer than 18-20 feet is pushing it. I love the added room of the PC2100, especially with the higher roof and wide body, but most likely, I am going to go for a Sportsmobile upfitted Transit.

[garmp]

Slightly larger than our SportsMobile, but still not an issue. Downtown parking can pose a problem in a large metro area, but we seldom visit such. Majority of places we go to, other than the campground, have parking lots and most of them have more than enough space.
The difference between the interior of our old B versus our PC2100, the parking issue is not even a concern. Well worth it!

[ohhell10339]

Veebyes wrote:
It is taking time but America, particularly the US part of N America is learning what the Europeans have known all along. Bigger is not necessarily better. The days of the rolling McMansions may be numbered. You don't need to have enough open floor space in the middle to have a square dance.

But what about the bowling alley and swimming pool? Can you possibly live for a weekend without those (especially if it's a three-day weekend)?

One factor that does seem to periodically affect the sales and overall popularity of behemoth RVs is fuel prices. When gas hits $4 a gallon (as it has before and will again), getting 5 gallons to the mile no longer seems as tolerable. That may be an additional reason why you don't see them in Europe, as gas is over $8 a gallon there.

[ctilsie242]

garmp wrote:
We have a Pheonex Cruiser 2100 on the Ford chasis and love it. It's great for the two of us and the slide adds plenty of interior space. We came from a Sportsmobile/Ford Econoline and the storage space is pretty close to the same, but the interior space is so much more. Not any harder to drive and park than the Sportsmobile. We find no need for a toad. But that's just us. We are tourers rather than destination folks.

How is the 2100 for running around toadless? The biggest attraction to me for a class "B" is that it parks in a single parking space, so I can park it at events without issue.

[garmp]

We have a Pheonex Cruiser 2100 on the Ford chasis and love it. It's great for the two of us and the slide adds plenty of interior space. We came from a Sportsmobile/Ford Econoline and the storage space is pretty close to the same, but the interior space is so much more. Not any harder to drive and park than the Sportsmobile. We find no need for a toad. But that's just us. We are tourers rather than destination folks.

[BigRabbitMan]

I have had my 29’ no-slide class A now for 17 years and have not found another coach that I would like better. I upgraded the engine and drive train but other than that it is stock. FMC’s Originally came with either a a dinette or a couch. If you want a smallish class A with a rear engine you might take a look at one. Newest one is 1976.

[CavemanCharlie]

I have a 20 foot TT and I think it is the perfect size. There is just me the girlfriend (sometimes) and the dog. I sometimes take a grandkid or 2 and we fit in it OK. I need a new one but, it is difficult to find a small TT these days. They make more money selling rolling Mcmansions then what they can a nice decent small TT.

[DouglasC]

We have owned 7 motorhomes in 32 years. Started out with a 20 ft Winnebago LeSharo in 1986, moved up to a 26 ft Class C , then to a 33 ft Class A. In 1996 we moved up to a 35 ft Class A with a big slideout. Since we were then full timing we moved to a 39 ft Class A diesel pusher. We found that the bigger coaches were fine when parked, and we loved all the room, but going down the road and finding campsites (particularly in National Parks) for large coaches was a bit problematic. So we started to downside, 1st to a 34 ft Class A gasser & then in 2006, when we were no longer full timing, we moved down to a 27 ft Class C.

The RV industry makes all size RVs because it's still true: "different strokes for different folks". Over the past 12 years we have lived in our 27 ft Class C for up to 6 months at a time. It has all the space that we need, including a walk around queen bed in the bedroom and lots of storage. It would be nice if it had more space in the living area (we have a dinette and a single chair) but that's a compromise that we made to get the queen size walk around bed in the back. The smaller you go, the more compromises that must be made.

[Mr_Mark1]

We went from 42 feet to 45 feet, both with four slides. I may go smaller in the future. I like the room for now.

MM.

[MrWizard]

i spent 12 years with a 23ft class A, Dodge 413" engine
but i went up in size not down
23, 32, 32, 34, 36/37?

[GWolfe]

I like small and am comfortable in my 17' camper but it is only me. I started looking at small class A's and C's under 25'to tow with since I sold my ATV and will be upgrading to a SxS, 25' seems huge to me. I wish there were Tigers closer to me since I think that would be about perfect.

[docsouce]

We have a 2016 Thor 22e, 25ft over all length. It's on an E350 chassis With the standard Triton V10. Plenty of power,better fuel economy would have been nice. Anyway, We like that it does not have any slide outs. In the last 2 years we have been on 2, 8 week cross country trips and going on our 3rd cross country run this summer. For our situation this size rig fills our needs nicely.

[tatest]

There must be market for smaller motorhomes, 25 feet and under, because the major manufacturers have added more offerings in this size range, particularly B and C types on European-size vans and cab-chassis combinations (Transit, Sprinter, Ducato/Promaster). I don't know about younger people wanting them, but they've been popular with my (70+) age group, downsizing from large towables and medium-length A and C motorhomes, as they change the way they use there RV from second home more toward travel vehicle. My age group is also paying premium prices for restored VW-based camper vans, like those we used 40-50 years ago when it was all more like camping than house on wheels.