FMCA Perry GA in March - Who's Going?

[NealC]

I don't know which MADP was at the rally but it sure was gorgeous. I love the a$$ end design on MADP and up. Love the large chrome rails.

I did notice both of my EXDP's at the rally disappeared. I wonder if they both sold while there. Seemed like really good pricing, saying that without knowing options or real MSRP but a EXDP at $575'ish seemed interesting.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by NealC

I don't know which MADP was at the rally but it sure was gorgeous. I love the a$$ end design on MADP and up. Love the large chrome rails.

I did notice both of my EXDP's at the rally disappeared. I wonder if they both sold while there. Seemed like really good pricing, saying that without knowing options or real MSRP but a EXDP at $575'ish seemed interesting.

Yes, that does sound like a tempting price for an Essex. We were particularly interested in a 40-footer and the MADP 4047 is the only one available above the DSDP.

Glad you had an enjoyable time at Perry. Sam told me it was OK, but not nearly enough long walks.

TJ

[NealC]

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

Glad you had an enjoyable time at Perry. Sam told me it was OK, but not nearly enough long walks.
TJ

Pleading no contest :( But I did get good use out of my new mountain (aire) bike We sure were spread out there!

[NealC]

TJ, are you getting a special for one of those things in the back to prevent wheelies too high? With a 500 HP MADP 4047 you may be the the only coach that can pop a wheelie off the traffic light. Probably the best thrust to weight ration of all the DP's

[TJ]

Originally Posted by NealC

TJ, are you getting a special for one of those things in the back to prevent wheelies too high? With a 500 HP MADP 4047 you may be the the only coach that can pop a wheelie off the traffic light. Probably the best thrust to weight ratio of all the DP's

Newmar engineering turned us down on the special request for "wheelie bars." I'm having a set built by a racing outfit. The hard part will be keeping them from sticking out too far in the back. Don't want them to be all that obvious; every street racer in the country will be challenging us. We have ordered Nomex fire suits and full face shield helmets, however; just in case we get invited to a Street Outlaws drag race!

More seriously, it has not escaped me that the 4047 has a great power-to-weight ratio. I'm thinking that it should pull our little 2014 Honda CR-V toad pretty well in the mountainous West where we travel a lot. I also like the fact that it has the Allison 4000MH transmission. Always good to be on the strong side.

TJ

[NealC]

You think of everything!

I can see that CRV swinging around turns on your hot rod MADP. Be careful not to hit a stop sign as it tries to keep up with you.

You're going to have no issues with the small toad at all. I'm curious what you find for MPG when she's broken in. The cummins guy told us when your trans shifts into 6th then go 2mph more and that's your best MPG speed. The part I don't understand is that shift point depends on a lot of things, acceleration hills etc. I bet you'll be near 10 mpg. I may have to get one The savings!!!

[Buly]

For us what spoiled it was the dump service. We had the sign on the windshield for two days before the guy showed up. For 2,600 RV’s they had a single truck (I think). The guys were working around the clock, but were falling behind big time.
Fresh water delivery was not much different. I had to give my turn to a lady that was crying with tears in her eyes ( no kidding) that her toilets are full, and they have no water. By the time my turn came again, he had no water left on the truck. Had to wait another half day.....
Beside that, we enjoyed the trip. Missed the Newmar social somehow?

[TJ]

Originally Posted by NealC

You think of everything!

I can see that CRV swinging around turns on your hot rod MADP. Be careful not to hit a stop sign as it tries to keep up with you.

You're going to have no issues with the small toad at all. I'm curious what you find for MPG when she's broken in. The cummins guy told us when your trans shifts into 6th then go 2mph more and that's your best MPG speed. The part I don't understand is that shift point depends on a lot of things, acceleration hills etc. I bet you'll be near 10 mpg. I may have to get one The savings!!!

If we get into the 9 mpg range, I will be happy. With our 2014 Ventana LE 3436, we have averaged 9.4 mpg over 20K miles. That's actual computed mileage, not from the dash display which claims right at 10 mpg. It has read high from the very beginning.

After we pick up the new MADP 4047 in June, we'll have a pretty full travel schedule through mid-October. Wish we could find a way to make it to the Newmar rally in Gillette, WY, but our grandson is getting married that weekend in Washington state, so you know where we'll be.

Once we get a little experience with the new coach, I promise to post a review of our impressions and experiences.

TJ

[richpatty]

Sounds like it was a pretty good rally? Me and the DW will have to make one of those FMCA rally’s some day! Reading this thread makes me wish we were there. If no other reason but to meet all of you fine folks.

[dc3carl]

Perry restored my faith in FMCA. G and I volunteered quite a bit. Things were much better organized than the Chandler rally.
There may be some confusion about the Newmar part of this. Since this is an FMCA event it is NOT a Newmar Kountry Klub event. There IS a Newmar chapter of FMCA. We will be attending the Newmar Chapter pre-rally and the FMCA rally which are after the Newmar International rally which are all in Gillette WY in June / July 2018. Confused yet? Ha!
If you haven’t already, join the Newmar chapter of the FMCA so you can attend those functions as well as functions of the Newmar Kountry Klub.
Happy travels

[deaton]

We went to both the Tampa Supershow and FMCA Rally at Perry. Two separate round trips from Texas.

From a vendor and display coach perspective, the Tampa show was definitely larger. But from the perspective of what I was looking to see from a coach-owners point of view, FMCA was much better.

As we all know, the bulk of the industry is towables. At least 80% of the product at Tampa is towables and the vendors are focused on the trailer/FW market (at least the ones who aren’t selling Cutco or palm oil). They have just about every RV with a Motor on display, but Roadmaster and Blue Ox, for example, were absent.

FMCA had over 100 coaches on display and they were pretty much the ones we all like to see. Even Liberty Coach showed up with two used Prevos. NIRV out of Atlanta did the Newmar’s and they seemed to be selling some coaches. They brought two New Aires, but I don’t know if they sold any.

Of course, Entegra, Tiffin, REV Group and Winni were also well represented.

The vendors overall were much more oriented to the motorized market. For example, Silverleaf had a strong presence and did a seminar. I don’t think they came to Tampa.

NIRV sponsored a “have to be present to win” raffle on Sunday. At the start of the rally, they gave out free T-shirts to anybody who wanted one. Then, as the rally progressed, they gave you a raffle ticket every time you showed up at the Newmar display wearing your Newmar T-shirt. By Sunday, that T-shirt was getting pretty rank since we weren’t washing clothes without hookups.

At least five hundred folks showed up for the drawing. They gave away about fifty nice items. No coaches, but I did snag a very nice 65 quart YETI cooler [emoji38][emoji14][emoji16]

Both Roadmaster and Blue Ox were on site with their techs and trailers and they were pro-actively working the parking area to offer free service for their products.

I concur that the dump and water service was sub-par. The vendor was simply not prepared to service the more than 3000 units on site. We signed up for Gillette Wyoming in July and that should be better with full hook-ups.

This was first FMCA International Rally to take place since the vote passed allowing towables to join FMCA. I noticed towable attendance to be sparse, but they were definitely present. This is sure to grow going forward.

There were no problems exiting on Monday morning. Where we were parked, at least half the coaches pulled out on Sunday. There was rain on the way and I think some of those folks were worried.

Overall, the facilities at Perry are superb for hosting a rally of this type and size. The weather was generally good. A bit of rain but nobody got stuck. Entertainment was fair. We would definitely return to Perry again.

[deaton]

Originally Posted by Tranquil Jim

On a more serious note, Neal; did you happen to see any MADP 4047s at the rally? Despite having one on order, we haven't found one within 1,500 miles of us to actually walk through. Talk about "flying blind."



TJ

The ONLY MADP at the rally was a 4047.

Sorry, I didn’t take any interior pictures.

This one had the two recliners instead of the sofa.



Here are some other prices

[deaton]

I did find this one picture of the MSDP 4047



I guess that door with the ladder is to provide easy access to service the toilet.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by deaton

I did find this one picture of the MSDP 4047

Attachment 196334

I guess that door with the ladder is to provide easy access to service the toilet.

Thanks for the Mountain Aire 4047 (and other) info from the Perry rally. I appreciate it. From the sticker price you showed for the 4047, I think we got a good deal from Transwest; a bit better than NIRV was offering, though there may still have been a little negotiating room there. Couldn't really tell from the photo, but the color scheme looked like it could have been the same as we have ordered (Niagra).

EDIT: On second look, I think that 4047 is the Hawthorne color scheme. And, our is ordered with the two recliners like the one at Perry.

Thanks again.

TJ