Advancing Alvar

[Davydd]

Rocky,

Pretty much everything needed from M-B for a Class B including all the safety and comfort features. Finishes inside will be all custom so I doubt you'll ever see another B similar but nothing really exotic. The big task will be working out the interior design changes of which some have never been attempted in an RV let alone a B, in America at least, and never seen by me anywhere. That part will take a little work yet.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by booster

There is a bit of discussion on RV.net concerning biodiesel and warranties. Looks similar to some of the issues that were about ethanol in the past. Could get spendy for the customers if true. Did they say anything about it with the discussions at Advanced RV?

http://www.thedieseldriver.com/2012/...your-warranty/

I don't know how this relates to this topic. Let's leave it there with the Chicken Little worry ninnies there. If related to the recent Advanced Fest and the Mercedes Benz dealer there I'm trying to remember if the subject came up. I'll have to check my few notes but there were no alarm bells. I did ask how a company could completely ignore a 3 million metropolitan area with Mercedes Benz dealer Sprinter service. The Twin Cities certainly has enough Mercedes Benz dealers but their nearest to the Twin Cities now with service are Rochester, MN at 100 miles and Sioux Falls, SD at 200 miles. We do have Freightliner Sprinter service. It's an every 15,000 mile worry which I could probably do on trips just as easily.

[Davydd]

I don't think we are going full Scandinavian in finishes and nothing quite as glossy high tech as the Mzungu Advanced RV is. Just a little history. Our first Pleasure-way Sprinter had light Maple cabinets. Our Great West Van has Cherry cabinets. Both had light Ultraleather upholstery. At home we have Cherry and Teak furniture and cabinets in a Douglas Fir heavy timber frame home. We arbitrarily decided this go around mainly to be different would be a tone between the two. It is actually a laminate on plywood because of all the curved surfaces and it is called Alaskan Walnut. I'm not sure there is such a tree in Alaska. The color is really a darker Maple or Oak in appearance to me but not as dark as the Cherry. Accenting and fridge cover will be stainless steel.

The floor we selected was a Eco recycled rubber (fixed on edit) called Go Pound Sand, which is tan in overall appearance.

The countertops are a solid surface quartz and pretty much a dark grey in appearance. It has some texture but is not busy like granite.

Curtains pick up the grey and tan tones and have a pattern. My wife really likes this and it is heavy fabric that will block out the light.

The upholstery for the seats and beds will be a genuine leather with a dark grey appearance.

Here is a color selection with the materials together I took with an iPhone camera.

[wincrasher]

Beautiful palette.

[pattonsr]

Love the color selections. I think the floor is made from recycled rubber, not cork.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by pattonsr

Love the color selections. I think the floor is made from recycled rubber, not cork.

You are right. The color looks cork to me. I guess my brain wasn't in gear.

http://www.archiexpo.com/prod/ecosurfac ... tem_664440

I should add. We selected from samples and catalogs they had on hand. The selections were infinite and I am sure if I had other ideas I could have brought them in but didn't see a need to. Advanced RV originally had a few combinations on their web site probably with the thought of doing it as other converters did limiting to just a few finish ideas but that seems to have gone away when they realized they were more in the custom business. There was one being built with a two finish cabinet motif which seems to be a current trend in kitchen design with upper cabinets being different than lower.

[bobojay]

Gonna be a stunner David.....

[Davydd]

Since I am on colors. This is the exterior - Graphite Grey Metallic.

[wincrasher]

I use one of these to protect from faulty shore power connections:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They make better ones that are designed to be wired permanently into the rig. Are you getting something like this installed to protect your "all-electric" new van? Or does ARV have something like this as a standard feature?

[Davydd]

Surge protection is built into every Advanced RV as standard. They use an Outback 2800 watt inverter and it was discovered the inverter itself could have surge protection but Advanced RV is going with a separate surge protector built into the van so you don't have an expensive $200 plus surge protector sitting out on a campground post inviting all. Here is the inverter with the surge protector just to the right of it of a van under production.

[wincrasher]

That is definitely a good way to go. I assume any error codes are seen on the systems display and you can reset.

Looks like a TRC unit.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Davydd

Since I am on colors. This is the exterior - Graphite Grey Metallic.

Nice color--hard to tell how dark and metallic it is on the computer. Do you worry about it heating up too much do to the color? I know our sand colored Roadtrek heats up more than the white or silver ones.

[Davydd]

I've talked to other owners with black RVs and got no negative return to make much of a difference. As I have mentioned I choose my climate and time of year in my travels carefully to diminish need for air conditioning. The cab air conditioner is more than adequate upfront while driving. Still, the Advanced RV uses a 15,000 BTU air conditioner where others are still installing 11,000 BTU or 13,500 BTU air conditioners in Sprinters. Also, Advanced RV installs Hushmat on floors, walls and ceiling throughout with R7 denim insulation in walls and ceiling. I don't know if anyone else does that. In test driving, Advanced RV is quieter than my Sprinter.

Other than maybe Sportsmobile, where you can order your own van, the other converters have a narrow color selection ranging from only Silver by LTV to six colors by Roadtrek for Sprinters. I know there is one Advanced RV out there with the the Graphite Grey Metallic so I am not exclusive.

I should add, I have had white and silver, and again this was just another decision to differentiate from the past.

[Davydd]

Advanced RV puts in a lot of accenting in the interiors such as stainless steel accent banding on the cabinetry. I am also getting a stainless steel faced refrigerator/Freezer. OK, this may be a little anal-attentive but I've always been bothered by electrical outlets and cover plates installed on wood cabinetry that are of the utilitarian bone/off white color. They simply blare out as unsightly attachments. Dark gray or black are a little better in blending into the background with the many RV type toggle switches. With the standard household electrical outlets and covers I have requested this:



I'd rather get it done right off rather than go through doing it myself as I have done in some places in my house like the kitchen counter outlets to blend with all our stainless steel kitchen appliances.

[Fastpaddler1]

Well done. I never realized how inviting such an electrical outlet cover could be until now. I agree too. I wouldnt have a white cover on my walls. I wouldnt mind the hush mats in my current rig as the i-5 IS a bit noisier and has more vibration than the V6. I assume no decals on the exterior. Never liked them , especially mine. I will not have them on my next rv.

AL

[gordonhks]

Davydd, your level of detail is impressive. I can not wait to see the coach that you are putting together. Advance was VERY smart to deploy your help with this project!

[stanw909]

Why not a brown plate and brown plug? Or a stainless steel plate and brown plug? My old 95 Bounder has brown plates and plugs. Never thought about it but they do look nice as plugs go. When I finally build my camper van it will have a few ac plugs but many dc plugs for charging phones, tablets ,fans etc...David. Do they send you progress pics like Sportsmobile does? Is that where you got the above pic?

[Davydd]

The outlet and cover plate pic is my own that I sent to Advanced RV as a suggestion. It will become their standard on any RV that chooses stainless steel for an accent strip in their cabinetry design. For others, I guess it will depend. I took that photo on my cherry desktop at home. We are getting cabinetry that is closer to Maple so the color of the outlet and cover is not intended to match the wood. Also, there are generally three commonly available outlets and switches available in white, bone and grey in hardware stores, Home Depot, Lowes, Menards's, etc. Brown is not as common as it used to be. Besides, most of the RV type toggle switches, monitor trim and other things are black inside the van and grey and stainless steel is more compatible than brown.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Fastpaddler1

Well done. I never realized how inviting such an electrical outlet cover could be until now. I agree too. I wouldnt have a white cover on my walls. I wouldnt mind the hush mats in my current rig as the i-5 IS a bit noisier and has more vibration than the V6. I assume no decals on the exterior. Never liked them , especially mine. I will not have them on my next rv.

AL

The newer model V6 Sprinters are considerably quieter than the older model 5 cylinders. The Hushmat with denim acoustical insulation will make the Advanced RV considerably quieter than any other converter's B unless they too adopt such practices. On top of that, the VB Air Suspension in the rear takes out that jarring and noisy bounce you hear and feel when going over bumps.

Outside the Advanced RV is designed to be pretty much stealth like. There are no decal stripes, swoops, etc. They put their name and model in rather small lettering on the rear quarter panels. Also, since they use compression refrigerators the top and bottom vent disappears. With no propane water heater or furnace the 12" square vented panel and exhaust disappear. The water fill is hidden in the utility skirt and they have done an excellent job of hiding the utility connections and outside access electrical cord storage in the fiberglass skirting with hidden latches and magnets. The only apparent RV hookup is the 30 amp electrical and I understand one customer is having that too hidden under the back bumper. We are getting an awning and that might be a tell tale giveaway. With the continuous side window glass it will look like a passenger van for the most part since many of those are now getting rooftop air conditioners installed.

[booster]

Do they have any kind of exterior venting for the frig? It is only about 50/70 watts or so, but from when we had the halogen lights instead of led, even 30 watts would warm up the inside of the van. I would think getting the frig heat outside would be a good thing, and maybe more efficient.