Hello –
Just another message cobbled together from my impressions of my
visit to the Westfalia-Werke in Rheda-Wiedenbruck, Germany. I had
been planning to upload this to some webspace that I have and
include pictures but here is a pre-release version for your perusal.
This time, I'll compare the similarities and differences between the
European Mercedes James Cook and the US Version.
First off, in Europe the vehicle is called the Mercedes James Cook.
And in Europe they call the version that we get the NAFTA Cook.
NAFTA stands for North American Free Trade Association and it sounds
like the vehicle was intended to be available in all of North
America (Canada, US, Mexico). I found the term NAFTA-Cook quite
amusing and it took me a bit of time to get used to hearing the
Westfalia folks use it as freely as they do. That said, I am going
to use these two terms here as they do provide the shortest and
easiest way to differentiate them in print or discussion.
Next, I am going to divide this into two sections. One will cover
changes that were necessary to meet US (maybe NAFTA?) regulations.
The second will cover changes that were the result of compromise
between Westfalia, Mercedes Europe, Mercedes US, Dodge, and
Airstream. With that many parties involved in the discussions there
must have been A LOT of compromise!
I am not trying to list all the base Sprinter changes here – that
would be a whole other email and probably even more typing than
below!
One interesting thing that did not change but that I have not heard
anyone here talk about: both Cooks (James and NAFTA) come with the
heaviest duty suspension available for the non-dual rear wheel
Sprinter. Westfalia folks led me to believe that this was unlikely
if not impossible for the US Sprinter RV Conversions to have.
Promising in terms of the suspensions ability to deal with the
weight of the Westfalia and also in terms of the vehicle being able
to last as long as I plan to own mine.
Regulation Required Changes:
- Propane Tank
1. James Cook – Propane is stored in two large tanks that fill the
space that contains the hot water heater in the NAFTA Cook. Tanks
can be removed from the vehicle (there are straps to hold them in
place) for re-filling.
2. NAFTA Cook – US Regulations required that the propane be moved
to outside of the interior of the vehicle. I don't know if the
regulations had any more effect on where/ how the propane was
located/ designed to function.
- Safety Sensors
1. James Cook – At it's base configuration (roughly 53K Euros –
very few are sold this bare bones) the James Cook does not come w/
any CO, LPG, etc. safety sensors (I may have this wrong – correct me
if I do). When they are added, they are added in forms that are
much more cleanly integrated into the vehicle. One sensor that many
people in Europe add is a sensor for some gas that thieves are
apparently injecting into vehicles in order to knock-out the folks
inside them at which point the thieves break into the vehicle and
steal what they can. Westfalia said the only problem is that
flatulence will set these sensors off as well as the gas!
2. NAFTA Cook – Sensors are simply commercially available white
units mounted externally to the Westfalia cabinetry. The LPG sensor
is very near the floor on the kitchen side of the bathroom wall very
near where the stove/ sink cabinet meets that wall. The CO and fire
alarm are both mounted on the A/C cabinet on the far left just in
front of the funny drop down storage space.
- Emergency Exits (I am guessing this is a US regulation but I could
be wrong – correct me if I am)
1. James Cook – has a primary (sliding door) and a secondary
(window across from the sliding door) exit exactly like the NAFTA
Cook – it just doesn't have an "EXIT" sticker placed anywhere near
either of them.
2. NAFTA Cook – "EXIT" stickers have been placed above the sliding
door and above the open up and out window immediately behind the
drivers seat and across from the drivers door to show clearly where
the alternate means of egress are.
- I am pretty sure that other than the items I've listed above (and
those that were made to the base Sprinter itself to meet automotive
standards for the US) there are no other changes that were the
result of regulatory requirements. As always, I welcome hearing
otherwise if I've missed something.
Compromise Changes:
- bump in center bottom of dashboard (this doesn't fit this category
100% but I am putting it here because I don't want to add another
category)
1. James Cook – the Sprinter in Europe is offered with 3 different
transmission options. Standard (by far the most common),
Sprintshift (which is an automated manual transmission – actual
manual transmission that is controlled either by the driver or the
Sprinter and does not require the driver to operate a clutch), and
Automatic (most likely less common than the Sprintshift). Of the
three, only the Automatic has the bump in the center bottom of the
dashboard. The other two are flush with the dashboard (do not stick
into the space between the front seats).
2. NAFTA Cook – Automatic transmission is the only option. The
rotating Captains Chair front seats are much harder to rotate with
the Automatic Transmission bump in place.
- various Sprinter specification differences (again, these don't
exactly fit this category but here they are)
1. James Cook – There are many options available in Europe that we
don't get here. A couple of examples: MSS – Motor Stop Start – when
engaged, the motor will automatically stop running when the vehicle
is stopped (at a stoplight for example) beyond a certain length of
time – when the clutch (reason #1 that we don't have this
option . . .) is depressed the engine starts itself up again –
designed to save fuel. Back-up sensors (correct me if these are
available on US Sprinters) in the rear bumper that let the driver
know when the bumper is getting close to solid objects.
2. NAFTA Cook – There may be a couple of these sorts of options
that we have but Europe does not but I doubt it. I think more than
likely that we get fewer choices than the European market.
- tires (again, may not fit this category as this may have been made
necessary by what tires were readily available in the US market)
1. James Cook – Runs Continentals.
2. NAFTA Cook – Runs Michelins (at least mine did).
- rims
1. James Cook – base configurations all have simple steel rims
without the "truck-look" wheel cover and with no need for air valve
extensions.
2. NAFTA Cook – base configurations all have simple steel rims
covered by the "truck-look" wheel cover and therefore need air valve
extensions.
- passenger seat pedestal
1. James Cook – simple steel column offset to front left under
seat.
2. NAFTA Cook – simple steel column plus a steel brace running
from column towards back of vehicle that the seatbelt receptacle
attaches to (at least mine has this – Westfalia had no idea what
these were or where they came from!)
- household outlets
1. James Cook – pretty obvious here, EU style outlets (does anyone
know if the EU has standardized outlets or if different European
countries are still likely to have their own outlet type?)
2. NAFTA Cook – US style outlets.
- telephone outlet
1. James Cook - I believe that there is no option for an internal
telephone outlet in the European James Cook. Europeans simply use
cell phones in the James Cook.
2. NAFTA Cook - A standard US telephone outlet is mounted on the
left interior wall behind the driver, near the storage bin a bit
above the floor and in front of the rear bench seat when it is
pushed all the way back in riding position.
- clips for awning tool
1. James Cook – I don't know if this is just something I saw on
one of the new Westfalia James Cook's that I was shown or if this is
standard to all of them – plastic clips were mounted on the wall of
the stove sink cabinet that faces the front of the vehicle nearest
the sliding door. The awning tool was stored here on these clips.
2. NAFTA Cook – awning tool has no special home . . .
- microwave
1. James Cook – It would be very unlikely that a European James
Cook would have a microwave but it may be an option.
2. NAFTA Cook – They didn't enter the country with microwaves but
almost every one I have seen has been "upfitted" by a dealer to
include a microwave.
- TV, etc.
1. James Cook – Again, very unlikely that a TV would be found on a
James Cook. But Westfalia can install one (or more) and they have
done it. TV's are almost always smaller and if there is an antenna
it is likely to be a satellite dish or better antenna than the
flying V. As a result, James Cook's are unlikely to have any of the
items associated with the TV from cable hookup outside to inside.
2. NAFTA Cook – Much like the microwave. They didn't enter the
country with TV's but most all of them have them now . . .
(continued in next post)