Overview
Much like our Dutch Star and Essex, we love this motorhome. The London Aire is based on a Freightliner SL600 chassis, which features all disc brakes, independent front suspension, a Cummins 600 HP 14.6 liter ISX engine, Comfort Drive and tri-mode exhaust brakes. In addition, this chassis has a passive steer tag axle, which means the tag axle steers in the opposite direction of the front axle to achieve a tighter turning radius. We bought our 2019 leftover London Aire, floor plan 4579, off the lot so we did not get to chose options.
Our 2019 London Aire at the dealer’s lot
Floor plan of our London Aire 4579, we have 2 recliners and a table instead of the sofa on the driver’s side
Things We Like
- It has the individual switches for fans/lights/etc as the change to the multi-function single control panels happened in 2020.
- It has a floor plan we like, 4579, which includes two recliners and a larger walk-in closet area that includes the washer and dryer and a linen/storage closet.
- We like the brown leather color of the furniture.
The interior of our London Aire
- Being a left over 2019 coach, when 2021’s were beginning to arrive on the lots, we got a great markdown price. Also, RV sales are booming this year and we were offered more for our 2020 New Aire than expected as they are “in need of used coaches” for inventory
- Sufficient closet space for full timers. In the bedroom, Karla loves the large rear closet with shelving and shoe cubbies, in addition to all the drawers and cabinets. And in the kitchen there is a large pantry that easily holds all of our dry goods. Other drawers and cabinets hold everything else.
- Large exterior cargo capacity. Newmar does not publish this number, but I’m guessing it’s around 180 cu ft. We loaded tons of stuff and we still have plenty of room.
- Electrically heated floors.
- ISX engine. 1950 lb-ft of torque @ 1200 rpm sure gets 50,000 pounds of RV moving quickly.
- Silverleaf monitoring system. One central place to monitor and control most features on the coach. There are two monitors (one above the driver’s seat and one in the bedroom)
The Silverleaf system controls all coach functions
- Autofill fresh water system. This just means you click a button when connected to city water and your fresh water tank fills to 100% and then stops. No more checking the water level every minute and then running out to turn off the water supply.
Things We Like Less:
- I’m not a fan of our London Aire’s floor tiles (cream colored and shiny), but I can live with it for the price
- The slide out seal that ties the floor together when the slide is extended is light colored and will be hard to keep clean (already looks dirty)
- One weird thing about this floor plan is that the door to the closet is not kept closed when driving down the road
- I think we could have ongoing issues with the hydraulic steps that are supposed to stop extending when they sense things (see below under Early Issues)
- I personally prefer to sit in a booth dinette, but the table and chair option offers significantly more storage and counter space
- It came with the Whirlpool microwave/convection oven (see Early Modification below)
Early Issues on the London Aire:
- Since picking up the London Aire from the dealer in Missouri, the hydraulic entrance steps hit a curb when we stopped to fuel the first time and broke. The sensor that is supposed to stop them failed and part of the steel was bent. They function enough to get in/out and drive.
- The night shade next to the driver seat fell and hit Mike in the head while he was driving. I had to get up and extract it from the driver area while he drove. He was able to reinstall it.
- There were several cracked floor tiles which we will get fixed at a warranty trip to Newmar (documentation was sent in by the dealer) with any other issues that arise.
Early Modifications to our London Aire:
- Mike added My Rozie, which allows remote monitoring and control of the RV in conjunction with Silverleaf. We had this in both of our New Aires and used it a lot.
- We swapped out the standard Whirlpool microwave/convection oven for a GE Advantium. This included uninstalling the Whirlpool, adding a piece of plywood to install the GE further front (it’s shorter front to back) so it lines up with cabinets, and then installing the GE. Our experience with the Whirlpool is that as a convection oven, it heats up far slower than the GE and also has difficulty reaching temperatures over 375 degrees. Also, the Whirlpool’s glass turntable bounces around when driving down the road which causes cracking unless wrapping it in a towel every time you drive, while the GE’s stays in place
- We added a Universal Toll Module
