What's the best RV/motorhome aerodynamically?

[shovel]

[jime57]

Originally Posted by freebeard

In an earlier post you name-checked Bluebird. Decades ago now, in Bluegene, OR there was a school bus named Fort Home. The roof and windows had been removed from the last 6', giving it sort of a poop deck, with nice wooden door.

I saw that bus, or a very similar one in Quartzsite a few years back. Quartzsite has some pretty weird birds

Also saw one rig with solar panels on a pole, with lever arms and pull ropes over the side. The guy spent his day pulling on the ropes to keep the solar panels pointed at the sun, but then what else is there to do in Quartzsite if you are there more than a couple of weeks?

I have an old 30,000 lb. Dutchstar diesel pusher which I can get 11MPG from on reasonably flat terrain, 10MPG in modest hills, by driving the thing in its "sweet spot."

I looks to me like the smallish Winnebago View has the best potential for fuel economy. It has a modern diesel drive train and is fairly light. A partial boat-tail on that baby would work miracles.

[ennored]

I forgot about the Navette. Don't think I've seen it mentioned here at Ecomodder. Not quite a Vixen, only 20 made, and it probably never saw a real wind tunnel, but it does have some aerodynamic features.

More pictures

[ron]

In the earlie 80s my step dad worked on an amphibious RV in so. cal. called the aqua coach. I dont know what happened to that prototype but it did work to some degree, they had problems as I recall with sealing the rear end to the body, and they still owe John Myers a pay check.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by ennored

I forgot about the Navette.

That puts me in mind of the prototype Calrk Cortez


ron -- Why aren't all motorhomes amphibious?

[botsapper]

Some from the streamliner archives. http://io9.com/sleek-and-sexy-bus-co...ever-643831984

[ThomCat316]

This thread has been a lot of fun to read! Thanks, everyone!

I have one minor contribution to make, about appliances, etc. - buy marine!

I grew up in and around boats, and while getting my teardrop trailer together I spent some time looking at what the RV world had to offer for fittings and appliances; it's cheap crap. Maybe not universally, but I didn't see anything that I was looking for that wasn't.

Marine gear is costlier new, but when you buy a stove that's been *exactly* the same for 60 years there's a lot of good used ones to choose from. You can also get spares very easily. Same thing applies to all the other stuff out there, from insulation and sound damping to battery chargers and inverters - and generally it's built to last. Think about it - the average cruising boat owner expects their gear to simply work for months at a time, and is generally *not* someplace where the brown truck can bring parts/replacements.

If you're considering this route, make sure you read the applicable forums about the gear you're considering, and don't source it at Cabela's/Bass Pro/MallWart - a lot of relabeled RV junk ends up on those shelves. My favorite source for new stuff is Defender in CT. Great folks.

Thanks again!
Thomcat

[Frank Lee]

Love the Navette!

Add a collapsible tail as seen on semi-trailers now and you'd have it! I wonder how the Navette did for fe?

[ennored]

I saw 18 MPG quoted for the Navette someplace. Not bad at all for 1990ish Isuzu diesel. Similar to the Sprinter based stuff around today with a mucg higher tech diesel.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by ennored

I forgot about the Navette. Don't think I've seen it mentioned here at Ecomodder. Not quite a Vixen, only 20 made, and it probably never saw a real wind tunnel, but it does have some aerodynamic features.

More pictures

They attended a local show back in the day.I have a brochure from them.Glad they were able to sell a few.
In Hucho's chapter on commercial vehicles there might be enough info to make a pretty good estimate of the Navette's Cd.
Thanks for sharing this!