RV REVIEW
2015 Roadtrek Zion Front-wheel drive design sets this Class B apart from competition
In Louisville this year, at the National RV Show, I saw one of the first Class B offerings on the new Ram ProMaster chassis—the Zion. Now I’ve had a chance to test it and, frankly, this gas-powered, front-wheel drive configuration is (in my opinion) about to re-energize the entry-level van conversion market. This statement has everything to do with the use of the ProMaster. Of course, we’ve seen this technical jump before—with the Mercedes Benz Sprinter. That shift was the first toward European designed vans that are simply superior to what Detroit was offering. A few years have passed and the Sprinter, as it turns out, was just the tip of the iceberg. Today only GM still offers an old-style American- designed van and I suspect it too will be gone soon. Ford now has the Transit, Mercedes-Benz the Sprinter, Nissan the NV, and Ram the ProMaster—which is a repurposed Fiat van with a Chrysler Pentastar V6 engine.
I mentioned the lower end of the Class B market because with the Mercedes-Benz chassis and diesel engines (which are good trucks), typical conversions cost north of $100,000. This Ram ProMaster Zion, on the other hand, has an MSRP of just $86,931. What’s unique about the ProMaster in the van world is its front-wheel drive design, which Ram says gives its new van several best-in-class features. These include fuel economy, cargo capacity, payload, turning radius, interior ceiling height, and lowest step-in height. If you’re a company like Roadtrek that builds on stock vans—this is all good news. Hence the Zion. On my test drive I found that this vehicle drives “small.” The steering, the turning radius, the suspension feedback, and the seating position all contribute to making the van feel smaller than it is—hence a very easy, comfortable drive. So, whether in town, in traffic or congestion, I doubt any owner will ever feel burdened by the size of the Zion.
20 COAST TO COAST FALL 2015
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