Another update. I'm in the UK for my daughter's wedding and a spot of hill-climbing in Scotland. OK, we used a hotel for the former, but the latter will involve a full living-in-the-van camper experience. So far I'm two nights in and enjoying every minute (and not a midge in sight).
To start, here are some slight negatives I've noted with more experience:
* getting the shelf out to turn the gas cylinder on is a pain (there is the main valve on the cylinder to switch off as well as a valve below the fridge; assuming this is similar to the Cali, does everyone switch off at the main cylinder before each journey as recommended?)
* the smoked glass kitchen worktop is not very scratch proof
* it is easy to knock the waste water outlet valve into the open position when using the lower cupboard
* the rubber inlay in the floor seat rails is starting to lift in the rear compartment. I can't see it lasting the full 30 years in the front either...
* I still don't like the audio-20 radio/media interface (this is a Class V/MB rather than a Marco Polo criticism). There are 3 ways of doing most things but none of them are optimised in terms of number of actions. Definitely style over substance.
* in the general driver's cabin area there seem to be pockets of dead space that could have been adapted for MP usage. The lockable glove compartment is quite small for instance. I'm guessing that Westfalia decided there are some parts that are too expensive to adapt. If the van were to be built from the ground-up as a Marco Polo I think many of these spaces would be optimised as in the Cali.
And a few positives:
* the kitchen is much more solidly built and practical than initial impressions would suggest. Having seen the Westfalia kitchens on nearly 20 year old Marco Polos this is what I'd expect -- they're pretty rugged.
* the 3 pull out drawers and 1 sliding door mean that everything is accessible at all times even with the table out. This is really useful. Essentially, one person sitting on the left rear seat can 'control' the entire kitchen space for food prep with the table out without having to get up or move the table
* I've now had the chance to test the upper bed and have found it mega comfortable. The bed base is some kind of multi-cell support. Mind you, it helps greatly to be completely knackered after a long day in the Aonachs.
* Fuel economy continues to impress even on UK roads. Fully laden, passengers, luggage, gifts of wine for family... we managed 6.2 l/100 from Portsmouth to the tiny country lanes of Cardigan in West Wales, then 6.3 l/100 from Cardigan to Manchester through the A roads of mid-Wales. Then motorways and A roads from Manchester to Loch Lomond 431 km at 5.8l/100 (48.7 mpg). On a full tank the gauge reports a range of over 1200 km.
Picking up a few points from the thread:
Velma's Dad: I agree entirely, the table/chair etc discussion does draw out the different uses one makes of the van even within the same group of users. When I'm solo camping I don't bother with table/chair/awning for instance. Regarding the table, there is space directly under the bed extension for a table to be stored without interfering with the storage beneath. In the photo you can make out the 'hollowed-out' space beneath the bench. Taking this and the black metal support frame into account amounts to around 8cm available depth. So a table occupying 86 x 56 x 8 cm can be stashed underneath leaving more than enough room for standard 30 cm high storage boxes (that's what I'm using). You might just squeeze in a small porta-potti (I note the Thetford Qube 445 in small is 31.3 cm in height).
Blackout windows. Yes, it is very difficult to see into the vehicle from outside but not the other way round. I guess it almost isn't necessary to use the blinds unless you're lit up inside. Here's a view taken just now from a caravan-infested parking spot where I spent the night between Fort William and Inverness, taken through the tinted glass.
Length. I measured the maximum internal length to be 2.5m exactly, from the internal part of the tailgate when closed to the immovable part at the base of the front seats. So if you have say a sofa measuring 2.5m it will fit.
Height. There have been so far several occasions where coming in just under 2m has made a difference. One was the dropoff at Manchester airport. Pretty scary heading for the bar at 2m though but I imagine a lot of people use the V class as an airport taxi. As for internal height, I haven't measured it but yes, at 6'3" you'll be scraping the top when in the back seat with the internal roof partition lowered (I'm 6' and I have about 2" spare) and perhaps too in the driver's seat, not due to the height of the roof (as commented above there is no closeable partition in this part, so there is more headroom) but because of the rim supporting the roof.
Awning. We decided against the permanent awning for reasons of cost and drag and instead, based on a post by WelshGas, a 40 euro tarp (high sun protection version) from Decathlon, which is overall much more flexible, especially when adapted to fit the guide rail of the van.
Martin
