Winnebago announced the Arko yesterday.
It has some innovation and some good ideas. The wide opening rear doors are fantastic, the modular rear lounge/rear bed area is OK, the bathroom is probably not really a workable solution. Not only are you taking a dump with nothing but a shower curtain for privacy, but when you go to bed you have to walk across the wet floor. No big deal for me, but the wife will probably hate it.
So here are my thoughts. Clearly they aren't going after Earthroamer as they have a relatively cheap build and Earthroamers are like art. I think their competition is the Storyteller Hilt and a few others.
The 5500 chassis with Buckstop super single rear wheels is pretty stout. This isn't just putting big wheels on a 2x2 stick build and watching it rattle to death, this thing will handle some real off road. Not sure if this also has liquid springs (I doubt it at the price point), but even without that chassis is going to be a BEAST, the only thing that will stop this RV is the turning radius. I also really like that they isolated the house from the chassis and allow them to flex separately. That will keep this thing from falling to pieces. The accordion passthrough is interesting. Fiberglass house instead of the carbon fiber Earthroamer and Truckhouse use, but I have seen 30-50 year old RVs made of fiberglass and it withstands UV light well.
I also really like the electrical system. Tons of Amp Hours, tons of solar, huge alternator power. They have a pet system so it keeps cool when a pet is in the house. Nice touch.
The negative is obviously storage. I guess the idea on this one is to use the garage area behind the lounge, but that just seems like everything would fly around unless it was really tied down. Fresh tanks are a little on the small side (60g), gray water is quite small (40g). If you are advertising 14 days in the bush, then you need 100g tanks.
I also love the fabric cabinets... because they are light. In my opinion the most important thing in RV builds is weight and having no wood anywhere in teh entire build is great. Wood is heavy and cabinets weigh a ton.
Price starts at $331k, which is low in this market. Some good innovation here and the price for that chassis and build seems really good. This model solves some things but I just don't know if I like that bathroom system.
My opinion... I would probably look for a 400k used earthroamer over this but they have some great ideas and an awesome electrical system. Overland Expo is coming up fairly soon, I am excited to see this.
Last thing... if you ever get a chance to go to an overland expo then do it. So many cool trucks, campers, off road RV's. So many home engineers thinking of weird stuff. I think this year we are going to the Loveland one and also the one in Redmon Oregon. They are so full of cool and weird stuff.
It has some innovation and some good ideas. The wide opening rear doors are fantastic, the modular rear lounge/rear bed area is OK, the bathroom is probably not really a workable solution. Not only are you taking a dump with nothing but a shower curtain for privacy, but when you go to bed you have to walk across the wet floor. No big deal for me, but the wife will probably hate it.
So here are my thoughts. Clearly they aren't going after Earthroamer as they have a relatively cheap build and Earthroamers are like art. I think their competition is the Storyteller Hilt and a few others.
The 5500 chassis with Buckstop super single rear wheels is pretty stout. This isn't just putting big wheels on a 2x2 stick build and watching it rattle to death, this thing will handle some real off road. Not sure if this also has liquid springs (I doubt it at the price point), but even without that chassis is going to be a BEAST, the only thing that will stop this RV is the turning radius. I also really like that they isolated the house from the chassis and allow them to flex separately. That will keep this thing from falling to pieces. The accordion passthrough is interesting. Fiberglass house instead of the carbon fiber Earthroamer and Truckhouse use, but I have seen 30-50 year old RVs made of fiberglass and it withstands UV light well.
I also really like the electrical system. Tons of Amp Hours, tons of solar, huge alternator power. They have a pet system so it keeps cool when a pet is in the house. Nice touch.
The negative is obviously storage. I guess the idea on this one is to use the garage area behind the lounge, but that just seems like everything would fly around unless it was really tied down. Fresh tanks are a little on the small side (60g), gray water is quite small (40g). If you are advertising 14 days in the bush, then you need 100g tanks.
I also love the fabric cabinets... because they are light. In my opinion the most important thing in RV builds is weight and having no wood anywhere in teh entire build is great. Wood is heavy and cabinets weigh a ton.
Price starts at $331k, which is low in this market. Some good innovation here and the price for that chassis and build seems really good. This model solves some things but I just don't know if I like that bathroom system.
My opinion... I would probably look for a 400k used earthroamer over this but they have some great ideas and an awesome electrical system. Overland Expo is coming up fairly soon, I am excited to see this.
Last thing... if you ever get a chance to go to an overland expo then do it. So many cool trucks, campers, off road RV's. So many home engineers thinking of weird stuff. I think this year we are going to the Loveland one and also the one in Redmon Oregon. They are so full of cool and weird stuff.
