The Cheetah name has been a household word among motorcoach aficionados for two decades, so its equity is already high, but Safari has once again taken the luxury motorcoach lifestyle to new levels with its 2006 model. Offered at a price point that puts the competition at a great disadvantage, the spanking new, full-wall slideout floorplan that has appropriately been named the PANAsuite is the first-of-a-kind configuration. But as we shall see, the full-wall slideout is but one of several important advances that have been made. It is complemented by many innovative enhancements that the sophisticated coach enthusiast will immediately recognize for their utility, lifestyle improvement and eye appeal. As usual, new options have once again been added, with several previous options now included as standard equipment.
The scope of the Cheetah product line is impressive. For 2006 there are a total of six floorplans to choose from, plus the recent introduction of an all-new super-size seventh floorplan, the 40SFD. This dynamic new floorplan features a full-wall PANAsuite driver side slideout room that measures 24-inches deep and over 23-feet long. That's correct. It measures over half the length of this 40-foot coach.
All Cheetah motorcoaches are eight and a half feet wide, but offer lengths of 36, 38 and 40-feet. Clients can choose between two, three or four slideouts, which means the Safari Cheetah is a coach that essentially can be tailored to individual lifestyle requirements and personal preferences.
Because the PANAsuite full-wall slideout is the most talked about and dramatic enhancement to make its debut in the motorcoach market today, let's summarize exactly what Safari has done to create it.
We will then enumerate the other equally important enhancements boasted by the Safari Cheetah.
To begin with, Safari has elected to use the all-electric (12-volt) power slideout mechanism that is designed and built by Lippert, a cutting edge company in slideout room technology. To carry the added loads of this much longer slideout Safari has engineered and added a third supporting arm. Now there are three such arms (fore, middle and aft) in the slideout superstructure to support and power it. A rack and pinion drive system powered by a high torque DC motor articulates the full-wall slideout in and out. It's important to note that there is also a second slideout, a dresser with overhead cabinet in the rear stateroom of the 40SFD floorplan.
Safari's experience in designing and building slideouts is time tested and proven. Massive wiper blades are used to glean moisture from the exterior surfaces of the slideout walls, and a system of automotive crush type bulbs surrounds and seals the entire slideout to create an air tight boundary in both the extended and retracted positions. As with all of their slideouts, a super size topper awning prevents the collection of debris on the roof of this super-size slide when it is extended.
Safari has conquered the design challenges associated with creating an ultra long slideout, but equally important as this industry-leading engineering feat is the amazing space planning opportunity it permits the Safari interior designers. This is a truly unique floorplan. The PANAsuite full-wall slideout houses (front to rear) a sofa/sleeper, self-standing dinette, pantry, refrigerator/freezer, closet and rear wardrobe, which all simultaneously move in and out with the slide. When extended it creates a side-aisle interior hallway that permits foot traffic between the rear stateroom and the front of the coach.
And when the PANAsuite full-wall slideout is retracted, the passageway between the rear stateroom and the galley and salon areas of the 40SFD flows through the center coach residential bathroom. This luxury bathroom area features a rear door between this space and the rear stateroom. A front door is positioned between the bathroom and the front of the unit, while a pocket door inside the bathroom separates the shower from the water closet. And when the PANAsuite full-wall slideout is retracted and ready for travel, the doors through the bathroom provide full access between the front and rear of the coach, making the entire coach and all of its features readily accessible. Nice job Safari. This is very creative planning.
To accommodate this new coach length slideout, we must first look at the custom built Roadmaster Chassis that every Safari diesel pusher uses as a foundation. Each Roadmaster Chassis is custom built for an individual coach only after the coach order has been placed. That's right. These are not generic platforms that are mass produced and then warehoused in some yard. Custom building each chassis when the coach is built allows Safari to engineer and design the chassis to meet the specific length and slideout requirements of each coach.
All of the processes associated with building the chassis are controlled in-house. For example, the PANAsuite has been engineered and built to handle the changes associated with the longer and heavier loads in the slideout. To accommodate this full-wall slide, design modifications include mounting eight outboard air bags to the chassis suspension system. Because Roadmaster chassis' are an in-house product, these kinds of design changes can be engineered and implemented easily and with great dispatch when there is a need to respond to new and emerging market demands.
Safari's time tested saddlebag type construction places loads and distributes weight across and over the center chassis rails. Unlike the competition the Roadmaster Chassis does not depend upon adding outriggers to try and accommodate this kind of weight loading. Long story short, this design permits Safari to locate holding tanks at the most ideal position, and it permits them to add slideouts and create unique floorplans. This is just one more reason why Cheetah's competitive edge at this motorcoach price point is so overwhelming.
There are other equally important features of the 2006 Safari Cheetah that make the competition pale in comparison at this price point. The engine is an excellent example. Safari has note elected to use the typical 330 horsepower engine. No, standard equipment on the Cheetah includes a 350 horsepower Caterpillar C7 turbo-charged diesel engine with a 6-speed Allison Transmission. This margin of difference is huge when it comes to over the road performance, especially when towing (the Cheetah can tow 10,000 pounds).
Up front, sequestered behind an aesthetically correct front cap (correct both from a design standpoint and because of the Diamonte Paint and graphics that dress it) is a standard 8.0kW diesel generator. Here again, the size of the genset is above and beyond what others offer when trying to compete with the Cheetah price range.
Roof and wall construction on the Safari merits a quick review. Alumaframe® construction, a patented process that employs a five-layer wall structure is used. C-channel aircraft grade aluminum structural members that crisscross to form a grid pattern are welded at the point where the horizontal and vertical members intersect. Holes are then punched in the aluminum members (between the points where they crisscross) to reduce weight and to add strength. Rubber grommets are added to the holes, which are then used to run the electrical wiring throughout the coach. This permits AC receptacles to be added in the walls just as you would find them in a fixed residential structure. In a Safari Cheetah you will not find electrical receptacles sticking through a cabinet wall.
Residential style insulation is cut to fit inside each square of the C-channel grid pattern. Luaan backed exterior fiberglass covers the outside and vinyl wallpaper covered Luaan panel dresses the wall interior. And it's important to note that when comparing exterior full body paint jobs on luxury motorcoaches it is not like comparing apples to apples. No, every Safari Cheetah comes with an eight layer Diamonte full-body paint job, which includes two layers of clear coat with UV protection added.
The roof is a nine-layer structure, which includes aluminum trusses and three layers of insulation. The exterior is fiberglass. The floor features aluminum structural members with high-density, blue cell block foam insulation that is cut to fit between the members. A layer of decibel paper is added and together the foam insulation and paper both insulate, dampen and intercept road noise from below. The entire floor structure is vacuum laminated, with the bottom side that faces the road dressed with a rugged material called Darco. This is a material that prevents dust and moisture from penetrating the floor structure. It's a barrier that is impervious to the outside/roadside generated elements.
The cockpit is a welded tubular steel structure, with steel members across the top of the windshield and with welded steel members surrounding and acting as the carriage for the above-the-dash 26-inch LCD television (a 32-inch LCD television soon to be available). For added safety, the captain chairs in the cockpit are anchored to the steel chassis frame.
Now this is very important and not to be overlooked. Safari has gone to a seven-foot interior ceiling and they have achieved this without taking any structure out of the ceiling. The front and rear caps have been redesigned to make them taller and the interior overhead cabinetry hasn't simply been moved up higher with the increase interior ceiling dimension. No, the interior space of the cabinetry has actually grown, which means that the cabinets are larger inside and therefore yield additional storage capacity. The single piece windshield is also larger, which means the scope of vision or view is now larger than before. Dual pane tinted windows lace the coach front to rear.
A state-of-the-art energy management system sheds AC loads should the coach experience a voltage drop while connected to shore power at an RV campground. These appliances are then brought back on line when full voltage is restored. For example, if two roof air conditioners are operating and shore power voltage drops, first the rear roof AC will be taken off-line, followed by the shedding of other appliances as needed. The energy management system has a built in logic that makes such evolutions totally transparent to those in side.
In addition to the higher interior ceiling, the larger one-piece windshield, the PANAsuite full-wall slide and the 350 hp vs. the typical 330 hp engine, Safari takes the competition to task with other appointments as well. The Cheetah comes with ceramic tile flooring and solid surface countertops. The galley back splash behind the countertop is made to match the tile that dresses the floor. Another huge difference is that solid handcrafted hardwood (alder) cabinets and woodwork (no vinyl wrap surfaces in the Cheetah) can only be found in a Safari Cheetah.
As evidenced by all these enhancements, a subtle and important evolution has taken place at Safari that bodes well for the entire product line. An organization change has also taken place that merits enumeration. Monaco Coach Corporation has placed the Safari product line directly under a single executive manager whose only charter is to grow and improve the Safari product line. The resources of this manager are focused only on Safari, to continue to improve the product and keep it ahead of the curve. |
