Plan A

The biggest attraction of buying my retirement motorhome from Sportsmobile is that they let the customer design the interior, from the type and number of furnishings to the materials and finishes used. If I hadn't chosen electrical engineering as a career, I probably would have been an architect, so the opportunity to design my own living space was very appealing. Though I've tried dozens of variations, my design has progressed through three major versions. In this post, I present some background information for the design process, and the first design that I thought was "the one".

When I first arrived at the Sportsmobile website, I'd already decided I was interested in a Sprinter-based RV, so I passed over their Ford and Chevy van conversions. Their Sprinter offerings come in three lengths, the 19' Regular Body (RB), the 22' 9" Extended Body (EB), and the 24' Long Body (LB). For a thorough listing of specifications of Sprinter van models, you can view the Mercedes-Benz website. The nomenclature can be confusing: what Sportsmobile calls the RB van is the 144" WB for Mercedes, the EB van is 170" WB for Mercedes, and the LB is 170" WB EXT for Mercedes. The 2500 designation indicates single rear wheels, while 3500 is dual rear wheels; an issue I'll discuss below. The RB seemed too small for full-time touring, but it's amazing how much can fit within its confines. Here's an example floorplan that makes the point:

The couch (or dinette as Sportsmobile calls it), is wide enough to serve as a twin bed, or folds out to provide (cozy) sleeping for two. So really, everything one would need fits into this 19' van that can easily park in a standard-sized space at the grocery store or fit inside many home garages. But wait, there's more! Sportsmobile was a pioneer of the penthouse top, a camper shell that raises from the roof to provide room for an extra bed.

So this 19' van can actually sleep four people. The penthouse option is available only on the RB van with the low roof (5'3" ceiling height with the penthouse down). I toyed with the idea of using this design, but its drawbacks for my use were quickly evident: not much storage space, having to stoop when the top is down, and less well-insulated when the top is up. 

The 24' LB van comes with a high roof (6'3" headroom) and is clearly appealing because it offers the most cargo (i.e. furnishings and possessions) space. Ironically, the LB has a lower cargo weight capacity than the EB van because of the extra weight of the body. I tried a few design variations using the LB van, but found that the extra 15" of length really didn't add any value to the designs, and in some cases made things fit more awkwardly. So, I based my designs on the 22' 9" Extended Body (EB) van. 

There was one more choice to make on the van: whether to go with single wheels or dual wheels (an inner and an outer) in the back. The dual wheels increase the cargo carrying capacity by up to 2500 pounds, but decrease mileage by 2 to 4 mpg, and have wheelwells that intrude on the cargo floor an extra 8 inches on each side. As you'll see in upcoming posts, this weight capacity versus floorspace tradeoff became extremely critical in my design process. At the start of the design, though, I didn't think an RV design would approach the weigh capacity of the van, so I chose the single wheel option for its fuel economy. Even with single wheels, the wheel wells have to be accommodated in any design; they are 38" long, 14" high, and 8" wide, as shown in the diagram below:

The EB Sprinter has a cargo space behind the cab 14' long, 69" wide, with 6'3" of headroom. Furnishings have to end 5" in front of the rear doors because of structural members at the rear corners. Sportsmobile provides a large number of standard plans that one can use "as is" or modify. Their most popular plan, the EB110S, has a lot going for it:

The wet bath is roomier than many in larger vans, there's a full galley including a refrigerator and microwave, and the couches in back convert into twin beds that provide individual sleeping for two or fold out to form a single king-sized bed. Also, notice that windows run along the entire passenger side of the van. The standard fridge is 3 cu.ft., but a 7 cu.ft fridge is an option. I could be quite comfortable in EB110S, but I thought I could do better with a custom design. The biggest challenge that loomed in my thoughts about long-duration touring was fitting all the clothes and other necessities into a very limited volume. So, in my early planning, I was rather paranoid about having enough storage space. 

Looking further down the standard plans page, I noticed an arrangement that traded some bed width for additional closet space along the side. It wasn't long before I'd converged on a custom plan that I really liked.

To the rear of the stove and sink is a cabinet that holds the 7 cu.ft refrigerator and a microwave. The narrow cabinet behind that is a slide-out pantry. The aqua-colored rectangle is a forward-facing sofa. It can fold flat to form a bed in conjunction with the raised platform behind it. Here are photos of it in the upright and flat positions:

The open space beneath the platform, plus the floor-to-ceiling closet space along the side of the bed, allayed my concerns about having enough storage. Working forward along the driver's side, there's another closet for hanging clothes, a roomy bathroom, and a low cabinet with drawers. On the forward side of that cabinet, I planned to have a swing-up desk that I could use from the swiveled driver's seat. The table shown behind the cabin seats can be stowed when not in use, or moved to the rear for use with the sofa.

For several months, I was quite content with this plan, but at the same time, I was exploring the RV designs I've described in previous posts. In some respects, they provided more functionality within the same space, which caused me to rethink what I really wanted to do with my RV. I began trying out alternative Sportsmobile designs, and eventually found one I liked even better. That will be the subject of the next post.

By the way, if you'd like to try designing a Sportsmobile for yourself, they've got an easy-to-use on-line tool that lets you drag furnishings into position on a floorplan. Useful tips: To install furniture, click on the triangle buttons beneath an item in the list; to delete a piece of furniture, click again on the button you used to install it.