Any info on 2018 Ventena LE's?

[Gamaliel Kid]

I love my new Ventana LE, however, the few things I would like to change if I could is the Engine size and front axle. Does anyone know if Newmar is planning on offering the 400 engine and IFS axle on their 40 foot models in 2018. I think if they did it would make the LE the best entry coach on the market without question if they did. I would certainly be a candidate for that coach.

[newmarpusher]

Originally Posted by Gamaliel Kid

I love my new Ventana LE, however, the few things I would like to change if I could is the Engine size and front axle. Does anyone know if Newmar is planning on offering the 400 engine and IFS axle on their 40 foot models in 2018. I think if they did it would make the LE the best entry coach on the market without question if they did. I would certainly be a candidate for that coach.

I seriously doubt it.

Moving up to a Ventana (rather than LE) will get you the 400.

Moving up to the Dutch Star will get you IFS.

Both key features for model differentiation.

[TomandGloria]

Originally Posted by newmarpusher

I seriously doubt it.

Moving up to a Ventana (rather than LE) will get you the 400.

Moving up to the Dutch Star will get you IFS.

Both key features for model differentiation.

X2, I think that is what helps distinguish between the model lines

[tom chelbana]

Maybe the Spartan chassis on the Ventana in 19?

[snowhawk2]

Originally Posted by Gamaliel Kid

I love my new Ventana LE, however, the few things I would like to change if I could is the Engine size and front axle. Does anyone know if Newmar is planning on offering the 400 engine and IFS axle on their 40 foot models in 2018. I think if they did it would make the LE the best entry coach on the market without question if they did. I would certainly be a candidate for that coach.

I have talked with several key guys at Newmar as to why engine sizes aren't an option with Newmar and they said it won't happen. It has to do with marketing and product line distinction, and the way they order the chasis from Freighliner and how the chasis fit with each line of coaches.


I'm curious what your dissatisfaction with the 360 ISB? We had a 2016 Ventana LE 4037 and we towed a 2015 Ford F 150 and we had no problems and plenty of power with the 3000MH transmission. Would an ISL 380 been a better option I think so but we were very satisfied with the 360 ISB.

If the IFS was ever offered below the DS line I expect it would go to the Ventana line versus the LE line. My belief is that the LE is the best entry coach in the diesel market already! I like your ideas though for the LE line and would love to see Newmar do them.

[Gamaliel Kid]

Snowhawk, thanks for your post. I am very happy with the coach. On my trip home I couldn't get the coach to go much over 70 and it has a very slow acceleration from start and in lower speeds - which means it takes more time and you need more space to merge safely on an interstate. This last trip, I drove on flat Florida rodes and had the coach with most things we will have in it and the DW. We towed our CRV and it did great and I got the coach running in the high 70's before I backed off. That makes me feel like it may do better than I originally thought. I probably should do a run into the mountains to see how well the engine performs before I decide to go larger. I really like the mileage. It appears to be running somewhere between 9 and 10 miles per gallon. I have been focusing on running the coach at 1800 rpm - which on flat lands translated into 66 mph or so. I have put 110 gallons of fuel in the coach and have driven around 1200 miles and ran the generator for 22 hours. I think it will take another 30 gallons of fuel to fill it back to the top. We all know you have to drive several tanks to get close to the real numbers as one tank can be short 10 gallons from being full. Heck, I don't even know if the coach was full when I took off in it - it registered full, but the gauge didn't move much for 100 miles when I filled it up the first time. But 1200 miles on 140 gallons of fuel would be 8.6 miles per gallon. If you figure .5 gallon per ginny hour, then the mileage would be 9.4.
My 405 cummins on mountain master chassis got about 6.5 miles - so quite a difference on that. I use one container of DEF so far and it is reading full at the moment.

Hope this helps others looking for this kind of info.

[snowhawk2]

Originally Posted by Gamaliel Kid

Snowhawk, thanks for your post. I am very happy with the coach. On my trip home I couldn't get the coach to go much over 70 and it has a very slow acceleration from start and in lower speeds - which means it takes more time and you need more space to merge safely on an interstate. This last trip, I drove on flat Florida rodes and had the coach with most things we will have in it and the DW. We towed our CRV and it did great and I got the coach running in the high 70's before I backed off. That makes me feel like it may do better than I originally thought. I probably should do a run into the mountains to see how well the engine performs before I decide to go larger. I really like the mileage. It appears to be running somewhere between 9 and 10 miles per gallon. I have been focusing on running the coach at 1800 rpm - which on flat lands translated into 66 mph or so. I have put 110 gallons of fuel in the coach and have driven around 1200 miles and ran the generator for 22 hours. I think it will take another 30 gallons of fuel to fill it back to the top. We all know you have to drive several tanks to get close to the real numbers as one tank can be short 10 gallons from being full. Heck, I don't even know if the coach was full when I took off in it - it registered full, but the gauge didn't move much for 100 miles when I filled it up the first time. But 1200 miles on 140 gallons of fuel would be 8.6 miles per gallon. If you figure .5 gallon per ginny hour, then the mileage would be 9.4.
My 405 cummins on mountain master chassis got about 6.5 miles - so quite a difference on that. I use one container of DEF so far and it is reading full at the moment.

Hope this helps others looking for this kind of info.

It sounds like your experience with the engine and coach is a bit better. We never had trouble getting it over 70 if we wanted to and no doubt flatter terrain allowed the engine to perform better. Your fuel economy with the engine and transmission is excellent. We did a trip from MA to FL, 2500 miles towing our F150, and our lie o meter on the dash said 9.4 MPG. We consistently got readings between 8.8 and 9.8 depending on the terrain. We couldn't have asked for better mpg. The transmission does shift quite a bit when going over hills and I agree that coach would benefit from a 380 hp engine for sure but we were happy with its overall performance. We have a 6 mile Mountian on the MA pike that we could maintain 65 going up and over with no problem with pretty good performance but it did downshift to 4th gear. When we traded the coach it had 20,000 miles on it and the performance just kept getting better and better so stay tuned.

Having said all of that, here is a big twist. We traded our LE for a Ventana 4322 with the ISL 400 hp. That turned out to be a huge upgrade in power plants. Our LE weighted in at 33k and our Ventana at 38K, both fully loaded. But the 400 HP performs so much better having 1,250 ft lbs of torque. It just chugs along and handles the weight of the coach much better. For example, when we do the 6 mile Mountian the 400 hp holds 65 without downshifting! We hit the crest in 6 gear!!! We have been amazed at the power transfer through this power plant and 3000mh Allison. The Ventana has turned out to be much more of an upgrade than we originally thought. The mpg is lower coming in around 8.5 to 9.0 but the motor only has 3000 miles on it so we expect improvement.

If you want to talk about this further shoot me a PM with your phone number and I'll reach out.