Community Forums

tdeloughry · 06-10-2012, 09:55 PM

Hi.

Can anyone provide any info or opinions about purchasing a Four Winds Château 21C? ...reliability? ...value? ...features? ...handling? ...safety? etc.

We'll be selling our Pleasure Way Plateau Sprinter Class B which we've loved, but want more room to take along the grandkids.

Any advice would be welcome!

Thanks!!

Tom

Dixieray53 · 06-11-2012, 05:17 AM

First.... WELCOME TO iRV2.... My first MH was a 31ft Four Winds... And I loved it ! If it had would have had 2 slides I would still own it... If you are happy and it fits your needs, go for it ! You'll get plenty of help and advice on the forum...
Peace and Safe Travels...D

Ed-Helen pns · 06-11-2012, 05:51 AM

We just got an 11 Chataeu about a month ago. We previously had a 16" Casita so the extra room is great. I get about 10%, the dogs and bird 10% and my wife the rest. We really like the inside layout and the way everything outside is accesable. We are on our first major trip now, Pensacola to N Georgia. It drove very well with a tow dolly behind. You have to be real carefull of not getting into tight spot where you have to make a very sharp turn like in and out of gas stations.
We are in our 2nd day of rain so a dinette silde would give more room. We only bump into each other a few times a day and can live with it.
I am sure the grandkids will enjoy getting into the bunk above the cab.
I would definetly get some kind out roadside assistance. We had a flat on the way North. There was no way I could get under the RV, jack it up, loosen the lug nuts and put the spare on. We were delayed less that one hour. We have Good Sam's roadside.

tdeloughry · 06-12-2012, 08:59 AM

Thanks, Ed

What kind of gas mileage are you getting?

The Pleasure Way Sprinter van we're selling is getting 21 MPG. I'm guessing that even the most economical class c will cut that in half?

Tom

Davinger · 06-13-2012, 04:36 AM

Château is the top of the line in the Four Winds line and has some pretty top end equipment. But for me the real fun is customizing it to make it mine. A 21C will get better gas mileage than a 31 foot unit but gas mileage is an extremely relative term.

You will get better gas mileage going down the mountain than going up and you will get better gas mileage when you are driving on flat lands than over hills. Will you run the chassis AC or will you run the generator and cool the coach down? You have to factor all of these and more in to determine what kind of gas mileage you will get.

On my 32 foot I get between 5 and 10 MPG depending on where and how I drive. I am headed out to the Scottish games at Grandfather Mountain next month so I suspect my gas bill will be spectacularly high. Your main goal is not to get there fast just cutting your speed by 5MPH down to 65 can save you a great deal of gas. If you think about it that isn't that much lost time. At 8 hours you are only 40Miles shorter than you would have been but you have saved several gallons of the stuff that cost over 3.50 per gallon.

If you are going to tow a car with you this will change your economy too...

Hope this helped.

Ed-Helen pns · 06-14-2012, 04:51 AM

WE just got back from a trip. On the was out I was using the cruise control and there was a lot of downshifting. Got about 8.5 mpg. On the way back, the only time cruise was used was along flat stretches and down hill. This was on a trip from Pensacola to N. Georgia so no mountains came into play. I tried to keep the tac at 2200 rpm which was about 60 mph. It went up to 9.2 mpg. I am sure I can do better in the future with better drving habits. We were also towing a Saturn on a tow dolly which I am sure reduced the mileage.

Davinger · 06-16-2012, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ed-Helen pns

WE just got back from a trip. On the was out I was using the cruise control and there was a lot of downshifting. Got about 8.5 mpg. On the way back, the only time cruise was used was along flat stretches and down hill. This was on a trip from Pensacola to N. Georgia so no mountains came into play. I tried to keep the tac at 2200 rpm which was about 60 mph. It went up to 9.2 mpg. I am sure I can do better in the future with better drving habits. We were also towing a Saturn on a tow dolly which I am sure reduced the mileage.

You can save some mileage by equipping your Saturn for flat towing. They were designed for this and the wonderful thing is that if you flat tow it there will be no mileage increase and it reduces the drag.

Scenicgreenr · 06-16-2012, 07:27 AM

We have the Freedom Elite 21C, which Thor makes for Camping World. It is a great motor home. Can park in regular parking lots or pull off at a scenic vantage point. We've only had two issues ... Rattle in the big side window and one of the storage compartments over the exhaust was hot. Camping World fixed both without a problem. Great RV! 8 mph average over 8,000 miles