Winnebago Sprinter 4x4 Adventure concept vehicle

[PeteM]

Winnebago displayed an interesting Sprinter 144 4x4 concept vehicle at the annual Outdoor Gear show in Utah:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6FQ-FD1Ma0

Perhaps most interesting are the usual RV embellishments it does not feature; no generator, air conditioning (although prewired for optional AC), low hanging sewer tanks and valves, TV sticking out of countertop, lighted exterior awnings and stereo speaker, tailgater grill, shag carpeting, interior design borrowed from cheap whorehouse, etc.

It does have a nice clean interior design with rugged boating floor, interior bike storage, leveling bed mechanism, lithium batteries, compact but usable toilet/shower, Truma combi furnace/water heater, 200 watts solar, and fold-out kitchen extensions.

This was a demo unit for preliminary customer feedback but the Winnebago design engineers are taking prospective user comments on the design at:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/winne...venturevehicle

Certainly not as customizable as Sportsmobile but overall they seem to have hit the design pretty well for an agile off the shelf adventure rig!

[rallypanam]

Wow, Sportsmobile isn't going to be happy about that! I'll be interested to see pricing.

[86Scotty]

I like it. it's like they're building a............Sportsmobile! Na, not to be a wise ass but they will definitely sell a few if they bring it to market, and they'll charge even more for it than SMB does. Winnebago makes a solid product, though, I must admit.

[1der]

Some very cool features. Love the overhead Ram mounts for devices, and the pull up table. Like the frolly sleep system and window bumps were tastefully done.

Some things like the movable ladder, pull out shelf that wipe out any storage in the space it goes into, fils down outdoor table, and tilting bed are cutesy but do not seem that practical.

Really like the race track lighting.

Guessing $125k reasonably optioned??

[Keyne]

Article states MSRP of 100-110k and if it gets similar dealer discounting like other Winnebagos of 15-25% wouldn't that be a lot cheaper than a similarly equipped SMB Sprinter 4x4? I hope they put it into production.

http://newatlas.com/winnebago-concep...vehicle/44797/

[Steve_382]

I was just talking to another person making SMB type Sprinter vans in Lee Vining last week.

TouRig – Modular. Versatile. Design.

They have 6 months of work in front of them and I was at Fresno the week before that. All of the SMB sites have a years worth of work in front of them also. I think Winnie could take a chunk of the business with something like this and Keyne is probably right that this could come in under $100K.

[Christopher Thwaites]

Interesting! Without having seen this build my project incorporates many similar features. The strangest feature is the slide out "spice rack"!!! I won't be having that. Itsey bitsey refer is a cute but why not go bigger? I'm too old to need 4 bikes.....don't even need 1. Lots of storage space under my bunk. Lithium batteries......huge expense that doesn't pencil out. The 144" chassis has ample space to fit high quality AGM's at less than half the cost of lithium to meet ANY power needs you may have. My dinette table will be in the same spot but there is no need to fold it away so it will be sturdy and stable. I like the moveable ladder but... My Aluminess mounted midship on the driver side will give me access to my solar panels for cleaning. Not sure why I need to do anything else up there. My build is also a concept vehicle to test the market! If enough people sign up I will send them to Winnebago and ask for a commission. Oh and puke green panels and screwball graphics will not be part of my color scheme. White van, gray interior, black accents, get over it!

[Steve_382]

Just an update. I sent an email to Winnebago about this vehicle and they replied that it's in the works for this summer. Could be an easy option if the layout works for you. The fit and finish would be pretty good I think.

Hello Steve.

We will be producing the vehicle you saw in the articles with a few enhancements. Production is planned for summer at this time.

Winnebago Sales

[Wrinkledpants]

it doesn't make any sense to me why they'd use both lithium and propane. I feel like one of the biggest benefits of lithium is really simplifying your utility system by going to a single fuel source. Espar heaters are really efficient, and with solar + big charges from the alternator, it seems overly complicated.

They have some pretty neat ideas, though. Not a layout I'd ever be interested in.

[ShuttlePilot]

Originally Posted by Wrinkledpants

it doesn't make any sense to me why they'd use both lithium and propane.

Perhaps they are addressing peoples fears by offering something that is still somewhat familiar to them from the "normal" RV world. I've had folks that I was giving the tour of my van that have commented concern that I had no on board propane. Which I though was odd also. I find just about everybody loves the van but they almost always comment that there just isn't "enough" water/hot water/shower/toilet/etc. I have all that but it's not at the scale of a house on wheels. It's just my theory but, people as a heard accept change very slowly.

-Eric