Date:         Tue, 6 Sep 1994 11:02:58 -0600
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         mabhatti@uiowa.edu (M. Asghar Bhatti)
Subject:      EuroVan Winnebago Test Drive

Last saturday we test drove the new 95 EuroVan Winnebago Camper with an
automatic transmission (my wife does not want to drive a car with manual
shift!). Had all the power stuff (power windows, locks, mirrors, cruise).
Layout is pretty similar to a Vanagon Camper. A large auxiliary battery is
under the rear seat (bed) for all the camping gear.

Things I liked
--------------
* Lots of room.
* Built-in furnace
* Easy to open pop-up.
* Pop-up has its own light and openings on the sides also.
* Much larger propane tank.
* Engine seemed powerful enough.
* Handles nicely and was very quiet inside.

Things I did not like
----------------------
* Price sticker (around 31K; 22K for VW and 9K for Winnebago)

* Gas pedal seemed too close to the center. I assume that is the case for
all EVs.

* Roof top luggage rack is smaller than Vanagon's (may be a problem for
Martha's shower scheme!)

* Miniblinds on windows instead of curtains.

* There is no glass on the left rear (where the closets are). From drivers
side it makes it look like a cargo van (and ugly IMHO).

* From the outside the pop-up looks as if it does not belongs there. Again
this may be my personal taste but I like the much narrower Westfalia one on
the EuroVan MV with Weekender package.

* Without the optional middle seat there is room for only two people to sit
in the back.

* The optional middle seat blocks the refrigerator and storage cabinets.

* Folding tables are stored behind the drivers seat and in front of the
refrigerator. They were rattling and making too much noise in the van that
we drove.

Bottomline:
-----------
EV Winnebago is not for us. We'll hold for a EuroVan MV Weekender. There is
one problem though. The salesman told me that VW may not bring new EV into
the US market until 1996 model year. I would hate to wait that long (a
Previa is NOT a replacement for our totalled 85 Westfalia!!!). Can anybody
else confirm this?

Asghar Bhatti
(mabhatti@uiowa.edu)