New Diesel Cl A & C ?

[max49]

This was posted in the Workhorse section of the forum.
I find it interesting because the high cost of gas and costing me $.50 per mile to drive has got me looking at the Winnebago View as an alternative.
Since IMO , you get more for the money with Damon, this may be a better alternative.
If you're not an insider, you can't get much info from 'RV Business" magazine so does any one else have info as to what chassis and engine will be in their Cl C?




Posted March 30, 2008 05:01 PM Hide Post
RV Business posted this article:

BREAKING NEWS
Damon Designs Shorter, Fuel-Efficient Class A
Bob Ashley
RV Business
Friday, March 28, 2008

Damon Motor Coach in late spring will introduce a relatively short 31 1/2-foot, European-inspired front-engine Avanti Class A diesel motorhome built on a 16,000-GVWR Workhorse W-42 commercial truck chassis that emphasizes fuel economy.

"Our goal is to get 15 miles per gallon,"� said Bill Fenech, president of the Elkhart, Ind., subsidiary of Thor Industries Inc. "That's a huge difference from what Class A motorhomes are getting now."�

The planned Avanti and Del-Ray – Damon's first Class C motorhome also in development – are expected to be introduced to dealers in May as a hedge against a soft market that has prompted layoffs at Damon and a number of other U.S. RV manufacturers.

"It's not a secret the RV industry is off on shipments and retail sales," said Fenech, whose company is following through with plans to set up Del-Ray production in a dedicated Elkhart plant. "We needed to match our rate of production to the market.''

The Avanti, with a yacht-like interior and a sloped front end similar to profiles more popular today in Europe, will have one slideout and eventually be offered in two or three floorplans – none longer than 32 feet.

The suspension on the W-42 chassis has been modified to afford better driveability, Fenech said. "We've done several things to create better aerodynamics,"� he added, noting that outside consultants were brought into help streamline the Avanti.

"Fuel economy is a hot topic and Europe has been in the fuel-economy business for quite awhile,'' Fenech said. "We hope to do for the Class A market what the (German-built) Sprinter did for the Class C market."�

15 MPG sure sounds nice, maybe I could afford to drive the camper again.
The price of gas is sure not doing any thing for our resale value tho.

[max49]

This was posted in the Workhorse section of the forum.
I find it interesting because the high cost of gas and costing me $.50 per mile to drive has got me looking at the Winnebago View as an alternative.
Since IMO , you get more for the money with Damon, this may be a better alternative.
If you're not an insider, you can't get much info from 'RV Business" magazine so does any one else have info as to what chassis and engine will be in their Cl C?




Posted March 30, 2008 05:01 PM Hide Post
RV Business posted this article:

BREAKING NEWS
Damon Designs Shorter, Fuel-Efficient Class A
Bob Ashley
RV Business
Friday, March 28, 2008

Damon Motor Coach in late spring will introduce a relatively short 31 1/2-foot, European-inspired front-engine Avanti Class A diesel motorhome built on a 16,000-GVWR Workhorse W-42 commercial truck chassis that emphasizes fuel economy.

"Our goal is to get 15 miles per gallon,"� said Bill Fenech, president of the Elkhart, Ind., subsidiary of Thor Industries Inc. "That's a huge difference from what Class A motorhomes are getting now."�

The planned Avanti and Del-Ray – Damon's first Class C motorhome also in development – are expected to be introduced to dealers in May as a hedge against a soft market that has prompted layoffs at Damon and a number of other U.S. RV manufacturers.

"It's not a secret the RV industry is off on shipments and retail sales," said Fenech, whose company is following through with plans to set up Del-Ray production in a dedicated Elkhart plant. "We needed to match our rate of production to the market.''

The Avanti, with a yacht-like interior and a sloped front end similar to profiles more popular today in Europe, will have one slideout and eventually be offered in two or three floorplans – none longer than 32 feet.

The suspension on the W-42 chassis has been modified to afford better driveability, Fenech said. "We've done several things to create better aerodynamics,"� he added, noting that outside consultants were brought into help streamline the Avanti.

"Fuel economy is a hot topic and Europe has been in the fuel-economy business for quite awhile,'' Fenech said. "We hope to do for the Class A market what the (German-built) Sprinter did for the Class C market."�

15 MPG sure sounds nice, maybe I could afford to drive the camper again.
The price of gas is sure not doing any thing for our resale value tho.

[Chandler]

Hi Max! This looks promising. I'm pleased to see that Damon is doing something about their future. If I worked for them, I would be happy.

Still, for me, the cost of fuel is not that big of a deal. I usually stay withing an hour or so of my house, and stay for an extended time. In the spring and late fall, we go to a campground 8 miles from here. Even if gas were to rise to $5 a gallon, it wouldn't affect me much. Last year my total cost for fuel was around $600. Now, if I were to do a lot of travelling, that would be different. Furtunately (or unfortunately) I don't yet. If and when I do, I'll have to rethink things.
I spent 15 years boating. (and camping in the spring and fall) My last boat, a 36 foot Carver Mariner averaged 10 gallons of gas an hour at 10 knots...30 gallons an hour at 15 knots...and 60 gallons an hour at 25. (I avoided that speed!)My last trip before I sold it was to Boothbay harbor in Maine. I left Amesbury Mass, went out the mouth of the river and up the coast. We were gone 10 days, had the best time of my life visiting islands and seeing incredible sights. When I added up what I spent in fuel for those 10 days, I was shocked to see that I spent $1700.Fuel was $2.10 a gallon then. After I bought by Damon, I made a trip to Camden Maine...almost the same place, and spent $70 in fuel Looking at that in that perspective, my Damon is an economy car!
I used to take all my snow plowing and overtime money and put it in a separate account to pay for my slip and fuel. Don't have to do that any more!

Chandler

[max49]

I wonder what kind of Cl C Damon will use with a diesel engine.
I've got a 21' boat too. I can see where a MH would be more economical if we did'nt have to cram 800 mile trips into a 3 day weekend.

[Bagman57]

My hat is off to Damon, at least they have the guts to try something new and exciting. This could very well pay off big time for Damon! Bagman.

[Bagman57]

I wonder when we are going to see some pictures of this new MH from Damon? Also, wouldn't it be great if Damon got serious about weight reduction? For example, making aluminum wheels std and replacing their typical RV mattress with a Select Comfort. How about carbon fiber cabinents vs wood. There are many changes thay could do to reduce the weight and less weight means better fuel economy and higher ccc! Bagman57

[KC1BUD]

With Diesel fuel costing as much as 50 to 80 cents more per gallon at some stations, Does 15 mpg offset the higher cost of fuel than the 10 mpg with a gasser?

[Bagman57]

KC1BUD, going from 10 MPG to 15 MPG is a 33.33% increase and diesel is approximately 18% higher than gas, so therefore it does make sense from that point of view, but a diesel motor home will always cost more than a comparable gasser. With respect to the class C's based on the "Sprinter" chassis, they typically cost $20,000.00 more than a comparable standard class C on the Chevy/Workhorse chassis, but the Chevy/Workhorse chassis has a 57 gal fuel tank and the sprinter has a 26 gallon fuel tank. Therefore, you have a much better cruising range with a standard 24-26' class C with the 6.0 Vortec gas engine. Plus, you can buy a lot of gas with the $20,000.00 difference. Also, your std. class C can either tow 3,500 or 5,000 pounds. The "Sprinter" looks sleeker and does get better fuel economy, but that is offset with a higher purchase price, more expensive diesel fuel, smaller fuel tank, and less ccc! JMHO, Chuck/Bagman57

[Panbob]

Hope this shows up OK.
This is a chart I made showing the cost per 1000 miles for fuel at different MPG's and $'s per gallon. So for instance, a rig getting 9mpg @ $4.25 per gallon of gas would be $476.00. If your diesel rig got 11mpg you would pay less in fuel to go that same 1000 miles even if the diesel cost $4.95 gal, $451.00
MPG Gal 4.25 4.35 4.45 4.55 4.65 4.75 4.85 4.95
7.0 143 608 622 637 651 665 680 694 708
7.5 134 570 583 597 610 624 637 650 664
8.0 125 532 544 557 569 582 594 607 619
8.5 118 502 514 526 537 549 561 573 585
9.0 112 476 488 499 510 521 532 544 555
9.5 106 451 462 472 483 493 504 515 525
10.0 100 425 435 445 455 465 475 485 495
10.5 96 408 418 428 437 447 456 466 476
11.0 91 387 396 405 415 424 433 442 451
11.5 87 370 379 388 396 405 414 422 431
12.0 84 357 366 374 383 391 399 408 416
12.5 80 340 348 356 364 372 380 388 396
13.0 77 328 335 343 351 359 366 374 382
If this didn't show up good I'll try to post it another way

[Panbob]

Well The columns didnt line up very good, but the first column is MPG, 2nd is how many gallons to go 1000 miles, 3rd<->10th are the cost of fuel for 1000 miles. 13mpg at $4.75 gal is $366.00 and so on . Hope this helps somebody.