This past week I took delivery of my new Realm. I put together a very quick and amateurish video overview of it in case anyone here is interested. Below is the YouTube link. Enjoy!
2016 Foretravel Realm Bunk Model Overview - YouTube (https://youtu.be/MZsZ4qlGRUQ)
Nice ride! ^.^d It looks like about the only option it doesn't have is the antigravity suspension system... ;D
Don
Super nice. You got your money's worth. Love the paint job. I'm sure you and the family will enjoy it.
Very nice!
Gorgeous coach! Thanks for the tour.
Chris
Your coach is really nice and your video is MUCH better than the one that popped up just after it on YouTube ... I think it was produced by Motorhome Specialists, and has a narrator with the cheesiest British accent I have ever heard!! Now ... tell me if I am correct .... not counting the small, multipurpose screen by the co-pilot , there are 6 ... SIX ... tv screens in that thing??? Mind blown.
Sweet.
X2 thanks for the tour.
I could full time in that.
Ha ha, yes, there are six TV's plus the passenger monitor. It has three separate satellite receivers, so during football season it's even better than being at the local sports bar!
Great look at a wonderful coach! Thanks for putting that together and letting us peek at the new Realm. What a cool ride!
Wow- great coach and nice job putting the video tour together. ^.^d
My favorite thing is the wipers not on the windshield in the vision lines.
As an old Foretravel sales manager I am terribly impressed with what the company has come up with.
I knew they had it in them. The unihomes and unicoaches maxed out the available power plants.
With more power you can build more coach.
Nice ride.
Jeff, great video and super nice coach. I'm sure you and your family will have many happy times in that!
man... it sure is fancy beyond belief.
Do you actually camp in a campground with this? or is it only for nascar/horse racing/ hiding in the rv to watch tvs in every direction?
A really nice coach, thanks for being in the group and thanks for sharing!
WOW!
Me like!
Thanks so much Jeff for taking the time to put that great presentation together.
Sharing about new coaches is not something that seems to happen here at all. I and I'm sure a bunch of others, really appreciate all the effort it took to do that. Look forward to your adventures.
I'm crying and drooling--AT THE SAME TIME!!! ^.^d ^.^d
Thanks for posting your video, Jeff. Great job and really nice coach. I hope others with newer models will share their experiences and photos. It's really interesting to see the newer Foretravel products.
jor
It's really nice, but kinda over the top for me to buy in 20 years...hahaha.
Jeff, Thanks so much for taking the time to put together this video. It allows us to continue to dream big! Just beautiful. ^.^d
Foretravel owners cover the whole range of levels. This coach is absolutely amazing. Elsewhere today was a comment about not wanting to spend $240 to replace all twelve marker lights. These coaches appeal to every range of finances. Glad I've got one. ^.^d
I wonder if it will sell for less than 20K in 25 years? Not that I will be around to buy. :)) :))
Should be more about the enjoyment than the cost. Doin' what makes you happy - right?
Well Mark, people are always talking about the big depreciation hit on a new anything so I just wondered. I should probably start saving for one if the price does drop that far. Let's see, 73 years + 25 years would make me 98 years old. Don't think I could use it much. >:D >:D >:D
Wow Jeff. Nice coach. And, thanks for making the video. It makes the features come to life. I wish you all the best in enjoying this very fine machine.
Keep us posted on shake-down items and how Foretravel handles the issues if any.
Sweet!
Thanks Jeff for sharing your new coach with all of us, with the time you have taken to do the video and post it here on the forum. I hope that you enjoy it as much as so many of us have enjoyed our Foretravels thru the years.
Another thanks for sharing. And for being a member of our community. We appreciate the opportunity to hear how this new coach works for you. Keep on posting and travel well.
Great looking coach Jeff, I look forward to hearing about your maiden voyage!
I am really warming up to the newer foretravel coaches. I love this video you made. The color choices you've made on this one match my tastes very well. When I was at the Tampa rv show last year I noticed some of the finishing on the Realm was better than on the IH-45 (and vice versa). They seemed very even in many ways. The classic style frontend of the Realm isn't for me but I know I'm in the minority there. I would overlook it anyway.
The Newell was clearly better in a lot of interesting ways - but it wasn't 1.6mil versus what the Realm costs better. Knowing how much better the Realm is probably built versus the only real competitor, American Eagle with the full wall slide, it looks to me like Foretravel has a real winner with this for really any practical coach owner who just doesn't want to spend piles of money for fun on a Newell, prevost, etc.
The only thing I wish the coach builders would do is ruggedize the top if they're going to add such height. My mother has a renegade which is very tall. There is all kinds of rugged aluminum/steel trim on top and they simply just hit the tree branches and they do nothing at all to the coach. I've got a very low height with my U320 and hit stuff all the time and it makes me cringe knowing that paint up there could be getting scratched. (it hasn't yet but...) The low tree branch thing is primarily an east coast problem I think.
Jeff, Beautiful coach. Love the video.
I am sure the Realm will serve your family very well.
Safe travels and enjoy--Jim
Hi Jeff,
That is a nice ride. Thanks for the video.
Raymond
Very impressive. Looks like it is built to last. Just had to show the video to our #2 son so he can start saving. That is great engineering.
I was thinking that the Realm's closest competitor was the Entegra Cornerstone. I'd be curious to hear if Jeff or anyone else could offer a good comparison of the two coaches.
Chris
From my watching of the factory type tv shows if I am not mistaken the integra is an bolted aluminum frame coach with fiberglass battens between the studs and loose hung aluminum skins.
Wooden floor cross members. 250 screws into the k3 chassis.
Buddy who sold them said they were very quiet when driving
The Realm came about because MHS was not given the Newmar King Aire so they built a competitor.
Maybe FT should get back to their roots and try to lead / innovate again?
The two lines they have now are both intended to be low(er) cost clones of other manufactures coaches, the IH is their Newell and the Realm is their King Aire, wish they had their own identity back again like with the GV line etc. Nothing wrong with the new lines, nice coaches, just that when you look and you know its a clone, you also go and look at the real deal as well.
Dale,
Neither of these lines are a clone of anything. The IH45 was designed and built from scratch by Foretravel to be their next generation Foretravel. (Whether or not they did it right is a different conversation which has been discussed on this forum many times before you joined. As Michelle frequently says, "Search is your friend.")
The Realm was built according to plans from a very large dealer, MHS. It fills a niche at a much lower price point than the IH45. This is another issue, which has previously been discussed at great length.
The fact that these two motorhomes may compete directly with one or more other models made by other companies does not make them clones.
I am confident that Foretravel is not worried about their models being compared to the "competition."
Hope this helps you understand more about the background of Foretravels.
Trent
I get all that.
The current lines were intended to compete directly in those segments, against those leaders, so I used the word clone. Perhaps that was not the best word to use, sorry if I offended you.
But thats how you compete, find the niche you want to play in, see what the leader is doing, try to do it as well, or better, or cheaper, or whatever your spin on that segment will be.
Much lower price? The Realm sells for like $100k less. They are almost the same price. Thats what surprises me. I almost think id take a realm over an ih45 for the mass produced frame over one assembled with huck bolts or whatever they use now that will fail down the line.
FT made almost 200 RVs a year not too long ago. Now how many do they make?
I bet if they made a 40foot and 36foot Realm and laid off some of the glitz and glam and got the price a bit lower, they'd sell like hotcakes through MHS.
And this loops right back around to a big problem. No dealer network across the USA.
My understanding is that Foretravel is still building Phenix and Nimbus but on request only. I know of at least one customer who had a Phenix built this year.
I thought Huck bolting was a superior design?
Before this thread goes off on a tangent again talking about how much better off Foretravel would be if they built coaches like the Fore family did fifteen years ago, I want to say that that topic has been talked about to some depth already.
What I ask those who are suggesting a smaller and less glitz unit, why have you not bought one or a used one from another vendor already. To often, I find many say Foretravel should be like it was fifteen years ago from owners of coaches from older time periods.
Lets not forget when we criticize the build or glitz of the newer units being built, we are also asking members here that own newer units question their purchases.
Our Foretravel family consists of owners from 1989 to 2015. Let's be sensitive to all owners since any coach built by Foretravel is a great one.
Bob
Bob and Kathy raise a good point. FT builds for the customer of a new coach, not the customer of a used coach. New coach orders are what keep them in business and they are wise to build what buyers of new coaches want. It is what will keep them viable.
It does create a challenge for those of us who want to buy something like what we have now, only newer, but unless we are prepared to spec something new, we don't have a say in the game.
^.^d
Entegra cornerstone costs way less $. Frame on Entegra is a less expensive one from Spartin. The Foretravel uses the K3GT where the Cornerstone uses the K3 If you look at the pictures of the frames there is NO comparison.
http://www.spartanchassis.com/rv/rv_chassis.asp
^.^d Right on BobnKathy !
What you say is very true. They build for the current customers that buy. We don't have access to their books or brains to know FT business model. But, there doesn't appear to be a backlog of customer orders that FT can't keep up with (hopefully I'm misinformed). Thus, "FT builds for the customer of a new coach"....well they may be fewer customers that desire the new FT than the other options, etc.
But we do know that one new customer is very happy. And I think his Realm is very nice and well done. But what if there are many people that want a new FT but don't want the size or decorations? They have no option.
And I've spoken with people that have talked to FT about making a smaller or at least non-slide coach, and FT wanted them to pay MORE than ones they had on the lot.
The current FMCA magazine shows both a coach article and a construction article which seems unusual to me.
First paragraph in the factory article mentions the hung walls. And aluminum skins.
They also mention the 2x4 floor with vapor shielded fiberglass batten in between the studs and then a 3/4" plywood floor.
Which the factory says results in a r33 rating......
The k3 chassis I looked closely at at the Pomona FMCA rally was massively cross membered and divided into smaller than a unicoach compartments because of it.
The FMCA article mentions considerable additional reinforcing structure being added in addition.
Most all Indiana produced coaches have used similar construction over the years.
All the Oregon produced coaches except beaver used vacuum bonded steel franed fiberglass skinned structures.
Beaver and country coach and Foretravel had block foam insulated floors under a wood floor layer.
Time will tell how anything holds up. Dark paint makes the surfaces expand. Not sure how the hung walls are attached to the aluminum structure if at all. Not mentioned in the article.
Old beavers had a three layer vacuum bonded Fiberglass sidewall outer shin that was held on the the vacuum bonded three layer welded aluminum framed inner wall by the Windows and the entry door and the top,and bottom moldings only.
Made for an optically perfectly straight side wall.
Went by a corner stone coach this week on the road in our car driving back from Las Vegas to LA and as I passed it you could see the dimples in the bottom sidewall from being screwed into the structure.
The FMCA articles mention of the hung wall and wood and batten I thought was interesting.
Since I just traded in my Cornerstone on a Realm, I can give you my thoughts. First, I'll say I think both are excellent coaches. They're not exactly head-to-head competitors, because the Realm is about $300k more expensive.
As it has already been mentioned, one big difference is the chassis. I think the Spartan K3GT is a significant improvement over the K3. Seeing the bare K3GT chassis at the factory, it was quite impressive. It has much more reinforcement, as well as the passive steer tag. It also has a built-in fire suppression system for safety (not sure if that comes with the chassis, or if FT adds it).
The other big difference is the steel frame construction that FT does, relative to aluminum construction in the Entegra. I also think the slide-out technology FT uses is far superior to Entegra. Overall fit and finish and build quality is more impressive on the FT. Don't get me wrong, Entegra also does a very nice job, but I feel like my FT looks and feels more like a high-end custom coach.
There are two main areas where I feel the Cornerstone was better. One is storage room. The Realm has much bigger tanks, so as a result, there is less room for storage. The large tanks are nice, but it's a trade-off. The other big advantage Entegra has is driver visibility. They use a "cab forward" design that has a very large windshield which curves around on the corners. They mount the mirrors lower, so the driver's line-of-sight is virtually unhindered. The Realm has a narrower windshield, and it has large corner pillars. On top of that, the mirrors are mounted directly in the driver's line-of-sight, so I find myself leaning forward more often when making turns to make sure there's nothing in my blind spot.
Overall, both are great coaches, and I think owners of each will enjoy theirs. It's just a matter of price point and which features are most important. At least that's my two cents!!
When I was recently going through the buying process, I was told that FT is currently producing roughly 40 units per year. They told me they like that production level because each rig can really receive individualized attention (which was definitely the impression I got during my build). I asked if they had ambitions to ramp up production level, and they basically said no. In my opinion, they've found the sweet spot where they produce enough to be profitable (hopefully), but are small enough to be excellent.
That's roughly the same number of coaches Newell produces each year, and it appears to work well for Newell.
Thanks for the comments, Jeff. I had the opportunity to drive a friend's Cornerstone a few months ago, and was really impressed with it also. I can only imagine how nice the Realm drives.
Thanks again for posting - keep it up!
Chris
Jeff
Great review and comparison of coaches.
It is interesting how different amenities are important and significant to different people for different reasons. You mentioned that your Realm has larger holding tanks- a feature that I personally like since we boondock without hookups. The larger tanks mean moving less to dump and take on water. If you are hooked up in a full service campground most of the time, larger tanks don't mean as much. Maybe the extra storage for more toys would be more valuable then?
Sounds like you have a great coach- hope you enjoy it.
Maybe we will see you down the road Jeff.
With regards to holding tanks, one thing I've noticed is that even though the Realm has a larger black tank (57 gal vs. 50 gal in the Cornerstone), the downside is both toilets in the Realm are macerator pump toilets which use roughly .85 gallons of water per flush. So when it comes to boondocking, even though the black tank is larger I think you get fewer flushes before filling. The Cornerstone had a macerator toilet in the rear, but the mid-bath was a straight dropdown toilet, so it used much less water.
We mostly boondock when we tailgate at football games, so I think my solution will just be to ask my guests to abide by the "if it's yellow, let it mellow" rule and not flush every time. LOL
This business model described here that Foretravel is following makes great sense in an economy that is still shaky. Since there is little to no improvement in our current economy in many aspects, many companies like Country Coach just could not survive. I am pleased to see that there are great business minds at work at Foretravel and the outlook for the company is favorable. We need as a forum to always support our proud company and highlight all advantages that come with owning a Foretravel product, new and old. Also, lets also support our wonderful Motorcade and club events like the Lady's Driving School and local chapters.
Bob
.85 gallons? I think a residential two mode flush toilet only uses 0.8 gallons on the "number 1" flush.