Today’s review is of the Winnebago Minnie Winnie 22M, a model that was specifically asked about in our forums. If you haven’t been to the forums yet, it’s pretty cool as it’s not full of people who are horribly negative like so many places on the Internet, especially social media.
Know, too, that I’m working through the requests I get—and there are a lot of them. I try to respond to questions either on the forums or sent to my email so that I can be timely, but I’m getting a bit behind. My apologies and I really do appreciate your input, questions and suggestions.
Start at the base
This is a nifty little rig. It’s not overly huge, at 24’5” in total length. That means maneuvering in traffic and even mountain roads it’s not going to be a big challenge. You could easily make a grocery stop at a store and take up a single parking space, although it would likely have to be out in the distant spots of the parking lot just because this is as wide as a parking place.
But driving around town, once you got used to it, wouldn’t be much of a challenge.
There are actually a lot of smaller motorhomes that fit this description, but not as many on the Ford E-Series platform.
The advantage of this platform is that big 7.3 liter gasoline V8. While there are Class C RVs built on the Ford Transit chassis, which is a more modern platform, that is powered by a twin turbocharged gasoline V6. These typically require premium fuel for optimum performance and a turbocharged engine is simply more complicated than a basic, relatively simply American pushrod V8.
Fuel efficiency in the Minnie Winnie 22M
Now let’s talk about fuel efficiency. First of all, it’s a motorhome. It’s a big box, so no matter what you’re using to motivate it, it’s not going to be very efficient.
I can envision all the people who have Sprinter-based Class C motorhomes firing up their keyboards … but wait. The Sprinter cutaway chassis on which motorhomes are built is much, much more expensive than the E-Series chassis. So you’re going to have to put a value on this greater expense.
You’re also going to have to find a Mercedes dealer out in the middle of Timbuktu when something needs attention. I suspect that is much more difficult than finding a Ford dealer. Plus, I am going to speculate here that there are more independent Ford mechanics who can work on this than there are independent Mercedes mechanics who can do repairs on the Sprinter chassis.
So what’s the downside to the E-Series chassis? Well, it is an older design and creature comfort and driving position aren’t as good as in either the Ford Transit chassis nor the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter chassis. Both of those newer chassis also have more sophisticated safety systems built into them. However, Ford did just update the electronic bits of the E-Series platform.
Highlights
Despite being a smaller rig, this does offer a decent interior and very usable bathroom. Things like counter space in the kitchen aren’t going to be tremendous, but Winnebago makes use of the space they have in an okay fashion.
One of the things I like is the U-shaped dinette. It has a swiveling table so you can accommodate guests of various displacement factors. You could say the dinette can be fluffy friendly.
Speaking of fluffy folks, the over-cab bunk can accommodate up to 600 pounds of people or stuff. That means, should you want to have two of me sleep over, you could.
However, your taste may be called into question if you did have two of me and, to my knowledge, I’m the only me there is. The world is grateful.
There’s a Nautilus shower door which I really prefer over glass. Further, Winnebago uses Azdel substrate in the build. Finally, there’s a fiberglass roof so there is a nice collection of typical higher-end motorhome features in a smaller Class C unit.
Boondocking and travel access
The bedroom is located inside a slide, so there’s no using the bed when that’s in. Otherwise, for cooking, stocking the fridge or using the bathroom, you’re golden here.
One of the advantages of having a motorized rig is the availability of a generator. So the lack of solar isn’t as much of an issue.
Holding tanks are about average at 40 gallons for fresh and black tanks, and 45 for the gray tank.
Observations of the Minnie Winnie 22M
As with any RV, and especially motorized units, I would absolutely look at the weight capacities of this rig. You want to be sure that you can accommodate full black and gray tanks, for example, even if only to the dump station. I have seen more than my share of Class C RVs where the cargo carrying capacity is under 1,000 pounds. That’s just not acceptable. Period.
So the specifications of this rig would be the first place I’d look. Now, why didn’t I put that information here? Because, like so many RV companies, Winnebago doesn’t share that information regarding motorized rigs. It’s there in their travel trailers, but not in the motorhomes.
And while I’m bemoaning the lack of specs regarding weight, you can also add that they don’t bother taking any photos of this rig at all and putting them up on their website. Nope. None.
I don’t understand this at all. But it’s really common, as regular readers of this column can attest to.
In Summary
There are some really nice features, including the use of Azdel in the construction, the high-quality MCD shades, Winnebago’s internal build quality and that sort of thing.
But not having photos is like having a child without taking pictures of them. Come on, RV industry, you can do better than this. It’s 2022—the information age. Get with the information. Once again, I swiped the photos from a YouTube video.
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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Nice unit but DW would have a fit over having to fold that bed. Lol
My very first experience RV’ing was renting a Mini-Winnie from Cruise America in Marin County, CA back in the early 80’s. We picked it up and took off. It started raining almost immediately, and continued to rain for the entire trip (the length of which I can’t even remember). It had a window across the front of the ‘bunk area’. The window leaked like a sieve. The entire bottom of our mattress was soaked – for the whole trip. We tried to prop the mattress up to dry it out but when it’s raining non-stop there’s not a lot of drying happening.
I see they no longer have windows upfront. Good for them!
We just rented a Cruise America Ford motorhome a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, these days they only buy Thor Class Cs on Ford E chassis-cabs. So Winnebago quality (despite Tommy’s Cruise America experience 40 years ago) is no longer there. We even got a partial refund due to the number of items that I had to purchase and repair during only a week of travel. Although, to be honest, we only rented it because it was one of CA’s $39/night “drive this Class C to Mesa for reconditioning and sale” specials and we were heading to Tucson for our regular snowbirding stay. Our CA unit was going to need a whole lot of “reconditioning”!
But we are very happy with the build quality of our new-to-us Winnebago Sprinter Class C. And, Tommy, it has no front window above the over-cab bed!
First, no 24′ rig is going to fit in a standard parking space, for that you have to go down to a 21′ van.
I don’t get the advantage of this unit but we all have our own tastes. My Transit based B+ is 24′ long, 7′ 7″ wide It has a 3.7 liter V6, It uses regular gas and has been fantastic for handling and mpg. It fits in 1.3 parking spaces, so any double row works fine.
The Minnie Winnie is wider at 8′ 5.5 inches. With that width you can only use end-of-rows or truck parking areas. It has a for-most-people useless cab bed, and the dreaded U-shape dinette more suitable for a bigger rig. If you are a couple with kids who love climbing to a cab bed, and are after those features, go for it, but the Transit wins overall.
Both our 6’4″ son and two of our grandkids have used our over-cab bed in the Sprinter that we have had for less than a year. Because we have theater seats and no dinette, that is the only “guest bed” we have. When we don’t have guests, it’s where we keep the laundry basket, coats, hats, insulating window covers for the windshield, etc.
And, until this spring, the Sprinter was more economical than any gas-engine Class C because, at least in Colorado and surrounding states, diesel was cheaper than regular gas. Now, well, not so much!
That may not be the absolute worst interior layout, but it gets real close.
A bed you can use without sliding it out. An absolute useless dinette. An antiquated chassis and drive train.
No thanks.
UVW is unpublished? STAY AWAY!
Better yet, why publish an RV review with incomplete or misleading data? IMHO