2010 Gulf Stream Visa 19RSD Review

RVGuide.com
by RVGuide.com

Introduced in March, the all new Visa ultra lightweight travel trailer is aimed at SUV, minivans, and crossover drivers and families. Dealers report record website traffic and customers crowding to see the Visa at retail shows.


“It is exciting to have dealers selling Visas prior to their first stock delivery and having customers seek out the Visa at show,” says Jeff Terhune, product manager. “We continue to expand the product based on customer feedback. The first three floorplans have done extremely well, and we anticipate introducing three additional floorplans this month.”

Even the company’s telephone operator notes being inundated with calls requesting information on the new Visa.

The Visa 19RSD utilizes state-of-the-art eco-friendly materials inside and out, producing a 22’ 11” travel trailer with a total dry weight of 2,832 pounds that is towable with SUVs, minivans and crossover vehicles (hitch weight is only 400 pounds). The Visa 19RSD currently features amenities like a full forward 54×74” bed, upper and lower 28×74” bunks, a 44×60” dinette that transforms into a bed, and a fully equipped bath with a small 24×36” tub. Author’s note: Other Visa models have less tongue weight, walk-around queen-size beds, and one offers a small slideout.

According to Gulf Stream, Visa is unsurpassed in weight, length, and strength ratios. “Our dream is to create travel trailers that are accessible to everyone who owns a minivan or small SUV, and our passion is to build RVs of the finest craftsmanship, value, and durability. We do that by holding ourselves to higher standards and by supporting our owners with an unmatched level of service by inventing innovative features, such as our Unit-Arch construction, and by offering an alternative to a pop-up or small confined trailer, that are within everyone’s budget.”

Visa uses ultra-light materials throughout; offering a high-gloss fiberglass exterior, vacuum-bonded sidewalls, lightweight steel chassis frame, 3,500-pound easy-lube single axle with torsion bar suspension, 14-inch bias-ply tires with aluminum wheels, welded six-sided aluminum frame cage, low center of gravity, laminated floor with lightweight substrates, four lightweight stabilizer jacks, unit-arch fiberglass roof, and LED clearance lights. Each Visa comes with two 20-pound LPG bottles, and all this comes with a two-year warranty.

Internally, you’ll find all the usual safety items—fire extinguisher, smoke detector, and a combination LPG-leak and CO detector—plus a three-way 6.2-cubic-foot fridge, a 55-amp converter/charger combination, tinted windows (to reduce glare and fabric fading), window valances, and night shades. In the bathroom, Gulf Stream has included the afore-mentioned 36×24” tub, Aqua Magic IV toilet with a foot flushing lever, shower curtain, high-velocity ceiling exhaust vent fan, and a mirror-equipped medicine cabinet.

Some of the more popular options available on the Visa travel trailers are a 14-inch spare tire, outside spray port, safety glass windows, low-profile 11.5-k BTU air conditioner, touch-screen stereo with indoor and outdoor speakers, patio awning, more deluxe memory-foam mattress, microwave oven, and TV antenna.

Since the Visa 19RSD sleeps two adults and up to four children, it’s a perfect RV for a family of six with a minivan or an SUV with a third seat.

For more information, contact Gulf Stream Coach, 503 South Oakland Avenue, Nappanee, IN 46550, (800) 289-8787; http://www.gulfstreamrvtrailers.com/.

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