Frontier V6
I got to demo the Frontier V6 AT version on Saturday. This chair was recommended pretty highly on several user forums, but I was really skeptical about it primarily because of its mid-wheel drive and its footprint size.
At first impression I have to say I am impressed. It was a very comfortable driving chair. I guess that is due to the low psi atv style tires and the shock springs on all the wheels. It had a lot of the features I am looking for; Flip up arm rests, center mount foot board, 4 pole motors with plenty of torque, group 24 batteries, and a decent 12" elevation height.
It looked to be built pretty solidly most exposed screw heads were stainless steel and the electronics were not exposed like most chairs. I don't think washing off the tires with a garden hose would cause any problems.
Riding it outdoors was almost as good as the IBot. I took it in and out of a pretty steep rocky ditch in my front yard without a problem and felt fairly confident It could handle more without getting stuck. Other mid wheel chairs I have ridden in the past would get stuck in a heartbeat, the drive wheel would hit a slight hole and the casters would actually hold you there. The Frontier was a bit different, the casters would freely move up and down and actually help you get over obstacles. The representative told me it would do a 4" curb, I tried it on a 3" one and it didn't even break a sweat.
The factory programming on the controller was not bad at all I would only want a few adjustments made to it. I ran it full speed down a hill and did notice the rear caster shimmy a bit, on a flat surface it didn't do this. Its speed seemed ok, nothing to do hand stands about but it was about what I'm use to. Probably a bit more than 6mph. Torque in the lower gears is pretty good.
Indoors was a bit tricky, It is over 2" wider that my current chair and it has a lot more real estate in the back too. With the width at 28" and length with foot rest at 48", this is a big chair. It made it on my ramp in the van with about an inch to spare. However, it took me everywhere in my house without a problem. I am chalking this up to the mid-wheel design because I know if my current rear wheel chair was that long no way in hell could I get to the back two bedrooms. There is a skinny hallway that has to be maneuvered through. Needless to say I was amazed that it did it.
This chair could work for me, I do have some concerns though. The seat sits very high making it difficult to get under tables, the joystick is swing away but it has all the controls and display forward of the actual stick making it a few inches longer than needed and even when swung back it was still in the way. Another big concern is the width of it. Not sure if I could get use to it or not. My pore door frames have had a pretty good bit of abuse and I think that would get worse. However, the rep that let me demo it also showed that it can switch to a skinnier drive tire fairly quickly. They even provide a jack for it.
I have one more chair to demo - The Bounder Plus on an H frame then I will decide. I do want to thank BM for recommending this chair. I would have never tried it otherwise, I'm really glad I did.