Is size important?

[5andy]

I may be obsessing about something which may actually be irrelevent but as part of retirement plan, not mentioned in a previous post, we intend to buy a "new" motorhome later this year. Our current motorhome is 6.55m which I think is long enough. We intend to spend sustained periods in the Motorhome and would intend to buy something with a fixed island bed, large garage, preferably separate shower/ bathroom with reasonable kitchen/ living space. It looks like we really need to be prepared to consider 7 to 7.5 metre motorhomes to tick all of our boxes. My question is does an additional half a metre or metre make any difference at all in terms of wildcamping, paying for ferries, or indeed driving. My feeling is to say dam the size and go for 7.5 ish but would welcome your thoughts. Sandy.

 

[sinner]

I may be obsessing about something which may actually be irrelevent but as part of retirement plan, not mentioned in a previous post, we intend to buy a "new" motorhome later this year. Our current motorhome is 6.55m which I think is long enough. We intend to spend sustained periods in the Motorhome and would intend to buy something with a fixed island bed, large garage, preferably separate shower/ bathroom with reasonable kitchen/ living space. It looks like we really need to be prepared to consider 7 to 7.5 metre motorhomes to tick all of our boxes. My question is does an additional half a metre or metre make any difference at all in terms of wildcamping, paying for ferries, or indeed driving. My feeling is to say dam the size and go for 7.5 ish but would welcome your thoughts. Sandy.

the only thing I find a bother is parking, takes a wee bit more effort to find parking in towns with a bigger MH, but its worth it to have what you want

 

[jagmanx]

6.5 metres

I think "going longer" should be a wise move.
Your current model needs 2 parking spaces long. anyway so I expect you are aware of such disadvantages of long MHs.
Ours is just over 7m and we have a good fixed bed
a shower in the batch room which you can get into and close the door.
Good living space.
Our storage "ouside" is a bit limited just having a single locker under the bed but room for
1 medium " fully folding" table
2 foldng chairs
1 small folding table
carpet
Cadac BBQ Yellow levelling ramps etc

Out indoor locker space is very good
We almost live in our MH for the summer so like the features you are seeking

I have considered upgrading to a slightly larger "A Class" but have discounted because of weight and other issues which would make the running costs significantly more.

We have a lunar premier H622

 

[Deleted user 48797]

Sandy. In my opinion if you intend to spend more time abroad the extra length won't matter - there are some big vans out there. However, there can be problems with rear overhang rather than pure length when using ferries. Also, after travelling extensively in France, Spain and the UK using aires, campsites, car parks and wild camping I believe you are more likely to encounter problems in car parks here than abroad where motorhomes are readily accepted as part of the leisure industry and more provision is made. I once met a motorhomer who got stuck in a small square in Spain and needed the waiters in the bars to move some tables and chairs to enable him to turn around, our van is 6.4m and I haven't done that yet..... but I have come pretty close !
Good luck with your choice.
Bd..

 

[mossypossy]

I went straight in as a rookie last year at 7.8m to avoid the possible question of should I have bought bigger.

I think another important element in length is still having a back window you can see in your rear view mirror. I have two rear cameras but nothing is as good as your eyes.

I would also have thought that extra length for a fixed rear bed as opposed to extra height for an over cab one results in marginally better fuel consumption and stability......talking fixed bed and not the faffy drop down ones.

 

[Wooie1958]

Our van is 7.5m and i`ve never had any problems manoeuvring / parking / wilding / campsites / ferries etc.

I genuinely don`t think we could manage with anything smaller because when we go away we want to be comfortable and have everything we need with us.

Our van was originally 3,850kg GVW and after a visit to the weighbridge decided it need uprating as i was perilously close to that.

I uprated via SV Tech to 4,100kg GVW ( paper exercise ) and are now very legal with payload to spare.

 

[phillybarbour]

Ours is 9m long and never had an issue, however I do plan a little ahead with regard to the UK. With regard to other countries don't even plan ahead. In my experience any van up to 9m is no bigger than a 7.5t truck and very few places don't have those in and out of the town every day. This does assume your confident driving it though.

 

[n brown]

my last big van was 9m and i drove it anywhere i wanted to in Europe.found it was important to have a scooter or at least a bike for shopping, but also to check down lanes and tracks for accessibility .lovely to have that much space and carrying capacity !

 

[2cv]

It's very much a personal preference think, but I find that not having a fixed bed is not a big inconvenience. It takes only 5 minutes or less to make up a comfy king size bed and to have this in a fixed bed arrangement would need at least an extra 3ft in van length. Certainly in the remoter parts of Scotland a relatively small van opens up the choice of wilding spots.
We spend about 1/3 of our time in the van and never feel cramped in 6m.

 

[colinm]

Size is a very personal thing, our philosophy is to have the smallest van which meets our needs, at the moment that is a 636m Globecar PVC. If we where spending more time in the van a bigger one would be tempting,but might curtail some of our wanderings down little side lanes.
Considering the island bed is an interesting one, for us a bed which gf can easily get out of is paramount due to her claustrophobia, and a 'non public' dressing area next to the bed is desirable, an island bed would meet those needs,but interestingly the arrangement of bed and washroom in our campscout also meets those needs in a much smaller area, but i'm not aware of any similar layout in a coachbuilt.

 

[Deleted member 12539]

Our first M/H was a 7.4m 6 berth coachbuilt, 7.4m long with a 2m overhang. Parking was not too bad, as the overhang could be placed outside of the parking space if there were a grassed or clear 'non parking' area under it. The rear habitation area had U shaped seating which converted to a large bed, but after two years of use, my good lady wife found the making up of the bed a pain.
Our current M/H is a four/five berth twin axle A class at 6.9m, fixed bed, although this is above the large garage (takes 4 cycles with ease), the 6 wheels makes for a stable drive, which gives confidence. Our preferences are mostly ticked, with a decent sized kitchen and habitation area, a fixed bed, garage and optional sleeping for another three (family).
The height of it at just over 3m, unfortunately does not allow us to drive down the lane leading to my parents house in south Wales, which is a bit of a gripe.

If there was an available M/H, at the right price, we would like one slightly lower and also prefer an island bed, not 4ft off the floor, but would probably have to accept the vehicle would be longer.
From previous experience I could only now settle for a continental M/H with good insulation too.
Good luck with your search.

 

[yorkieowl]

When we originally started looking for a van everyone said go for the biggest, we finally went for a 6.5m which was ample space for us, we then changed to a 6m, we spend a lot of time in spring, summer and autumn in the van not so much in winter and its plenty big enough, only gripes really are I would prefer a garage or large outdoor locker and definitely a separate shower, we didn't want anything too big because we liked to be able to get to some of the places we couldn't have with anything bigger. I think you've decided to go for bigger still, I cannot see an extra half a metre making too much difference just get the one with the best facilities/layout.

 

[carol]

I've never owned a big van. Started with a VW t2, 2 t4s and now a swb Citroen Relay. I'd love a bigger van but haven't got the confidence to drive one. Although I love being in large motorhomes, and am in envy, I still think the access you get from a smaller vehicle makes up for the lack of space. But certainly, if I wasn't driving I'd go bigger!

 

[ScamperVan]

Reading all the comments with interest. Our motorhome is 6.57m and is the only one we've owned so far. I'm edging towards an upgrade if and when we can afford to do so and would like one with a bit more living space. The newer models of what we have seem to be better designed and give the impression of having more room inside even tho', on paper, they are about the same length. Of course, once we get to inspect them "in the flesh" it may turn out I am mistaken.

 

[mossypossy]

my carpet pattern just wouldn't work in anything smaller:dance:

 

[Mick H]

In my experience, the bigger the Motorhome, the greater the access, and parking problems. People who say different, are being economical with the truth!
They certainly can't go to some of the places that we like to visit.

My first van was a SWB Transit, and I could go just about anywhere with it. As I moved on to larger coachbuilt motorhomes, so the restrictions became more difficult. There are several wildcamping spots on the POI database that must have been submitted by owners of 'Micro Campers', because we haven't been able to overnight in some of these spots. It makes forward planning awkward, requiring alternative spots to be sorted, just in case.

Longer vans also suffer from issues on official parking area's, as well as extra charges on ferries.

Our current M/H,is 6.86 m long, and if we change it, we will be looking for a shorter van, but it IS down to personal choice. As with many things, there are no right or wrong's. Motorhoming is all about compromise.

 

[Canalsman]

Last year I upsized from a 6 metre to a 7.75 metre 'van.

I have gained a French bed, lost the overcab Luton bed (but have an enormous locker instead), and have oodles of storage which I cannot fill despite trying really hard!

For me, with two Lurchers, and spending up to four months away at a time, it has made life much more comfortable. In fact I find the 'van more comfortable than my house.

Downsides? The rear overhang has to be remembered at all times. It is all too easy to ground on dips, sudden gradient changes and the like. Fortunately I have a towbar as protection. In addition, in France they really like speed humps, and some are just long enough for me to almost beach on them. These have to be taken really slowly!

Parking isn't really a problem. And reversing is easier with a longer vehicle since you have a longer sight line down the vehicle sides.

 

[jake]

I may be obsessing about something which may actually be irrelevent but as part of retirement plan, not mentioned in a previous post, we intend to buy a "new" motorhome later this year. Our current motorhome is 6.55m which I think is long enough. We intend to spend sustained periods in the Motorhome and would intend to buy something with a fixed island bed, large garage, preferably separate shower/ bathroom with reasonable kitchen/ living space. It looks like we really need to be prepared to consider 7 to 7.5 metre motorhomes to tick all of our boxes. My question is does an additional half a metre or metre make any difference at all in terms of wildcamping, paying for ferries, or indeed driving. My feeling is to say dam the size and go for 7.5 ish but would welcome your thoughts. Sandy.

driving you'll get used to , the size/ space you'll get used to,& never go back to a wee van ,

 

[n brown]

thing about driving bigger vehicles is- it's not that different really, you only look at what's in front of you when you're driving, it's really only when you're doing slow stuff you really notice- parking,going in and out of garages etc- so you just take your time

 

[trevskoda]

My home build bus is 6.5 mtrs but if i were doing a live aboard i would pick the extra big library bus like one of these.
Mine is about the same size as the silver iveco with the flash paint strip up the back.