Just How Well Will The Allegro Breeze Do on Hills?

[RogueRVer]

To any current Allegro Breeze Owners:

I'll keep this question short....

How well does your Allegro Breeze perform when going over mountain ranges?

I live in Eastern Washington and am still strongly considering getting an Allegro Breeze (ATM, it fits my needs vs others) but have heard it lacks having significant 'ummph'...to get over some of the higher mountain ranges that often have to be traversed when Cross-Country traveling...

Thoughts/Opinions are greatly appreciated!


RogueRVer

[MONGO MAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogueRVer To any current Allegro Breeze Owners: I'll keep this question short.... How well does your Allegro Breeze perform when going over mountain ranges? I live in Eastern Washington and am still strongly considering getting an Allegro Breeze (ATM, it fits my needs vs others) but have heard it lacks having significant 'ummph'...to get over some of the higher mountain ranges that often have to be traversed when Cross-Country traveling... Thoughts/Opinions are greatly appreciated! RogueRVer

If you can afford it go with the Cummins powered alegro RED 34 (Rear Engine Diesel)35K list more than the Breeze 32

[Sumar]

We have the Tiffin Breeze 32, but are from the east coast.
We don't have mountains, but steep hills of Virginia, Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Maine, etc.
As to date, which has only been since late July, we have not had any difficulty going from Mississippi to NY, or Wisconcin, Michigan to NY.
While it might not have the "oomph" the RED may have, we were happy with the way it handled. We tow a Saturn Aura, which is about 3400 pounds. At times it did slow to 50mph but mostly kept its 62-65 mph speed.
However I don't want to mislead you...so....

There is a gal that comes from California who has the 32 Breeze, whom I know has taken quite a long trip this past summer...hopefully she will chime in.
BTWm have you visited the Tiffin Board?
A Part of the TiffinRVNetwork • Index page
They are very helpful there and I'm sure you will get lots of answers.

Good luck with your search. We also considered the RED, but felt the Breeze was a better buy for us at this time.

[RogueRVer]

Sumar:

Thanks so much for the feedback...really appreciate it!
I'm still still weighing the many decisions on which MH to purchase, but your positive feedback has given me the ability to continue considering the Breeze!

Thanks again!

[kannonvaggon]

I might be way off base, but IMHO the lack of engine/ exhaust braking is more of a big deal in the mountains than the moderate engine torque.
That's JMHO....

Steep slopes can be travelled without engine brakes, but you need to stay ahead of the coach and get it slowed up well early, and be very careful to not cook yer service brakes or cause undue heating of the toad brakes , etc....

The Breeze is a spiffy little coach. I got to check one out and thought it was nice, BUT I didn't care for it not having a proper engine brake AND the transmission programming left a lot to be desired.

It's my understanding that the tranny issues are now getting resolved with software updates AND there is a rumor that the next year's Breeze may have an optional exhaust brake system. That would be a must-have option in MY book.

I'm jus sayin...

I'm used to driving a much different type of coach, but the Breeze is a very nice coach for what IT is meant to be.... except for that brake thing...

[Sumar]

Kannonvaggon....yes I see your point re: the exhaust brakes.
I too was used to driving a 40ft.DP (our first Motor home) before we downsized to the Breeze.
We did have the exhaust brakes then and were not sure how we would like the Breeze with a smaller engine and no exhaust brakes.
So far so good, however we have not traveled out west to the Rockies yet. Just the Appalacian Mts. and Pocono Mountains (which some consider hills I'm sure).
I was hoping the Breeze owners who live out west or who have traveled there could give him a more accurate answer than I could regarding their travels.
But you bring up a good point...and since he is from the west should take that into consideration.
However, I would not take anything for granted re: future Breeze features. "They" said a new motor for 2012..don't think that happened as yet as they still have some of the 2011 model engines left..plus they said the bigger engine would need a bigger radiator and there was no room for it.
Also said the 2012 were not going to have the Schwentek slides anymore, actually Tiffin didn't say that I think it was rumor maybe, as the 2012 model I saw had the same slides.
But features change all the time without notice. Hopefully the exhaust brakes will come to fruition and maybe even the Hadley horns instead of the "bicycle" horn that is used now.
So far we love our Breeze........

[dbreeze]

We drove our Breeze 28 3500 miles this summer from LA to British Columbia and back, towing a Honda CRV. We went up route 395 thru the Sierras in Northern California, then highway 97 thru Oregon, Washington, and BC. The whole route has some pretty long, steep climbs. There were 2 places where our uphill speed dropped to 39, but we went up most hills at 50. One of the slower climbs was a few sections of a 12 mile 6% grade in BC. The coolant and transmission temperatures only rose a few degrees throught these climbs.

Downhill was not a problem. As they say, go downhill at the same speed you go uphill. We would start downhill at 50 mph in 4th gear, braking periodically to keep the RPM below 2600. Never had to shift to 3rd, but the steepest grade was only 7%.

We are very happy with the Breeze. It rides well, steers straight, and we always felt safe going up and down hill. We do have a Safe-T plus system installed.

Diane

[Sumar]

Thanks Diane.

[RogueRVer]

Thank you all so much for your valuable feedback!
(Damn! I love this forum! )

As for the engine break...wow! I can't even believe I didn't think of that...that does make a difference, but sounds as if others who are using their Breeze in much the same way as I would, aren't having such a problem with that..but I'll keep that in the back of my mind for future consideration!

Again...thank you ALL for your feedback!

Cheers...

[MONGO MAN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogueRVer Thank you all so much for your valuable feedback! (Damn! I love this forum! ) As for the engine break...wow! I can't even believe I didn't think of that...that does make a difference, but sounds as if others who are using their Breeze in much the same way as I would, aren't having such a problem with that..but I'll keep that in the back of my mind for future consideration! Again...thank you ALL for your feedback! Cheers...

If you think you dont need an engine brake visit West Virginia particularly I -64 east of Beckley.WV DOT requires all large vehicles to stop at a special rest area & conduct a manditory brake check.--Yes it is enforced! as the DOT Police are in the rest stop.When you see a lot of RUNNOFFS (dead end lanes full of deep sand to stop runaway vehicles )you know to be extra carefull.
I have a class A coach -only weighs 23000 Lbs with full engine brake-air brakes & not towing-even with downshifting, the downgrade there requires some service brake application to keep the speed down.Remember you only 4-5 good service breake applications before they get hot and loose their effective stopping power.Grades are generally steeper East of the Mississippi but higher in the west.

[Sumar]

Thanks for the heads up Mondo

[RogueRVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sumar Thanks for the heads up Mondo

Ditto here!

Nice to know this type of information BEFORE making my final decision!
Guess whether or not I ever plan on visiting WV will need to be taken into consideration on which MH I plan on purchasing!

Decisions...Decisions...Decisions...!

[padre153]

Will chime in with my experience with my new 2012 32 BR. First trip was to Santa Fe. No problems with uphill torque or down hill braking. This trip is from Texas to Franklin, NC. There is a stretch about 12 miles long south of 1-40 with 6, 7, and 8% grades. With mountain driving experience in my previous coaches (started in early 80's with a GMC Royale) I used my usual technique of "same speed down as up." One stretch has a 35 mph recommended speed for trucks. I gave an extra 20 mph, 4th gear, and still had problems. By the time I reached the end of the down hill run my brakes were boiling smoke, even with "slow down, let it build, slow down" technique. However, I still had good braking power when we finally were able to pull off. (I never stop on a runaway truck ramp....last thing I want is an 18 wheeler visiting my back door!) Going on to Asheville, I was super cautious...2nd and 3rd gear....with no problems. Had brake drums pulled to make sure I hadn't glazed the pads. To Tiffin's credit, they looked like they were brand new.
Conversations with Mr. Tiffin are underway, but as of now the results are that Navistar doesn't have an exhaust brake for the 7, and doesn't plan one. Allison has a transmission retarder that will fit the 1000 MH, but it is on the outside of the transmission and is too large to retro-fit to the Breeze chassis. He's supposed to talk with his Allison distributor to see if there are other options. Supposed to call me back as soon as he finds out anything.

[gkgeiger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by padre153 Will chime in with my experience with my new 2012 32 BR. First trip was to Santa Fe. No problems with uphill torque or down hill braking. This trip is from Texas to Franklin, NC. There is a stretch about 12 miles long south of 1-40 with 6, 7, and 8% grades. With mountain driving experience in my previous coaches (started in early 80's with a GMC Royale) I used my usual technique of "same speed down as up." One stretch has a 35 mph recommended speed for trucks. I gave an extra 20 mph, 4th gear, and still had problems. By the time I reached the end of the down hill run my brakes were boiling smoke, even with "slow down, let it build, slow down" technique. However, I still had good braking power when we finally were able to pull off. (I never stop on a runaway truck ramp....last thing I want is an 18 wheeler visiting my back door!) Going on to Asheville, I was super cautious...2nd and 3rd gear....with no problems. Had brake drums pulled to make sure I hadn't glazed the pads. To Tiffin's credit, they looked like they were brand new. Conversations with Mr. Tiffin are underway, but as of now the results are that Navistar doesn't have an exhaust brake for the 7, and doesn't plan one. Allison has a transmission retarder that will fit the 1000 MH, but it is on the outside of the transmission and is too large to retro-fit to the Breeze chassis. He's supposed to talk with his Allison distributor to see if there are other options. Supposed to call me back as soon as he finds out anything.

This situation has me very concerned, since my 32 will be here in a couple of months. Lack of power and poor braking is not good. I'm coming from a unit (Itasca Navion Sprinter 3.0L diesel) with half the weight and less then half the engine. I never had to down shift in the mountains either going up or down. I talked with the chassis mgr. at Tiffin before ordering and asked why the low HP and was told that the cooling system wouldn't handle any more power. So I read evrything I could on the forums and decided it would be alright, now I'm wondering if I made a mistake. I was also considering the Vesta which has 300HP and an exhaust brake. Well, it's too late now.