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If you’re part of the EKKO Owners and Wannabes group on Facebook, you probably know this already.  Winnebago loaned us one of their pre-production EKKO rigs to test camp in.  We’ve done our best to try everything out and get our feedback to Winnebago.  But we couldn’t leave you out of the experience!  What did we think?  Watch the video to find out!

 

I’ll start off by saying that test camping in the EKKO only reaffirmed our decision to sell our Class B van and buy an EKKO.  Sure, there were some things we wish were different, but by and large, this rig is a home run for us.  You’ll hear our unscripted opinions in the video, but briefly, we go into 6 areas

The Galley and Dinette

We had no problems cooking in the EKKO, even when we didn’t use the countertop extension.  Stef thinks we actually have more galley and pantry cupboard space than we did in Lance, but I’m not totally sold on that.  In any case, it was certainly enough for the two of us.  The propane stove didn’t win me back, so I’m still planning on replacing that with an induction cooktop.  And the freezer and microwave are a bit high up for the vertically challenged.  But we just chalk all that up to the compromises we all make, no matter what the RV.

The Bathroom and Shower

The good news here is that this all worked as expected and we took FABULOUS showers in the EKKO.  The pivoting wall is genius, and everything that was supposed to stay dry stays dry.  The AquaGo is literally FIFTY BILLION TIMES BETTER than the Truma Combi that we had in Lance (and the Combi is actually pretty good, so that should tell you something about the AquaGo).  You do have to be careful to only mount thinner towels on the hooks on the back of the pivoting wall though, to allow room for the wall magnets to engage.

And as far as the toilet goes, we did have to empty it, and I appreciated the options a cassette toilet provides.  As far as chemicals, we used drop-in packs (meant for much larger tanks) in the cassette and they worked just fine.

The Bedroom

The bedroom is as comfortable as we had hoped, and that’s all due to the mystery foam that Winnebago uses in the Winn Sleep mattress.  I don’t know what it is, but it’s 10 kinds of awesome.  And while the twin beds are a little less “romantic” than the bed in Lance, they do make for great sleeping in tight quarters.  (And it’s not like Stef and I can’t both fit into one of the beds if we want to… 😉 )  Storage was totally fine for both of us – especially since we didn’t have to lose one of the wardrobe cabinets for Mel.

The Drive

THE POWER!  OH MY GOODNESS THE POWER!

Yeah.  So that was the biggest difference we noticed between the Promaster we’re used to and this new Transit rig.  Just… wow.  Watch the video for the full scoop.  The EKKO is a bigger rig than what we’re used to, so that takes a little bit to get “in sync” with the rig.  But once you do, it’s totally fine.  All the safety features on the Transit chassis are the icing on the cake.  Great choice of chassis, as far as we’re concerned.

And so I don’t get this a thousand times in the comments: 12mpg.

Electrical

This was NOT an effort focused on detailed testing with control groups etc.  That stuff comes later.  But I did notice two key things on this rig about the solar, and the inverter.  What were they?  Watch the video!

 

It was a sad day when we had to let the EKKO go.  We turned it over to a photo/video team that was going to be developing content for Winnebago.  In the end, this whole experience just made us all the more anxious to get our own EKKO.  Like… now.