Today we’re reviewing the best-selling motorhome in the U.S., the Thor A.C.E. 33.1, a smaller gasoline-powered motorhome. There are a lot of reasons that this is America’s favorite motorhome, and I’m guessing that price is absolutely one of those.
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Value proposition
When you see what you get for the base price of the version we’re looking at today, which is $187,500, there’s actually a fair amount of value there. Now I see a big difference between value and price.
Value is that you get something you like for a specific dollar amount. Price is something that’s just cheap. Like that meat at the local butcher shop that’s marked for immediate sale. It’s cheap, all right. But should meat really be that color?
So the Thor A.C.E. is something I would describe as a value because you get things that are good—like a six-year warranty on the lamination and a 12-year structural warranty. Both good things. There are also frameless windows which require less maintenance. I like quite a quite a bit.
Preconceived notions; my view on the Thor A.C.E. has changed
I try to be very open-minded when I look at any RV. I’ve found some really interesting features and build factors when I have looked at some rigs—sometimes really positive and sometimes not. But, in the past, I’ve looked at these Thor A.C.E. motorhomes and haven’t been very impressed with what I saw. That changed here.
Recently I wrote an article about cargo carrying capacity in some motorhomes and this all started with an advert for an A.C.E., where the cargo carrying capacity was somewhere around 700 pounds. This got me looking around and spurred the story. I still think this is a very valuable thing to keep in mind if you’re buying a motorhome.
The chassis on which these are based is the Ford F-53. It features a 7.3-liter gasoline V8—the kind that used to be ultra-common in American cars. Ford has upgraded the chassis such that the entire rig has a gross weight of 20,500 pounds. The unladen weight of these is about 16,800 pounds, so that gives you about 3,700 pounds of cargo carrying. Now that’s what I’m talking about.
Er, writing about.
Getting there is half the fun
One of the things that surprised me about this rig is that there is an anchor point for a forward-facing child seat in the dinette. I’m hoping that Thor did a pull test on this mount. But one of the issues with a lot of motorhomes is that there is no provision for the youngest of travelers. Plus. In fact, there are a total of eight belted positions here. You could bring your whole crew.
The passenger-side seat up front also has a nifty flip over desk arrangement. If you were traveling with some sort of author, like a dork who writes RV reviews, that author could sit in the passenger seat and bang out a bunch of reviews on a notebook confuser while the captain piloted the rig down the road.
The Thor A.C.E. is a space invader
There are a lot of seating choices in this rig including a jackknife sofa and dinette on the road side and theater seats on the camp side. Even with the slide in, all of these seating positions are accessible.
In fact, the entire kitchen, too, is accessible with the slide in, as is the bathroom.
The kitchen features a good amount of counter space and, wonder of wonders, a 21” oven for the three-burner stove unit. There’s also a decent amount of cabinet space and even two garbage cans. Presumably, you may want to use one for recycling.
Bathroom boogie
The bathroom in the Thor A.C.E. is also surprisingly spacious with a rather large shower that features a curtain-style door. I so prefer this over the glass shower doors. I just don’t understand the thinking of putting a huge piece of glass in a moving vehicle. And, yeah, I filed lots of warranty claims on those stupid glass shower doors.
There’s also decent counter space in the bathroom. There’s even what Matt Foxcroft from Matt’s RV Reviews calls a prime poopin’ position. In other words, there’s sufficient space around the toilet to accomplish the task at hand including the paperwork.
Sleep on it
That space continues in the bedroom where there’s a king-size bed at 72” X 76”. The whole room really is well thought through and leaves good space beside the bed along with nice bedside tables.
Further, there’s a 12-volt “cigarette lighter” or power point next to the bed. That is great for some CPAP machines, so you can run it overnight without having to activate the generator.
More power to ya’
There is an Onan 4,000 series generator aboard. In fact, there are a lot of features here, including four TVs. Just imagine how many RV videos you could be watching at any given time with four TVs.
One of those TVs is behind the road-side couch, though. There’s a nifty shelf between the couch and the TV with cupholders in it. Another TV is on the rear-most wall in the galley area. I guess you could watch that one from the drop-down bed over the cab. Incidentally, that bed is only able to accommodate 250 pounds. That is fine for a couple of kids. But adults will lie about their weight and you’ll only find out about this after they’ve broken the bed. They’ll finally admit that, yeah, they were not quite telling the truth.
How much is that doggie in the window
Lastly, Thor states that they’re quite pet-friendly and this is borne out in two things. The first of those is a dog window in the passenger-side foot well. While this could be used for seeing if someone’s out there when making turns, it might be more popular with your pet, who can see what’s going by.
There’s also a pet bowl on a pull-out tray in the main bedroom.
The Thor A.C.E. in summary
The Thor A.C.E. is popular because it’s really affordable. But I was also surprised at how much I really liked this rig. I can’t say I was a big fan in the past, but that has changed.
Compared to some Class B vans, for example, this is actually less expensive but incrementally more usable. The newer Ford Chassis has really eliminated my big objection to these—which was poor cargo carrying capacity.
You could legally and legitimately bring several people along with you and have decent sleeping space for all of them while also having belted seating.
I know there are going to be some readers who argue in favor of the diesel. A diesel engine would likely have more torque and offer better fuel economy. But a diesel engine that could move this rig would likely easily add $5,000 or more to the price of the rig and for that, even at $5/gallon, you would have to travel a very long way to make up the difference.
The engine in the Thor A.C.E. is no slouch
Further, the Ford 7.3 liter V8 really does have a good torque rating (468 ft.-lbs.). So this engine is no slouch.
I have to say the improvements made to this rig, particularly in the chassis area, have really changed my mind. I kinda dig this.
I would love to read your comments and suggestions over on our new forums, where you can weigh in and start or join a discussion about all things RV. Here’s a link to my RV Reviews Forum.
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. You can find his writing here and at StressLessCamping where he also has a podcast about the RV life with his wife.
These RV reviews are written based on information provided by the manufacturers along with our writer’s own research. 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.
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For those commenters who prefer a queen bed, that’s fine. I agree that a queen saves space. But if you sleep with someone who hogs the bed, that king is a lifesaver. When I’m looking at floor plans, I rule out all that don’t have it!
Glad to see that you’ve discovered that there are good gassers out there.
A couple of issues, Tony. I’m sure for many, the king-sized bed is a preference. For me alone, it’s a waste of space. Even when my wife and I were traveling, our short Queen worked just fine. The king detracts from side tables too, which brings me to my next issue. Where do you put the CPAP? Mine runs on 120v only. Are there machines that run on 12v? I’ve gotten around that successfully by using my Eco Flow Delta inverter battery for a couple of nights. Then, there is the issue of Thor build quality and service, which you read about frequently. Thanks for the review.
My wife and I are not small folks and we do just fine on a queen-sized bed. But I also know that numerous readers have requested king-sized beds. To each their own, of course.
But NObody ever complained about too much storage. I’m always in favor of biasing things toward storage.
As for CPAP machines, there are indeed units powered by the powerport/cigar lighter.
My CPAP machine has a 12v “adaptor” that replaces the 120v plug! I would imagine that most machines have something like this. Try searching for a 12v adapter for your particular brand of CPAP machine! (Of course, the one for mine is $99!)
All CPAP machines can run on 12 volts with an adapter, I have one. Also if you are using 12 volts you must turn off your heated tubing and the humidifier. If you run the CPAP with everything it will require around 9 amps so a 100 amp battery will last about 5 hours two batteries will last about 10 hours. If you are running anything in the motorhome that will take hours away, like the furnace fan or all the circuits that run on 12 volt like the fridge when it’s on propane, any lights, water pump, bathroom fan. If everything is turned off your CPAP will run for 14 plus days. The review says 4 thousand generator, it has a 5.5k generator and 100 amps (50 on each leg)
99 percent of CPAP machine run on DC. That is that long rectangle black box that one end plugs in the wall, and the other end is DC voltage and goes to the CPAP. My CPAP fits just fine on the small end table. I have adapters that plug into that 12 outlet and converts it to the DC power needed. I also have an adapter that clips on to a 12 volt battery if needed. It uses less power to run a CPAP on 12 volts than 120 volts and converting it to the DC voltage
Matt Foxcroft is no longer the cute and funny reviewer he once was. It gave me no pleasure to drop my subscriptions to both his vlogs. I can’t imagine Andrea ever losing her incomparable grace and beauty. She is a rare treasure.
From my limited experience, I find Ford’s “Godzilla” V8 to be a well engineered and designed powerplant. It’s more powerful, with superior torque characteristics, than not only Ford’s own V10 and competitors V8s, but is without the performance sapping cylinder deactivation in GM’s and Ram’s V8 engines (Ford ruined the 5.0 Coyote the same way). If one wants to avoid the purchase and maintenance expenses of diesels, Ford’s 7.3 Godzilla is better in 250 or 2500 class pickups. Neither GM nor Ram make make a Class A gas engine, as far as I know. I can’t speak to Thor’s reliability record, I love the Omni and Magnitude, but they seems to be making some modest progress. People do seem to like this rig as far as it goes.
Well that torque is 1/2 of a newer diesel, I can’t imagine a diesel costing only $5000 more. Might be a good rig for some locales but I would want it for mountainous regions. Certainly not made for boondocking with a measly 50g fresh tank.
We have a 2015 ACE 27.1. More storage space than we have ever used! That was reduced, even losing one pantry (we have two) to add a booth (we have a curved couch with big table) in following years. We have traveled across the country, the two of us, very comfortably, crossing the Rockies and all over Yellowstone NP without a problem. Powerful V10 engine. Only complaint is that the couch is not comfortable to lounge or watch tv. We love it!
The ACE is junk, the Ford chassis might be ok but the box is junk. It will fall apart inside 3 years. Nothing Thor builds is worth what they charge for it, they are the king of cost controlling quality out of everything.
Having owned a Thor Ace with Ford V10, don’t know why they went back to V8? Don’t care either. Loved our little ACE initially, but after five of 11 months in the shop repairs became tiresome. She was true , “Lemon”.
Thor customer support was nonexistent , dealer was great but service department overwhelmed.
Would never buy another Thor product.
BTW this was 2017 before the Covid, supply, RV issues.
Happily residing in a diesel SuperC since unloading our lemon in 2018.
The super C has a problem of the front of the motorhome disconnecting from the body at the front seam
I know this is a minor point but I just don’t understand the appeal of the pull out doggie dishes. The ones I’ve seen have 2 bowls presumably one for food and one for water. I don’t know any pet owner who restricts water to only meal times which means that the dish tray will always be extended. I’ll continue to put our dog’s dishes under the dining table out of traffic areas and just move them when we use the dinette
Agree this is ridiculous and didn’t use it when we had it. You couldn’t walk through bedroom with the pet drawer open.
Pull-out dog dishes are like 17″ ovens – they’re there to show that the company is thinking about the issue but not there to solve the issue.
I agree on those pullout dog dishes. A waste of storage space.
We don’t want a conventional oven of any size! Microwave/Convection above…more drawers and storage below!
These units receive a lot of negative press, as seen above, on quality of the build. I don’t own one, so have no personal knowledge, but rarely do your reviews talk about quality of the construction. When we seek to purchase, the first and foremost consideration is quality and customer service…then we find the most suitable RV for our needs that those producers make.
Remember Thor owns almost all the RVs. Jayco, Tiffin, Airstream, Starcraft and many others
The fact that it is built on a ford medium duty truck chassis that’s not been upgraded for motorhome duty is a deal killer for me. It drives and rides like a cargo truck.
This. I have a Newmar on the F53 chassis and know many owners who have spent megabucks improving the suspension to make for better handling and ride. I can’t afford it and my rig is horrible on bad roads. LiquidSpring installation costs around $25K and can improve it substantially but $25K on top of $187K?? I think not.
That thing is drop dead gorgeous! I loved everything about except one thing, Just my preference, the king size bed. It’s just me but I prefer a 60 X80 queen than a king. My wife and I are edge sleepers and we are just too far apart on a king. I like reaching over at night and knowing she there, even after 45 years.
Cheers! I lift my glass to your second 45.