I would guess the photo was taken from the dinette area, in the bump out. I guess the pantry must have a door on it, which, would make it better so that you can leave it stocked while driving without everything falling out. If you look the door is to low to be the bathroom, and, the bathroom is supposed to be on the other side, the left side of the pod if you were in the front looking back

Stephen, thats all the counter space you get. The floor plan is on the forest river site. The sink cooktop are the rear wall. The right wall (from inside standing in front looking back to the sink) is the bump out dinette, 179 style. The left side is the dry bath. and the front is a 60 x 74 queen bed, with room on each side to get in and out without the climb over. I really can't wait to see it. I'll probably wait out the first few builds before thinking about whether i really want to buy. this will probably add an extra 800 - 1000 pounds over my 172. So it will probably weigh around 3000 - 3200.  I think the frontier will handle it with ease though. I think it could pull up to 4800 before it starts to get iffy. 

btw, i hope theres storage under the bed and dinette. 

Thanks. I did not see the photo initially, but then went back to the first topic post and found you had added it there. I am excited to see these photos and look forward to seeing more. Given the changes, is the frame wider making the axle mounting points closer to the wheels (which will make for a stronger axle if it is)? The best I can tell from the photo you posted today, it looks like it likely is. I don't know if that is information you can share right now or not though.

Hopefully, the black and gray tank drain hangers have been changed to make them less likely to fail as well. I certainly hope so.

If it is squared off, then it might eliminate the need for the spoiler. I'm not sure how it would be sealed, but a seam there would likely  not be any more difficult to seal than the ones between the roof and sides.

Today's picture of the pantry shows me that if we were to purchase one, one of my first mods would be to add shelves as it currently looks more like a wardrobe than a pantry.

Personally I just use Facebook more is all.  I mostly just read posts here and respond to private messages about things.

And with that answered, check the beginning of this post for today's new upload!

http://www.forestriverinc.com/product-details.aspx?LineID=173&Image=5054&ShowParent=1&ModelID=4588&fbclid=IwAR1S9jAHvEJ1006YVun7-whmCQPIpYWJX6nr2qTCiHu4FFO71NoWYaU5SjQ#Main

Virtual tour shows alot of the details.

That is probably the only downside is the loss of kitchen counter space. I'm not sure if a drop-leaf shelf could be made to fit somewhere to make up the difference. Also, it looks like the only way to be able to use the convection-microwave will be to have the slide-out extended. The stove could be reached with the slide-out retracted. I'm not sure about running the furnace with the slide-out retracted either.

I was just looking again. I dont' know if I like the full-length door on the pantry. Since there is no refrigeration wiring or gas line, the bottom of the pantry would not necessarily need to be closed off and the door/doors could be more like the ones for the 179. The space underneath would just need to be finished off for appearance with clearance for the slide-out bottom to go over the top. The slide-out wiring could be in the base of the ottoman next to the pantry. I think that would make more sense.

Thanks Travis. I can now see that my speculation about the refrigerator vent being on the roof appears to be correct. That should indeed provide better performance of the refrigerator. I like the ladder on the back. That will be quite useful.

Can you confirm that the frame is wider and the axle mounts are closer to the wheels? Also, do you have any information on the table that would confirm or contradict my speculation that the legs are fold-down and that the space beside the door is where the table is stowed for travel?

I don't have a hard time believing it will come in around the 3500 lbs Travis said. Considering that the NoBo 19.5 comes in at 3456 lbs for a similar size, I would say that is pretty accurate.

While it is longer and wider, the additional materials for side walls and roof are not that much and the interior cabinetry is also not much different. The walk-through shows a solar charge controller so if this is an option, it would add some weight for the solar panel. The larger refrigerator would add some, but not too much. Most everything else inside is pretty standard and would not change. Unknowns are water and holding tank sizes. Also, the awning is different than the Thule awning. The supports on the side of the 195 lead me to believe this is one where the arms extend and the material is on a roll at the end of the arms instead of in a case on the roof/sidewall of the RPod. We'll know for sure once specifications are released. I did not see a door for an outside shower. I expect there will be a spray port instead. In all the time we have owned our 179, I have never used the outside shower so a spray port would work better for us.

I would be interested to know if the tanks will be exposed or covered. If covered, will there be a four-season option? I would take that over a solar option.

Not only heavier, but also significantly larger frontal area so more wind resistance = more hp required to tow and lower fuel economy. Not to mention poorer rear vis and a requirement for extended mirrors. TANFL = there ain't not free lunch. 

+1 to Offgrid.

Case in point.  When we purchased our 177 in January 2011, it was one of the more popular models.  People's wants change over time and FR, being a good marketer of their product, met those needs: larger interior space, longer trailer, more options, ect.  Fast forward a few years and new models roll out, 178, 179, 180 and so forth.  As a result, some of the original models, 177 included, are no longer manufactured due to lack of sales.  After 8 years with the 177 there is no intention to 'change' to a different model, but if the unfortunate happens be it accident or theft, we will be forced to either purchase a different model or look for an older used one.  Offgrid makes a good point, no more Pontiac's.  Something to be said however about the 'classics'.  I wish I still had the '69 Vette I had in high school and college, it is worth many times more now than when I owned it.  Could this also be the case for the 177 and other models in the future?

The Pontiac brand was discontinued by GM in 2010. http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/pontiac/why-did-gm-discontinue-pontiac/ - http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/pontiac/why-did-gm-discontinue-pontiac/ so not seeing any Pontiacs is not surprising. OTOH, the Civic is still a thriving model of the Honda brand. Manufacturers make what people want if they want to survive.

Yes, there are other trailers. However, I have not seen one with the layout of the 195. That is what is exciting for me. The only Vibe model I saw with a rear kitchen was the 25RK which has an unloaded weight of 5868 lbs and is 29' 4" x 8'.  The NoBo 19.5 has similar specs in length, width, and weight, but is not a rear kitchen model. Neither is any of the Coachmen Apex Nano models. The twin axle Lance 2285 has a rear kitchen, but dry weight is 4930 lbs which would be way too much for our Frontier.

I think there will be a significant market for the 195 for those who would like the walk-around queen. Now if the 191 had a rear kitchen, I could see going for that instead but it doesn't.

The one feature I am not sure of is the round sink. When we travel, we have a dish drainer that rides in the larger top-mount stainless steel sink I installed in our 179. That woudn't fit in the round sink. The sink and faucet are likely candidates for replacement if we were to upgrade to the 195. I would want to keep the faucet I installed in our 179. Since it is flexible, it combines the functions of a sprayer with the faucet without the negatives of a weighted supply line below the counter which a pull-out faucet would have.

Right now, Couch's has the very last 177 produced, sitting on their lot..

Oh, and as for the tank heaters, they really suck up the power so I don't think they'd really be that useful unless you were at a full service rv park and even then, the heating efficiency is not necessarily adequate to keep things from freezing in the pipes.  

A corollary to the refrain "don't fix it if it ain't broke."  ..."Don't buy a new one if you are happy with whatcha already got."

My thoughts too on the heater pads.

As long as I can continue to climb over my wife, we will likely stick with our 179. When I can't do that, I can use my modified dinette. In that case, I may reduce the queen mattress size and make some cabinetry in the front end of the 'Pod. While I would like to go with the 195 because of multiple features with it that I like, finances dictate sticking with what we have for now. We just plunked down almost 3K on the new axle, brakes, hub, and slide-out leak repair so money for trading isn't necessarily there and won't be for a while. That is okay since it won't even be available for several months.

Originally posted by StephenH   The Pontiac brand was discontinued by GM in 2010.  http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/pontiac/why-did-gm-discontinue-pontiac/ - http://gmauthority.com/blog/gm/pontiac/why-did-gm-discontinue-pontiac/  so not seeing any Pontiacs is not surprising.  The Civic is still a thriving model of the Honda brand. Manufacturers make what people want if they want to survive.

As Honda has made the Civic larger over time they did not retain the original "small" Civic. Instead, they introduced the Fit as the smallest car in their US product line. By doing it that way they have retained the distinctiveness of both product lines while being able to cash in on existing Civic customers' desire for a larger vehicle as they aged. Smart strategy that worked well for them. FR is not doing that (so far) with the r-pod. 

As to manufacturers making what customers want in order to survive, that is not how marketing led companies work. Companies that are sales driven have a short planning horizon and want to make what customers tell them they want today. Successful marketing driven companies filter what sales is telling them about their customers, assess their own and their competitor's producs and capabilities, and then plan their product lines and marketing materials to "teach" customers what they ought to want.  Best example of this in history? The iPhone. 

My concern with having a "big fat" r-Pod in the lineup is that it creates a muddle, customers will no longer know what an r-Pod is and isn't as distinct from other products in the market. Maybe FR has decided that  most everyone who wants a "small" r-pod has already bought one, or maybe they are planning a new "small" product line like Honda did, or maybe they are being short sighted. Again, time will tell.

All that being said, if you like the new "big fat" r-pod, buy it, nothing wrong with that. I'm sure it will be a good product. Its too big for me. 

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.

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 .

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

I just saw this on the Forest River's RP-195 page:

Specifications

There still are no exterior pictures available on the web site.

So with those specs it appears to have an axle rating of 4400 lbs (4740-340). That's the same as the Nobo's have.

Last summer when I asked Lippert if the had a heavier axle they could sell me the first tech sales guy said he could sell me a 4400 lb axle (could have been 4200 lbs, can't recall exactly) but it was identical in all respects to the part number I gave him for the 3500lb one I already had. When I called back later another tech salesperson told be they weren't supposed to say that but could sell me a 5200 lb rated one which was a completely different axle. We also know that the 3000 lb ones on the light rPods are the same axle as the 3500 lb ones, just with a different rating. So there is certainly some spec derating going on here at times. 

If your a FB RPOD member:   https://www.facebook.com/rpodRV/videos/2258091267780246/ - https://www.facebook.com/rpodRV/videos/2258091267780246/

https://www.facebook.com/rpodRV/videos/269869897275484/ - https://www.facebook.com/rpodRV/videos/269869897275484/

 As usual, they have taken a great idea and gradually ruined the whole concept of a (truly) light weight ,aero dynamic,  self contained unit and moved it into the realm of boring piano box trailer (Not camper).

It will be unusual to see a true R POD on the road in a few years..............Whatever the market calls for I guess.  I hope to have our POD for many years to come.

There will likely be a demand for the smaller R-Pods as well as the 195. If we did not already have our 179, I would be looking hard at the 195 as the older we get, the harder it is to do the crawl-over. It still maintains a lot of the features of the R-Pod line even if it is not quite what is expected.

Improvements mentioned in the videos beyond what is already discussed: Fully enclosed bottom meaning it will be better in cold weather. No mention of tank heat, so it still is likely not built for 4-season use, but add the hot water recirculation modification some have done and that would solve that, at least for the fresh water system.

Yesterday, one of our clients asked us to make a replacement cushion for a 1996 Aljo 18' double axle travel trailer.  Except for the very low ceiling [I bumped my head on the ac] it had more features than the r-Pod, including a full stove and oven, a separate shower and sink in the head, a double bed/couch, and a dinette area.  With a little work, they had taken this old classic and made it almost like new.  

There is a market for r-Pod like trailers and if FR doesn't want that market segment any more, then some other company will fulfill the demand.  Every product goes through a life cycle and eventually dies out, but where there is a continuing demand for the original concept, some clever company will jump in and grab the opportunity.  

I got an email from Scott Rhode at FR that clarifies the roof material. It is not fiberglass, tpo, or edpm. Instead, it is XTRM Ply PVC roofing which is also used on the Surveyor line. It is more durable than tpo or edpm (fiberglass is not mentioned in the flyer he attached describing it). It never needs treatments. It has a Solar Reflective Index of 109. It sounds like it will be a good roof material as the manufacturer has a 15 year warranty on it.

The front and back still look to be fiberglass. However, until we see close-up pictures or see one in person, it will be hard to tell for sure where the fiberglass transitions to the PVC in front and back and how it is sealed on the edges.