2008 Phaeton

[Oh-one]

I am looking at a 08 Phaeton brochure and the engine for the 42QRH on a Spartan chassis is the ISC 8.3l 360hp/1050 ft.lbs. Is this enough engine for the 42ft. coach? The Bus has a 400hp. The GCWR = 52600lbs. for the Phaeton, that is a lot for a 360Hp.

[Oh-one]

I am looking at a 08 Phaeton brochure and the engine for the 42QRH on a Spartan chassis is the ISC 8.3l 360hp/1050 ft.lbs. Is this enough engine for the 42ft. coach? The Bus has a 400hp. The GCWR = 52600lbs. for the Phaeton, that is a lot for a 360Hp.

[RV Wizard]

I would want the 400 ISL or 500 ISM for a 42' coach.

[Joe-K]

We debated long and hard between puchasing the Phaeton 42QRH or the Bus 42QRP until Tiffin introduced the Bus 43QRP which has a floorplan similiar to the 42QRH which we liked. What held us off from ordering the Phaeton in the first place was the same concern you had over the engine but really, it isn't as bad as the numbers sound.

The 52,600 GCWR of the Phaeton sounds like a lot of weight for a 360HP engine, until you start to look at the numbers. In reality, there's no way, you'll ever approach even 45,000 GCWR with the rig unless you plan on towing a big stacker trailer.

The Phaetons unloaded vehicle weight is 32,142 pounds which is carried very nicely by the 42,600 lb chassis. You've got tons of carrying capacity...and I mean multiple tons.

Most likely a travel weight for the Phaeton is going to be around 36,000 lbs and if you're towing a car weighing at 4,000 you're going to be running a combined weight around 40,000.

While 360 HP for 40,000 is a little on the low side, the 1050 torque is pretty stout, and should perform pretty well. As always though, the best advice regarding performance is going to come from the seat of your own pants Take the rig out for a test drive and see how it does.

[Cruzer]

I toyed with that same question when the '07 42QRH first came out. It had a 350 HP ISL with 1,050 ft-lbs of torque.

I have the Silverleaf VMS-240 computer system in my 42QRP. It gives readouts of torque, horsepower, and percent load. I did some test runs in my Bus (which is heavier) and noted the readings. My findings were that I rarely exceeed 1,100 ft-lbs of torque, and that was on extreme grades. Horsepower was even better I rarelt exceeded 370 HP on steep extended grades and generally 335 HP was plenty. So, while the Bus with the 400 or 425 ISL does have a few more ponies, as well as an extra 150 ft-lbs of torque, the ISC 360 is more than adequate to handle the task.

If you are pulling unusually heavy loads or do lots of western mountain driving the ISL with jake brake would be of benefit to you, but it's not needed to get the job done.