RV review: Keystone Cougar 320RDS—a livable living space

Today’s RV review is of the Keystone Cougar 320RDS fifth wheel. Something I’ve often recommended is to look at the fifth wheel floor plan that every fifth wheel maker makes as you work through your shopping process. Doing this lets you see how different makers prioritize different design and engineering aspects of their products. From there, you can move on to unique floor plans that a company might make. The Keystone Cougar 320RDS is definitely different than a lot of floor plans—and that’s a good thing. 

But another recommendation I have is to start at the bottom and look at how these are made before you ever step inside. 

How the Keystone Cougar 320RDS is made

Since I recommended that you start at the underside, that’s also where we’ll start on this rig. The first thing you might notice is that the brake drums on this trailer are red. What’s that all about? 

Keystone has elected to include the Lippert ABS on all their fifth wheels. This is something I would stand up and applaud—except I’m sitting here writing this. 

An anti-lock braking system, or ABS, is something almost no production vehicle that you would buy would be without because it’s such a big improvement in safety. ABS can really help to shorten stopping distances by “pumping” the brakes so the wheels don’t lock up in a panic stop, but it also can help maintain control. 

This is particularly helpful if the road surface is compromised such as when it’s raining, and that sort of thing. So kudos to Cougar for making this a standard feature. 

This also incorporates a Road Armor suspension, which is a step up from the vintage-era buggy springs of most fifth wheels. However, Lippert has a prototype chassis with coil springs, and that is something I’m looking forward to seeing out here in the real world. 

This does have tire pressure monitoring system prep but doesn’t come with it, which is sort of like going to a “gentleman’s club.” All tease and no action. But at least it’s not difficult to finish the job here and just put in tire pressure monitoring system. I think you would be crazy not to do so. 

Regarding tires, I’m pretty biased about the Goodyear Endurance series—this doesn’t have those. 

Keystone Cougar 320RDS - 2024

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Wiring for success

Other things I really like in all Keystone products is the wiring, which is intentionally selected. In other words, a red wire in this Keystone product does the same job as a red wire in the next. You might think this is no big deal until you manage a warranty department, as I did, and have a wiring issue with an RV that takes hours just to figure out what the wires do. 

Most trailers’ wiring is done on the factory floor where the assembly team simply pulls wires as needed. Keystone does their wiring intentionally—which meant fewer issues when we did experience them and much easier diagnosis, as well. 

How many seasons?

Something Keystone is also doing is using its climate chamber to test how well its RVs do in climate extremes. Know that Keystone is the only company that I’m aware of that actually has its own climate chamber. 

Supplier Truma also has one but you have to buy their products, which are great but not inexpensive. 

So Keystone certifies that this RV is rated for camping between 0°F-110°F. Again, other companies may make claims, but Keystone can back theirs up with tests. 

What’s inside the Keystone Cougar 320RDS

This is an interesting floor plan and one that really makes sense. At the rear is a big living space with a huge L-shaped sofa where a portion of that “L” faces the back of the camper.

By day, this means a fantastic view of whatever’s behind the camper through a very large window and, by night, a direct shot at an enormous TV on a televator. 

Opposite that on the camp side are a table and chairs, where the table is hung off the wall and the chairs are free-standing. The combination of that table and the couch would make this a great space if you like to entertain. 

You can also swap the table and chairs for a hide-a-bed sofa, so now you have a whole ring of sofas around the big TV if you choose. This would also up the number of accommodations for sleeping in this RV. 

The kitchen is located mid-ship in a U-shape. The sink faces the camp side window, there’s a surface with a lot of cabinet and drawer space, and then a stove and residential-sized microwave that face the road side. Next to the stove is a large double-door 16-cubic-foot 12-volt refrigerator. 

A pantry and coffee counter are on the bulkhead of this space and, interestingly, the top of the pantry is accessible both here and in a cabinet in the bathroom. It’s unusual, but I think it’s pretty neat. 

The upstairs of this trailer isn’t anything extraordinarily different. The king-sized bed is in a slide room, so that means the nose cap offers storage including a spot for a stackable washer-dryer combo. 

Midnight Edition

Something that really surprised me at the RV Open House was the Midnight Edition of these Cougar trailers. Midnight Edition is a package that includes either Black Onyx or Phantom Gray exterior paint packages. It also includes frameless windows and a second RV air conditioner. 

Further, it includes Keystone’s SolarFlex 440i package, which means 440 watts of solar, a 2,000-watt inverter, and 200 amp-hours of lithium batteries. 

I’ve reviewed another Keystone Cougar with this package and your comments, which I always love, were just about in line with what I was thinking. A black RV? 

It looks good there in the showroom, but I can’t imagine keeping this cool in the South. But maybe they won’t sell many down in the South. To me, the dark color really shows off how uneven the surface of an RV is, as well. 

Perhaps they’ll sell a ton of these. I know the inspiration for this was Cortni Armstrong’s (the Flipping Nomad) custom Cougar, which is black and has been a popular item when she shows it off at RV shows. But she is also really good at keeping her RV clean and in show condition. 

It might also be that we see one of these in an RV park and think, “Oh, I had forgotten that Keystone offered this package for a year.” We shall see. 

Oh, that Midnight Edition package is $7,500, but I’m not sure if you also need the optional Midnight Edition package listed as an option or if that is part of the whole enchilada. 

Boondocking and travel access

Normally I wouldn’t even think of a larger fifth wheel as being well-suited for mid-travel access, but this one’s not half bad. With the slides in you can access the fridge easily.

Since the upstairs bed is on a slide room, you would have to extend that slide. I’ve been told that the Norco Accu-Slide, a cable slide mechanism, can be occupied while the slide is in. But this uses the Exact-Slide, and I don’t believe that’s rated to be occupied when the slide room is in. Both of these are cable slide mechanisms, but this rating shows how not all systems are alike even when they’re similar systems from the same company.

The slide rooms on the main deck are through-frame rack-and-pinion systems—which I like for larger slide rooms.

Interestingly, the way Keystone engineered the space inside the RV, that big “L”-shaped couch actually rides on a carrier-type system where it rides in on wheels. The kitchen counter sort of collapses onto itself. It’s pretty clever.

Keystone has been at the forefront of solar with their SolarFlex system. The base model of this comes with 220 watts of solar, whereas, the Midnight Edition gets upgraded as stated earlier. You can upgrade the base model and also the Midnight Edition to more capable systems—up to the SolarFlex 660i, which has 660 watts of solar on the roof.

Conclusions

I do like Keystone products for a number of reasons. One of those is the fact that they use a central A/C system that incorporates household filters—so you filter out a lot of the pollen and “stuff” we all see in campgrounds. This just makes sense. 

For campers who like to entertain, this might be a great choice. All that sofa area in the back plus a good kitchen in a package that isn’t overly huge makes a good combination. 

I’ve also seen other RVs with fancy paint schemes—it’s not for me but I have frequently acknowledged that I’m by no means normal in my tastes. But I do always appreciate the comments you all leave and am looking forward to reading those. 

Thanks to Josh from Bish’s RV for the photos and videos used in this article.

More about these RV reviews

These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. They are based on information from a single unit and may not reflect your actual experience. Shop your RV and dealership carefully before making a buying decision. We receive no money or other financial benefits from these reviews. They are intended only as a brief overview of the vehicle, not a comprehensive critique, which would require a thorough inspection and/or test drive.

Tony comes to RVtravel.com having worked at an RV dealership and been a lifelong RV enthusiast. He also has written the syndicated Curbside column about cars. He also works closely with a number of RV manufacturers to get an inside look at how things are done and is a brand ambassador for Rockwood Mini Lite with his wife, Peggy.

You can also check out his RV podcast with his wife, Peggy. 

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