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| 2013 Fleetwood Excursion at the 2011 RVIA Show in Louisville, KY |
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This unit is a great example of some of the innovation that Fleetwood is bringing to the RV industry. It also gives us a glimpse of how Fleetwood intends to rebound from the tough times of the previous years. The 2013 Excursion is an example of what happens when a large manufacturer combines the desire for innovation with the ability to listen to their users.
The first thing that strikes you about the Excursion is that it's really not all that tall. Fleetwood claims that it's 11'10" driving height will allow it to be driven into a garage with a 12 foot door. Once inside, releasing the air in the suspension will allow it to have an overall height of just 11'7". That's not very tall for a modern day class A motorhome. Despite the limited exterior height, the interior will still boast a full 7 feet of interior height. So something has to give, right? If you're anything like me, you're assuming that the basement of this unit must be either extremely small, or possibly non-existent. Well, that's not the case either.
How did Fleetwood accomplish this?
Fleetwood paired up with Freightliner Custom Chassis to rethink the traditional RV chassis. The two companies worked together to address all kinds of issues with the typical class A chassis. There are a lot of technical details which we'll write about later, but for practical purposes, Fleetwood is claiming a stronger, straighter, smoother riding chassis that allows you to have an impressive amount of storage space. A close look at the Excursion tells us that they're not kidding, and when we write a technical article on this chassis, you'll see how it all comes together.
Fleetwood is claiming that the lower exterior height is in response to their customers telling them that they'd like to be able to store their units in garages with 12 foot doors, but we're seeing another practical benefit to a lower exterior height. Increased fuel economy. With less frontal area to push through the wind, this unit should be fairly efficient out on the open road.
Efficiency speaks to the overall value of the coach, and we see the Excursion as a well rounded value. The interior is very high quality, and comfortable. In Fleetwood's marketing material they are claiming that "Every Fleetwood RV has a motor, but it's the special touches that make it a home." We have to admit that in the case of the Excursion, that marketing statement lives up to the hype. From the attractive colours of the interior to the countertops and backsplash that would fit in if they were in a downtown condo, right to the drop down 40" Sony BluRay LCD HDTV. Like many RV's these days, this unit has features that are probably nicer than many of the homes of their owners.
At launch, the Excursion will only be available with one floor plan, but it's a floor plan that we like quite a bit. With a large L shaped couch and a table system that Fleetwood calls it's "Conver-Table" the living area eliminates the traditional, and less comfortable dinette, but still provides all the practicality. The optional drop down, nearly queen size bunk means that this unit will work great for a family, or allow the grandparents to comfortably take along their children and grandchildren.
Little floor plan details that we noticed include a rear Queen bed that is not centred in the coach, but placed slightly to the driver's side. This allows for a better wardrobe area beside the headboard, but also eliminates the compromise that a centre bed provides. Instead of having too small of an area on either side of the bed, you have a comfortable place to walk, and get changed on the right side of the bedroom, while the left side is enough to get in or out of bed, with no wasted space.
The unit is powered by a Cummins 6.7 litre rear diesel engine mated to an Allison 6 Speed transmission. Overall power is just 250 horsepower, but a strong 660 lb-ft of torque at a low 1600rpm should provide plenty of power for a coach of this size. Keeping in mind this is a very short diesel pusher, most users will be perfectly happy with this engine. A towing capacity of 10,000 pounds means that owners won't have to make any sacrifices when it comes to bringing along a tow vehicle, or other trailer.
Overall, we think Fleetwood has a great unit in their Excursion, with a starting price at just under $180,000 this is going to be a tough unit to beat.
Click here to see Fleetwood's home page for the Excursion with full pictures and specs.
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This review was written by Peter Lowe of RV-Parts Plus.com Check out our Main Site for all of your motorhome Towing and Braking needs including our exclusive RVing FuseSwitch™
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