What is a "Crossover" Class A Motorhome?

Introduction

As many of you have seen on the road or in the camp site that you may have visited, there are many types of RVs that are being used in the U.S. that allow outdoor lovers to indulge in the nature while having the comfort and security of a house. 

For some families when camping, an RV is a must to keep the you know who happy (DW). 

If you don't know what DW stands for, then never mind...you are good to go and you can just keep reading on~ 

Anyways, what's good for the DW is what's good for the family!!

Among the motor home type RVs these days (having an engine unlike trailers and other towables), not only do you have the traditional Class A, B and C motor home types but there are crossovers that combine the benefits of the multiple classes and also "super" classes that are extravagant in features/sizes and of course cost.

Today, I want to focus on a "crossover" type class A motor homes that combine the styling, luxury and comfort of a traditional class A motorhome and practicality of a class C motorhome. 

For those who are not familiar with the traditional Class A and Class C motor homes here is a short description of the two types.

Traditional Class A

They are bus type motorhomes with integrated cockpit and the coach area that are usually at least high 30 feet or 40+ feet in length with full amenities.

These motorhomes are typically sitting on a commercial truck or bus chassis offering smooth and quiet ride.  

The cockpit freely flows into the house portion and the driver's captain chair and the passenger chair can be rotated to be used as a part of the living area and usually there is a tea table between the chairs to provide more convenience to the occupants.

Often, depending on the weight and the size, these coaches may require commercial driver's license in almost all states and tend to be hard to handle for an average person. In fact, you might have difficulty finding RV sites. Some park do not have such large RV sites and even if they do, there may be too few to be able to book easily especially during peak season.

Lastly, these beast of a man made marvel will be significantly burdensome in price. For an entry level coaches, you are looking at around $180k+ street price.

              Traditional Class A: 2019 Legacy SR 340 

Class C 

They are overhead cab type motorhomes that are usually smaller than the class A and thus less space to offer full amenities of a home and also having  less water/waste tank capacity and so forth. These motorhomes are typically sitting on a truck chassis such as the Ford E450 or E350 chassis that are designed for delivery trucks that tend to have an engine with lots of noise and vibration. You won't be able to carry on a conversation inside one of these if you are driving. 

Not so refined...

Furthermore, the cab area is markedly separated from the house area and the driver's captain chair and the passenger chair cannot be rotated to become part of the living area and also the sloping front windshield makes it difficult to cover with a privacy curtain or roller. Thus, the whole cab area itself is typically blocked off with a curtain.

Again, not so refined...    

However, the class C motor homes do offer better use of space such as the overhead bed above the cockpit and the handling of the vehicle is less burdensome. Furthermore, the cost of a class C motorhome is way cheaper than the Traditional Class A. A typical class C motor home will be 30k or 40k street price.

    

                  Class C: 2019 Forest River Forester

Class A (Crossover)

The Crossover class A motorhomes (I almost want to call them the "modern" class A) combine the styling and luxury/comfort and capacities of a traditional class A motorhomes without overburdening you with the size, cost and driveability.

They will be typically in the 30+ feet range in length with at least a Ford F53 chassis that are specifically designed for motorhomes with V10 engine which gives you the maximum weight rating before requiring commercial license and also offers relatively smooth and quite ride. Not as good as the the ride you are going to get from a traditional class A diesel pusher motorhome (diesel engine in the rear of the vehicle, such as a bus, so as to isolate the noise and vibration)...but it's not costing you close to $200k (typical entry level diesel pusher unit). 

Also, these motorhomes has a better use of the space inside such as a motorized bunk bed that comes down when sleeping and goes up to provide more open space. And the cockpit area flows freely into the house area, the chairs being able to be rotated to join the living area as well as offering tea table between the chairs for convenience. 

For a price near $100k (still too much but hey this is the reality) you get the styling,  the luxury and the full amenities of the traditional class A with the affordability (relatively speaking) and practicality of a class C.

However, be careful of buying or renting a smaller sized "Class A" motorhomes, usually less than 30 feet, which may have a lesser capacity chassis (less stable ride) with noisier engine as well as not having the full amenities of the 30+ feet motorhomes such as the two roof ACs, full size refrigerator, 50 Amp service, 5.5k watt generator, full size tanks and so forth. 

In my opinion, you would be giving up too much in terms of convenience and comfort. 

                Class A (Crossover) 2019 Forest River FR3

Conclusion

Are you going to be wowed by the high end 40+ feet diesel pusher costing multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars?

Probably yes but....lets face it most people do not have that kind of money lying around and practically speaking, such coach would be burdensome in many ways for most people.

Crossover class A motorhomes offer the practicality, comfort and the luxury and also strike a very good balance between cost and features.

Recent studies have shown that not only baby boomers but millenials are getting into the outdoor craze and the RV campsites are becoming very busy...

Enjoy the outdoors and happy camping!!