Dizzy
Retired and living the dream
VIP Member
Finally after 6 months waiting we now are finally with our new van - Hymer MLT-580 Crosstrail and immediately went off on a 2 week shake down: new forest, Dorset, Devon, Forest of Dean, 750 miles.
Putting aside the rather irritating set of problems which have required it to go back to the dealer to sort out. I have to say we are impressed with it, very impressed.
It is the first time we have driven something so big, 7m long, 2.2m wide and 3.3m high (the standard van is 2.1 but we have a Truma AC unit), i have to say being on the 6m sprinter chassis seems to make it drive quite car like when in towns. the 9 speed 190 hp diesel is impressive, ok it is just shy of 3.7T but there is still plenty of capacity for what we need initially (well for the next trip). Fuel wise i was expecting bad - say 22mpg and was pleasantly surprised to see 27mpg on our run home from dealer, we averaged 28mpg for the whole trip and at one point post top up we got 31 mpg at a steady 50 on dual carriage ways. We've not been off road yet but you can certainly feel the grip of the 4x4 when going up steep twisties; i have no doubt in the Spanish mountains it will be great; certainly looking forward to Norway next spring / summer.
Inside, wow what a difference a fixed bed makes, just so much less hassle than the Cali (had to say that), the bathroom is great (shower with screen not curtain) and a proper loo, we also got a 32" telly which worked well both on DTV and streaming via wifi. The leather is a bit hot in the heat and we are looking for some covers for summer (for reference DryRobe universal seat covers aint that universal...).
So now we have a choice between the Cali and the Hymer, we've decided to keep Dizzy for the foreseeable future as we think she is likely better for a week or so jollys, but the bigger van for longer trips (we're going to do a winter shake down in Scotland in early December before we hit the slopes for 6 weeks in January.
D
Putting aside the rather irritating set of problems which have required it to go back to the dealer to sort out. I have to say we are impressed with it, very impressed.
It is the first time we have driven something so big, 7m long, 2.2m wide and 3.3m high (the standard van is 2.1 but we have a Truma AC unit), i have to say being on the 6m sprinter chassis seems to make it drive quite car like when in towns. the 9 speed 190 hp diesel is impressive, ok it is just shy of 3.7T but there is still plenty of capacity for what we need initially (well for the next trip). Fuel wise i was expecting bad - say 22mpg and was pleasantly surprised to see 27mpg on our run home from dealer, we averaged 28mpg for the whole trip and at one point post top up we got 31 mpg at a steady 50 on dual carriage ways. We've not been off road yet but you can certainly feel the grip of the 4x4 when going up steep twisties; i have no doubt in the Spanish mountains it will be great; certainly looking forward to Norway next spring / summer.
Inside, wow what a difference a fixed bed makes, just so much less hassle than the Cali (had to say that), the bathroom is great (shower with screen not curtain) and a proper loo, we also got a 32" telly which worked well both on DTV and streaming via wifi. The leather is a bit hot in the heat and we are looking for some covers for summer (for reference DryRobe universal seat covers aint that universal...).
So now we have a choice between the Cali and the Hymer, we've decided to keep Dizzy for the foreseeable future as we think she is likely better for a week or so jollys, but the bigger van for longer trips (we're going to do a winter shake down in Scotland in early December before we hit the slopes for 6 weeks in January.
D
