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I saw the new Holiday Rambler Ambassador at the Redmond reunion and now there is coverage on it in FMCA magazine as a comeback. When I went to the reunion one of the things I wanted to see is the new HR's to see what improvements were made. I toured a few coaches before I found the HR and Monaco displayed in the back end of the lot. I was dismayed of what I saw and here is why. 1. HR had only two displays, the Vacationer and the Ambassador. 2. The displayed of the Ambassador is like the picture on the front cover of FMCA magazine. The first thing that bother me was the bright glare of the tan paint walking up to the front of it. 3. The next thing that bother me as well as my wife is that HR put the door midway behind the slide. Then there is only one handrail to get you inside the bottom step and your on your own to get the rest of the way up and in. It also takes away from the layout of the coach as that brings on the next point. 4. The mid entrances and the step well takes away from the space from the middle of the coach. HR answered that by eliminating the love-seat. The power room also has much wasted space with too much cabinetry. All that is needed there is a toilet and a sink with just enough cabinet to keep hand towels and toilet supplies. 5. My wife and I always felt that a large window at the head of the bed is a bad idea. Too much light and noise at the top of our heads isn't something we want. A better option is to have smaller windows on the side of the slide with a double shade to block light if needed. These windows would be at eye level and more acceptable if there are windows in that area at all. 6. We like the bathroom in the rear of the coach but there is a layout problem there also. The shower is too small as older style tub like showers of the 80. Move the shower to where the toilet is where there is more space for a larger one. If the sink is moved to the corner there will be more space for cabinetry floor to ceiling across the rest of the back of the coach. Those that demand a washer and dryer can go back there also. Why in the heck would you want it in the bedroom? 7. The placement of the TV in the center of the coach is in a place that would be better utilized as more kitchen space. How about hanging that from the ceiling right behind the driver seat at a slight angle for better viewing from the seating area? 8. The only improvements I see is better TV's and residential refrigerator option. All of the other coaches have it as well as the Retro Winnebago Brave. If you have a older coach, those can be updated as well as the generator auto start if house batteries gets too low. 9. Going through the new Ambassador I found much less of just about everything compared to the Ambassadors before the crash of 2008. Less engine, transmission, chassis, length, tires, towing capacity and generator. There is so many other things if you look at the specs that are less than what it was and I consider this a step down not an improvement of what the Ambassador use to be. One thing that is less that we may all like is starting at $206,000 the price is less. But as it goes we all get what we pay for.

Dear Friends: Despite my best efforts to avoid driving at night, sometimes the situation demands it. The headlights on my 2005 Holiday Rambler Navigator has been resurfaced and the DOT markings are gone. I have already replaced the bulbs with SilverStar Ultra bulbs (http://www.sylvania.com/en-us/products/automotive/Pages/silverstar-ultra.aspx) and it doesn't help much. That said, it did help the high-beams and they are more than acceptable now, but who gets to use those much? I checked the voltage at the headlights and have 13.4 volts with the engine running and the lights on. The voltage doesn't drop on high beams. That said, I don't thing I have a low voltage issue. I really think my problem is that someone has refinished the covers poorly and even now that they are clear, the light diffusion may be off. That said, I really don't know what I am talking about...... :-) I did have a shop check them and they said that its not a headlight alignment issue and suspect my guess about the resurfacing may be correct. They commented about the significant grinding that had been done on the covers and that it would not take much to break them. I can find a new pair of the original type lights on eBay, but I would like to find out where HR got the original lights so I can research my options with newer light technology. I emailed the guy with the lights and he will not send me the numbers off of them. Bugger.... Any help is greatly appreciated and I thank you all in advance for readying this. With greatest respect; Leo