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Topic ClosedR-Pod 195 sneak peak teaser

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lostagain View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: R-Pod 195 sneak peak teaser
    Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 9:20am
Brands are only meaningful when they offer consistent uniqueness/style, quality, and value for the price.  When they deviate from any of those characteristics, they start to lose the loyalty they built up in their customer base.  If they go too far, the brand will not survive.  Oh, how I wish I could find a brand new DeSoto.  It's delightful.  (I've been watching too much Groucho Marx on YouTube.)

Did FR go too far in flattening the back of the 195?  Only time will tell, but there is nothing really special about a trailer with a rounded front and a flat back.  You can find several brands within the FR lineup and many from other manufacturers.  Personally, what I think FR is trying to do is catch the part of the market of aging Pod owners who want a full bath and a little easier to access bed.  I think they figure we are losing agility and, though we still want a small trailer, we now want the ease of getting in and out of bed easily and the convenience of a separate shower.  

They're right in going after this market segment and will probably have a successful product provided they keep the value for the price competitive with other brands.  If I were in the market for a new trailer, I'd certainly consider the 195, but i'd also seriously take a look at the Pacific Coachworks 18FB as an alternate.  At that point, it all boils down to price (assuming comparable quality).  I feel no sense of personal loyalty to Mr. Buffett or any of his companies.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 10:44am
I'm beginning to feel i'm the one left that is excited about this model. The back isn't squared either, it's just a tight radius, look at the pics. I'm more concerned about no outside shower, unless the spray port stephen speculated they have now has hot water also. I like to wash my feet and de-sand" from the beach to keep it out of my grey tank. I'm glad they kept 30 gal tanks, I hope the grey and black use a single drain point. I like the 10 foot awning too, might forego the dome and use the awning and my clam. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 11:40am
FR appears to have the characteristics of a sales driven rather than a marketing driven company. That makes sense because the RV market is highly prone to boom/bust cycles so few brands survive in the long term to develop the kind of brand loyalty we see in some other industries. Airstream comes to mind as the example of one that does.  So from FR's perspective there probably isn't going to be a strong company culture wanting to preserve the unique characteristics of the r-Pod product line. Its understandable but disapointing nevertheless. 

If you have a single spray port, and you have the access, you could connect it to the hot water line rather than the cold. Then add an adjustable thermostat to the water heater and your water will be just the right temperature coming out of your spray port. Pretty simple mod. 

StephenH, I think you could do something like you're suggesting by removing the 179 closet and rebuilding it on the opposite wall just in front of the slide. You would have room to reuse the same closet door I think. You would lose the bottom drawer or two, because the furnace is under there. 

That would give you a L shaped bed area along the front and passenger side walls, with both legs of the L about 75 inches long. You would need to be willing to play footsies with your trailer mate though Tongue.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 11:45am
The only thing I "like" about is the bed configuration. The kitchen is a turn-off compared to the RP-179, and the bathroom takes up too much space. The larger fridge is OK, but I don't like where they put it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 12:07pm
I also like the vent hood for the stove. It has been mentioned more than once that one would be good to have and FR listened. That would help with the "dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off" situation. I would be able to work around the counter space limitation, especially since there are cabinets above the sink and stove which are another thing that I really like about the 195 design. If the table indeed no longer has the pivoting mechanism but instead has legs that collapse and a slot for storage by the door, that is another thing that has been a source of annoyance for many that will have been addressed. As for the refrigerator location, in order to have the dry bath, the pantry has to be somewhere. It would either be where it is in the 195 design or if the refrigerator were in the same place as the 179, the pantry just swap locations and the counter space would still be limited. In the 195 layout, it is highly likely that the refrigerator performance will be much improved as the air flow for the back of the refrigerator should be much improved. If the refrigerator were to be put in the same location as in the 179, the airflow would still be less than ideal due to the need to vent it through the side of the slide-out. So many people would rather have the dry bath with separate shower. The wet bath (I don't mind it) is a turn-off to many.

All in all, I think FR put a lot of thought into this design. Will it please everyone? No. Will it be something that will be popular and sell well? I think so depending on the price point.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 12:19pm
Originally posted by offgrid

StephenH, I think you could do something like you're suggesting by removing the 179 closet and rebuilding it on the opposite wall just in front of the slide. You would have room to reuse the same closet door I think. You would lose the bottom drawer or two, because the furnace is under there. 

That would give you a L shaped bed area along the front and passenger side walls, with both legs of the L about 75 inches long. You would need to be willing to play footsies with your trailer mate though Tongue

I looked again at it and took some measurements. It would not work since it would mean the loss of two drawers. That would be a non-starter with my wife. I originally thought the bed platform was about the same height as the bottom of the hanging closet. It could potentially work if I raised the platform to that height, at least on the one side. The absolute maximum length for the other side is 64" though. That would include any bedding put on a mattress so it just would not work if there is to be clearance for the slide-out.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 1:34pm
For sure it wouldn't work if you tried to place the left side bed fore and aft, but if you created an L it could work. It would be a bit like sleeping in a boat v-berth, which can be OK. 

Once you opened up some of the area which is currently under the bed you could place drawers or cabinet doors and make much better use of the under bed storage space than we can now. That would probably mean relocating some items that are currently accessed through the ourside door to the tow vehicle. There is also a wasted boxed in area just in front of the closet/drawer section that would become accessible. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 2:25pm
I made a compartment to that area just in front of the wardrobe as one of my earlier projects by putting a floor in above the wires running through there. My wife has a sewing machine that travels there along with a few other small sewing related items. I get to it by lifting the platform which was another good reason for putting a 6" mattress in instead of the heavier 10" one. I don't think the L shape would work well for us. I know I wouldn't care for it and since I take up most of the length already and my wife is taller than 60" also, it just would not work for us. She wouldn't like my cold feet against her legs either.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 2:41pm
Roger that. 

It might work for my wife and I if we get to the point of having to climb over or switch sides too many times at night. She is 5'3" and we both tend to curl up when we sleep. I'm not doing anything with that unused space yet and very little with the inner part of the outside accessed underbed compartment, so I view the better access there as a benefit. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Mar 2019 at 4:38pm
Yes. I also made a compartment in the big space so I have another storage compartment under the bed instead of just a big open space which is unusable when the heater is being run. I keep my extra converter there along with an extra water filter and the 3/4 width linens for the dinette bed along with a blanket. It will likely have an extra blanket or other bed cover eventually. I left space so it wouldn't interfere with the heater operation. It is pictured in my mods.

Edit: To avoid more thread drift, let's take this to another topic and leave this one for the 195. I still could see us eventually moving to something like the 195. Although I could tow it with the Frontier, I would really prefer to upgrade to a newer, higher capacity TV if I were to upgrade to the 195.

StephenH
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