Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 08:19:16 -0700 (PDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: David Schwarze <des@teleport.com>
Subject: Re: Crazy Winnebago/Eurovan Motorhome.
william killian writes:
>
> On Wed, 21 Jun 1995, David Schwarze wrote:
>
> > Yup. It's called the Rialta, and it's a pig. Stock engine, horrible
> > ground clearance, unacceptably little interior space. But, it's
> > relatively cheap (not much more than the Westy) and has a really trick
> > slide-out bathroom thingie. Stop by your local RV dealer for a peek, I
> > did. :)
> >
> Someone who drives a '73 bus thinks something ELSE is underpowered? has
> little interior space? I checked one out. I'm probably gonna buy one in
> a year or so. Okay so I might wait until the V6 engine is in it. BUT
> according to a guy who works at a VW dealer in Penn. the Rialta IS NOT
> stock VW. THe VW dealers can't work on them because Winnebago fiddles
> with them a bunch. They even supposedly have a turbo version.
Hmmm... the dealer where I saw the Rialta claimed that it had a stock
motor, with 108 (I think) horsepower.
> as happy
> as I am with the Eurovan and it PLENTY powerful engine I'm not too
> worried about the power. The EV power is pretty good at the low end but
> for a vehicle its size it is almost AMAZING at the high end - its the
> transmission not the engine that could lead one to think there is a lack
> of power.
I didn't mean to imply that the Eurovan is underpowered, certainly not
compared to my bus - driving 2,000 miles behind Pete Sellers in his
Eurovan proved that to me (but when I get the 2.0 installed, then we'll
see!). My gripes are specifically with the Rialta. With all the extra
weight and (what I was led to believe was) the stock engine, I doubt I
would be very far behind it up grades. The sewer drain pipe thing on
the side was a mere 5 inches off the ground - liable to hit it on speed
bumps! The advertise it as having over 6 feet of headroom inside, but
that is only in the entrance way - a small area about 3 feet square.
The rest of the camper has about 5'9" headroom, and I can't even come
close to standing upright in it.
> Drove many years in a '72 bus - pretty close in 'power' to a '73 I'd imagine.
> Did they put a 1800 in the '73? not much more than a 1700...
No, 73 still had a 1700 but I went up to 1800 when I rebuilt it, cause
the cylinder kits were the same price.
Again, I wasn't trying to slam the Eurovan - just giving my impression
of the Rialta conversion. Sorry if I offended anyone.
-David
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David Schwarze '73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
San Diego, California, USA '73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
e-mail: des@teleport.com '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (Da Sleeper)
http://www.teleport.com/~des '93 Weber WG-50 (Da Piano)
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