The Safari Cheetah

This type A diesel-pusher motorhome offers quality and luxury at an affordable price.

By Lazelle D. Jones

Now in its second generation of design, the Safari Cheetah embodies the quality expected in a type A diesel pusher. The 2002 Cheetah comes fully loaded, with only a few options and upgrades available. Yet, with an average base suggested retail price of $140,000, this motorhome includes appointments and amenities that often are found only in more expensive coaches.

All of this has not occurred simply by chance. With the Cheetah, Safari designers bridged what was once a significant price gap between top-of-the-line gasoline motorhomes and entry-level diesel pusher motor coaches. With the Cheetah, the pricing difference between the two has made owning a diesel-powered coach more affordable.

The Safari Cheetah comes in two lengths: 35 feet 9 inches and 37 feet 7 inches. Wheelbase measurements are 178 inches and 228 inches, respectively. Both coaches are 102 inches wide, with an exterior height of 11 feet 8 inches and an interior height of 6 feet 8 inches. The shorter Cheetah boasts 77 cubic feet of exterior storage; the longer model has 126 cubic feet of storage space.

All Cheetahs are designed in a bus-style front-door format with an exterior electric step that extends and retracts when the main entry door is opened and closed.

The foundation of the Cheetah is a full-size diesel pusher chassis, the Magnum M-Series Blue Max. This chassis has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 29,500 pounds and a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 34,500 pounds.

The Cheetah is powered by a Caterpillar 3126B turbocharged fully electronic diesel engine that develops 330 horsepower at 2,200 rpm and yields 860 foot-pounds of torque at 1,440 rpm. The engine is mated with an Allison 3000MH 6-speed electronic transmission, which includes two overdrives.

The construction process used to build the Safari Cheetah employs an innovative yet proven technique called box-off construction. What this means is that the house part of the motorhome is built separate from the chassis. The walls, floor, and roof are attached to one another; then the cabinetry, interior walls, furniture, carpet, windows and window coverings, furnace and ducting, and virtually everything else is installed. When the house portion is complete, it is then hoisted onto the Magnum chassis and secured. Why is the Cheetah built using the box-off method? First, it gives Cheetah engineers a much truer-fitting coach by allowing them to build a very square, solid housing unit. It also makes the construction process safer and more efficient.

The floor, walls, and roof feature block-foam insulation that is precision-cut to fit into the aluminum framework. The infrastructure of the walls and roof are welded aluminum. The interior surface of the walls consists of vinyl-covered wallboard, and aircraft-grade aluminum covers the exterior. Together the interior and exterior surfaces are laminated to the insulation and aluminum framing, creating a strong structure. The roof, walls, and floor are vacuum-bonded for additional strength.

A single sheet of seamless polymer RV 2000 roofing material covers the roof, which is curved to facilitate moisture runoff. The front and rear caps are made of molded fiberglass. To augment the thermal efficiencies built into the Cheetah’s walls, roof, and floor, double-pane GL-20 insulated windows are used throughout the coach. The exterior basement and holding tank compartments are heated, making the Cheetah a motorhome for all seasons.

Standard on the Cheetah is a street-side dinette-sofa slideout room. It can be enjoyed either with a freestanding table and four full-size chairs, or the more traditional bench-style dinette as an option. The Cheetah's front slideout measures 26 inches deep and 12 feet long. To accommodate this larger slideout, additional structural reinforcement is added.

The slideout mechanism for the dinette-sofa slideout is a combination hydraulic and electric system. The hydraulic arms extend and retract the slideout, while the rack-and-pinion gears ensure that the slideout moves evenly and smoothly in both directions. Each slideout room roof is contoured to facilitate water runoff, precluding the need for topper awnings. Squeegee-type rubber blades remove moisture from the exterior sides of the slideout walls when they are retracted, while a thick, pliable, automotive-type crush bulb seals the slideout in both the extended and retracted positions.

A three-point hydraulic leveling system by RVA is standard on the Cheetah.

To control the climate inside, the Cheetah includes a 40,000-Btu forced-air LP-gas furnace and two Dometic roof air conditioners that are centrally ducted. For coach power, the auxiliary generator is a 6.3-kilowatt Onan LP-gas unit. An optional 7.5-kilowatt Onan Quiet Diesel generator also is offered. The coach is equipped with a 50-amp shore power cord with an automatic power transfer switch. A 6-gallon LP-gas water heater is standard. The fresh, gray, and black water holding tank capacities are 100 gallons, 55 gallons, and 55 gallons, respectively. The diesel fuel tank holds 88 gallons and fills on the driver’s side of the coach.

Three décor groups are offered on the Cheetah. Plush carpeting is used throughout. The countertops in the galley and bath are Genovese solid-surface material with integrated sinks. The windows are shaded by mini-blinds, and all windows are surrounded by fabric-covered lambrequins and valances.

Standard galley features include an Atwood three-burner cook top, a microwave-convection oven, and an 8-cubic-foot Dometic refrigerator-freezer. An optional 12-cubic-foot, side-by-side refrigerator with ice maker is available as well. A pantry sits aft of the slideout room. Adjacent to the standard-size refrigerator is a second and very large pantry, but this pantry is lost when the optional refrigerator is added. From front to rear, in every area inside the Cheetah, alder hardwood cabinetry with a golden cherry stain is used. Alder is a lightweight wood with a tight grain that’s impervious to humidity. It can be stained and milled into beautiful tones and shapes.

The bathroom floor plan is both efficient and pleasing. It features a center-aisle entry from the forward areas on all Cheetah floor plans. However, the 35-foot units have center-aisle exits into the rear bedroom, while the 37-foot coach exits into the bedroom on the curb side. All bathrooms feature a private water closet, with a Thetford marine-style toilet. All floor plans include a place for an optional washer and dryer.

In the bedroom, two floor plans feature a queen-size island bed.

For more information, contact Safari Motor Coaches, a division of Monaco Coach Corporation, 91320 Industrial Way, Coburg, OR 97408; (800) 458-8735; www.safarimotorcoaches.com

Family Motor Coaching periodically publishes "Coach Update" articles, which detail the features of a new or redesigned motorhome model. These articles are not full-length reviews. Rather, they are intended to augment the motorhome reviews that regularly appear in FMC. When preparing a "Coach Update," the writer does not take a motorhome out for an extended test; thus, these articles do not contain opinions on livability, design features, or performance. They also do not contain coach specifications, since they focus on the model in general rather than one particular unit.