Bigger PVC needed

Jane And Rog

Jane And Rog

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Joined
Jan 19, 2019
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Location
Ashford, Kent
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58,099
MH
Adria Twin 640 SGX
Exp
A few years
Hi,

We currently have a VW Autocampers MRV - this one in fact :)

https://www.practicalmotorhome.com/reviews/motorhome/47267-auto-campers-mrv

We absolutely love it, but as we enjoy CLs, France Passion, and getting off grid, we think we need something bigger. Must haves are a bathroom and a comfortable lounging area for bad weather - we think this means two opposite bench seats so we’e coming round to the rear lounge layout even though that means making the bed up. (Though maybe if there’s a front dinette or swivel seats at the front we could leave the bed set up if need be.)

Another need is a fair bit of storage for BBQ, fire pit, Dutch ovens etc (we love our outside cooking and the MRV is brilliant at storage), and in a very ideal world, bikes. We have also toyed with the usual euro layout because of this, which would get us a permanent comfy bed, but the bad weather lounging wouldn’t be as good.

We have a big dog too, so somewhere for him to kip would be good - again the front dinette helps, and we could probably place a board over two swivel seats if that was all there was.

The thing we’re really struggling is the design of most camper vans - we love the more ruffty tuffty vibe of the MRV with bright orange interior and plain decor, and don’t fancy anything with piping on the cushions. We kind of want a sports camper, but not the boy racer motor racing type.

Is there anything out there?

(PS have asked Steve of Autocampers if he’ll do us a bigger vehicle and the answer is no, at present.)
 
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Can't advise you but
animated welcome group purple.gif
 
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:hiya:
We also have moved up after having a smaller VW conversion. We love the rear u lounge as it’s so comfy in evenings and bad weather. We do keep our bedding in a roll and put it out every night but I know lots who keep the bedding down and put a throw over it for daytime.
Nearly everyone I know keeps throws over the original upholstery anyway.
The front swivel seats are nice for sitting by the open sliding door and for you would be doggy area.
We keep folding Bromptons under the bed at the rear but if you wanted to take different outside stuff then you could use a bike rack for your bikes leaving plenty of storage under the beds.
We have an IH 630RL Fiat Ducato LWB and love it.
 
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Welcome onboard.

Why not sit down with a pencil and paper, list what you want in your camper and draw a rough layout of how it would work for you, then contact some of the many bespoke converters out there and talk over with them what can and can't be done with the available base vans on the market.

I did a Google search for bespoke made camper vans and for custom made camper vans and it came back with plenty of companies in that line of business.
 
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As far as I know 6.35mtrs is the biggest you get in PVC.

Most overseas makers seem to build a rear fixed bed and dinette lounge.

We bought a British make - IH with a rear lounge and love it.

But if you have a big dog I suspect he might struggle to find anywhere comfortable to sleep in the cold weather. Fiat Ducato draughts at the front of the vehicle is a huge problem.

http://ihmotorhomes.com

ps: Hi and welcome

:hiya2:
 
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I too had a VW and wanted more space

My solution, as suggested above, was to buy a van and have it converted to my own specification

I went for the Peugeot Boxer: wider, longer and more importantly higher than the VW (you can stand up in it)

I have not really had any problems with driving it (it's my daily driver) height to enter car parks can be an issue

I miss the performance of the VW (174 bhp) but I have 4 motorbikes if I feel the need for speed!

The Pug will cruise all day at 80 and returns 37 mpg (same as VW). VED is the same, Peugeot sevicing is every 2 years, so cheaper and no difference on insurance

The vans are available in 4 sizes SWB, MWB, LWB & XLWB (5m to 6.35m) and different specs. Not so many off the shelf accessories available compared to the VW, but still plenty of goodies as the Fiat Ducato & Citroën Relay are the same vans (Fiat has a different engine)

Choose your design and your converter carefully - the good ones have a waiting list, visit regularly during the build. My converter came up with some ideas that improved on my design

Three years on I still love my van:)
 
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Can a rear lounge layout actually provide storage space for your BBQ, fire pit, Dutch ovens etc?
 
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If you want a Sevel base with an automatic, or in fact semi-automatic, gearbox (comfortmatic) it would need to be based on a Fiat Ducato rather than Peugeot or Citroen.

We've got a Rapido V68 (6.4 metres), which has fixed twin beds at the rear, which can be made into a giant double, similar to the Globecar Campscout. Good storage in a garage at the back. Comfy reclining swivel captains chairs in the cab and dinette, with 4 travel seats works well for us.
 
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Zingano said:
H

We have a big dog too, so somewhere for him to kip would be good - again the front dinette helps, and we could probably place a board over two swivel seats if that was all there was.
Click to expand...

You'll soon find that the majority of PVCs can't really accommodate a big dog; smaller dogs yes but big dogs, no.

We were always keen on buying a Globecar because I've always associated them with quality and adventure so we were chuffed when we went to see the range and found a few good offerings that would cater for a big dog. The ones that will fit the bill are the Campscout Revolution, Campscout, Campscout-B and the Summit 640 (my van).

Here's a pic of the rear of our van with the pup to give you a size comparison. You'll get this type of space in any of the vans mentioned above. I have since taken the central partition out so our pup can roam up and down the van if he needs but, when travelling, he tucks in under the dinette area with ease.

I would also look at the Rapido as per Mike's suggestion and the large Adria twin which is rather nice too.

There may be others out there but it's the dog-thing that will help define your choice.

Good luck and welcome to the forum,

Andrew

20181130_102940.jpg

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Zingano said:
Hi,

We currently have a VW Autocampers MRV - this one in fact :)

https://www.practicalmotorhome.com/reviews/motorhome/47267-auto-campers-mrv

We absolutely love it, but as we enjoy CLs, France Passion, and getting off grid, we think we need something bigger. Must haves are a bathroom and a comfortable lounging area for bad weather - we think this means two opposite bench seats so we’e coming round to the rear lounge layout even though that means making the bed up. (Though maybe if there’s a front dinette or swivel seats at the front we could leave the bed set up if need be.)

Another need is a fair bit of storage for BBQ, fire pit, Dutch ovens etc (we love our outside cooking and the MRV is brilliant at storage), and in a very ideal world, bikes. We have also toyed with the usual euro layout because of this, which would get us a permanent comfy bed, but the bad weather lounging wouldn’t be as good.

We have a big dog too, so somewhere for him to kip would be good - again the front dinette helps, and we could probably place a board over two swivel seats if that was all there was.

The thing we’re really struggling is the design of most camper vans - we love the more ruffty tuffty vibe of the MRV with bright orange interior and plain decor, and don’t fancy anything with piping on the cushions. We kind of want a sports camper, but not the boy racer motor racing type.

Is there anything out there?

(PS have asked Steve of Autocampers if he’ll do us a bigger vehicle and the answer is no, at present.)
Click to expand...

Sounds much like our requirements when we were looking for a PVC. We wanted a rear lounge, a decent-sized bathroom, and primarily a vehicle that would suit off-grid winter touring (we are not sun-worshippers). As there are only two of us, the extra travelling seats in a lot of the European models seemed a bit of a waste of precious space. After attending a lot of shows, we narrowed our choice down to a few models from Globecar, Devon, IH, and Wildax.

The Globecars seemed particularly good for storage solutions and included some nice design touches (we almost bought one), IH were beautifully specced with a slightly higher price tag to reflect that, Devon seemed a bit more budget but would work for us. In the end we bought a Wildax Europa (6.128 metres on a Renault Master base) and they made a few bespoke modifications for us as part of the build at no extra cost.
 
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MikeD said:
As far as I know 6.35mtrs is the biggest you get in PVC
Click to expand...
I think the Iveco daily is a longer van as our kitchen company has one

veco / Daily
Daily 35S14 LWB 136 h/r
Overall length (mm) 7012
Overall height (mm) 2670
Overall width (mm) 1996
Wheelbase (mm) 3950
 
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yes the iveco is longer but narrower you can t get a transerse bed in an iveco but with the OP's spec the want longitudal

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Hi, we thought long and hard about a high top vw but was just too small (wanted toilet and have large doodle dog). We’re on our first weekend out in our Globecar Campscout 6.3m. It’s working really well for the dog who has over 1/2 garage area. We removed the top step and divider so he feels more part of the family. I thought it may not be high enough but it is. If you needed more height the revolution would be an option. The front dinette works well for 2 max 3. I think you would be pushed with 4.
What could be better? A bathroom sink that folded up out of the way.
 
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Thanks for the great welcome all!

There’s a few to look at there, thanks. I think the big question is is there enough storage in a standard rear dinette - some of you are saying yes, others saying to check, so we will. Of course the euro layout is better for that but the lounging area worse for the UK.

Is a class C one of the bigger white ones? In which case not meeting our desire for something more outdoor and ruffty tuffty.

Do any of the custom converters match the kind of design of the MRV? Because even the Globecar etc are a bit more like houses inside than camper vans.
 
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Another vote for the IH630RL or the RD , the U shaped lounge makes it cosy inside and gives you a huge useable boot. The only difference between the two is that on the new website the RD has the barn doors and the RL has a lift up boot. Ours is nearly 4 years old and they were all called RL then and you just paid extra for the lift up boot. We were far too mean and like the big barn doors on a hot day anyway!
 
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Thanks - I do find the IH one of the worst for old fashioned decor though. I’d love to find a camper like our MRV in design, more outdoorsy and camping style, but it seems they don’t exist. Though the euro layout fixed beds are a little better at this.

Shame, as I think the U layout does have enough storage, e.g, the Vantage EOS too.
 
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mitzimad said:
yes the iveco is longer but narrower you can t get a transerse bed in an iveco but with the OP's spec the want longitudal
Click to expand...
Same with Mercedes, they do longer but not as square so not as well suited to being a camper

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Zingano said:
Thanks - I do find the IH one of the worst for old fashioned decor though. I’d love to find a camper like our MRV in design, more outdoorsy and camping style, but it seems they don’t exist. Though the euro layout fixed beds are a little better at this.

Shame, as I think the U layout does have enough storage, e.g, the Vantage EOS too.
Click to expand...
Its the way they put IH on everything that ruins it for me
 
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Westfalia may be worth a look
Similar layout to Globecar etc but finishing is more sterile if you know what I mean
You will have to get out and see the ones that make your shortlist in the flesh
Looking on web. Sites gives you an idea but until you have been in them it's difficult to tell
We. HUD vans on our shortlist that in hindsight would not have worked for us that we'll
 
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We have a Warwick Duo, and we love it! Plenty of storage, very easy bed make up (must be, cos I do it!), and good kitchen. We have a bike rack on the rear doors, but you could have a tow bar bike rack. Only 5.9m long, and since we put sheepskins on the seats, the upholstery doesn’t matter to us (we would probably have chosen brown or something, but got a good deal!). Here’s a link


Forgot to say, the dog sleeps on the front seats - could have a board across for a bigger dog?
 
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I’ve always liked the look of these.

https://www.outsidevan.com/van/pocket/

Unfortunately they’re an American company but I suspect someone in the UK would be able to copy one.

Is this the kind of “ruffty tuffty” thing you’re looking for?
 
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Why not buy a van and have it converted to your own spec?

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We've been VW PVC owners for well over forty years, the last twenty being with LWB High roof versions. Since 2004 I have built five to my own spec, the current one is this...

Broken Link Removed

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Now we are looking towards the New VW Crafter on which we understand IH are soon revealing a front lounge version,. I don't really want to get into designing and building my own version on a different body type (from the T6) as I guess I would have to do at least three before we were satisfied with the outcome.

Rod
 
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Outside van is exactly what we are after. If only there were some converters in the UK like this, as well as Auto Campers...
 
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You could consider a French bed design if you don't like the transverse bed idea...
A few PVCs do it...
eg Autosleepers Kingham - love the daybed idea.


Yes the loo/shower is small, but as you haven't had one onboard before it'll be an upgrade.
 
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Don't write off half-dinette with fixed rear bed designs as they can be very good for chilling out - we use our bed area as a separate lounge for slobbing out on if we want, it means if you want to have your 'own space' you can in comfort. Our first PVC was 6m with a transverse rear bed and it was lovely slobbing there reading etc on a lovely summer's day with the rear doors open when it wasn't always warm enough to sit out. We've now got a 6.36m with 2 singles in the rear and it's just a good but with the added bonus of more storage and no disturbing each other when getting in/out of bed.

As for the dog, we have 3 and our largest one sleeps under the dinette table - I removed the large jutting out bottom plastic panel from the back of the passenger seat base and replaced it with a flat one and it has given her a lot more slobbing space, 2 of our dogs can now sleep there quite comfortable if they wish.

https://globecarcampscoutinfo.yolasite.com/
 
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