Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 23:22:08 -0600
Reply-To: Jeff Palmer <icecoldvw@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeff Palmer <icecoldvw@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Drove a Sprinter and liked it ...
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Those are so cool! I wonder if you can rent them in Europe?
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: "S.E. Booth" <lonesomedog@EARTHLINK.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2003 12:08 PM
Subject: Re: Drove a Sprinter and liked it ...
> I have been looking at the James Cook Sprinter for about 4 years now,
> thinking it might be a worthy replacement for my Synchro Westy. The
> European version has a hightop with an interior by Westfalia that looks
> awesome. It has a lower bed and a cab-over type bed (or storage area), a
> good size refrigerator and somehow has room for a toilet and shower. I
> saw a couple of these when I was in France and was really impressed. You
> have a number of engine options available from gasoline to turbo diesel.
> The problem is bringing them into the US. I found an RV dealer in
> Florida that is possibly the only US importer, but they want about
> $100,000 for one, which is way out of my league. I have not seen the US
> camper conversion, so I don' know how it compares to the Westy version.
>
> Check out the link below or if it doesn't work (it is sometimes buggy
> and slow), go to the MB website and look at Products/Camper Vans.
>
>
> http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/home/products/campervans/index.html
>
> http://www.mercedes-benz.com/com/e/home/index.html
>
>
> Susan Booth
> 90 Synchro Westy "Sea Bus"
>
>
> Ty Graham wrote:
>
> >Am I going to hell? I feel so dirty.
> >
> >I went down to Freightliner in Portland a couple of weeks ago and looked
> >at Sprinters. They had more than 20 on the lot including a camper
> >conversion. I spent 3 hours over two days asking questions and crawling
> >around. I test drove the camper conversion for ~5 miles.
> >
> >Overall, I am very impressed. It is a very nice modern van, though has
> >much more in common with a bread truck than with our Vanagons.
> >
> >140" wheelbase plus a hiroof feels super spacious for three. It would
> >be wild to do some sort of conversion on a ten(!) passenger rig that
> >allowed for future birthday parties or soccer team hauling. I'm 6'3"
> >and could around walk easily. It felt like only a slightly lower
> >ceiling than the AWs I've been in.
> >
> >Ergonomics seemed pretty good with a four way adjustable seat and
> >adequate legroom. All the modern conveniences were there, though not as
> >nicely implemented as in my MINI or Volvo. Typical of any new car pitch
> >I've had, the presence of cupholders was prominently featured.
> >
> >For such a long, spacious rig, it drove great. I made a bunch of
> >parking passes and donuts and was blown away with the turning radius.
> >My wife kept saying I was making tighter turns than her new MINI - not
> >true, but it felt like it.
> >
> >Power felt good, but not great. It certainly pulled as well if not
> >better than our 2.1l Vanagons. I didn't measure fuel economy, but folks
> >swear that they get 22mpg all the time and can get 27mpg or more on the
> >highway. 500 miles between fill ups would be sweet. Diesel clatter was
> >there, but well damped. The noise seemed lower than in the Ford Transit
> >I drove in France this year. It was a chilly day so I didn't try the
> >Windows down test.
> >
> >The camper conversion I drove was too much of that tacky sort of
> >American overstuffed, Sportsmobileish interior. Nothing seemed very
> >engineered and was just not my style. The rear bed sure was huge,
> >though. The salesguy thought one his customers had put a Westfalia
> >poptop from Europe on one, though I have yet to find a picture or any
> >info on the web. I haven't asked Steve Lashley yet.
> >
> >Net net: I am very tempted to get a 140" hi roof and build my own
> >camper conversion. I will probably rent a Sprinter camper in Europe
> >first to get some real test time.
> >
> >For folks that are interested.
> >Here's some info and pics of the camper I test drove. ($55k, I think)
> >http://www.sprinterus.com/
> >
> >The Sprintervan group on Yahoo is pretty active, though not up to
> >Vanagon snuff.
> >
> >These are the folks we rented an RV from in the Netherlands.
> >http://www.arrantea.com/
> >
> >TyG
> >
> >
> >
>
>
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