Community Forums

NXR · 06-05-2019, 06:39 AM

To add a slight twist to the cost differences, the price of diesel in northern Ohio has crashed in the last week or so. It is not uncommon to find both gas and diesel at the average price of $2.89 or sometimes the diesel is a dime more. That's a major drop as diesel used to be 50 cents or more higher.

And this is just in time for an increase in the Ohio gas tax on July 1st!

+10.5 cents for gas and +19.0 cents for diesel. <sigh>

Fill 'er up, Ohioans.

Ray

petewolff · 06-05-2019, 09:55 AM

Guess I'll add my 2 cents.
We had a Winnebago Vista , just under 30 feet long with a V10 engine. What a great coach , plenty of power, nice floor plan and reasonable fuel mileage.
The V10 could be noisy but in that coach pulled grades just fine and oil changes were cheap and easy to perform.
The ride wasn't great with lots of body roll and tons of understeer but it was ok once you got used to it and understood it's limitations. The brakes were good as well.
The dash heat and ac were great .
We replaced the Winnebago with a 2019 39' diesel pusher , it's a different animal completely.
The power comes on differently but it comes on and it takes grades nicely. With the engine retarder going down steep grades is much easier on the brakes and my nerves.
The ride is spectacular , no more understeer and it is smooth. The handling is superb when compared to the gas coach.
The dash heat and ac are not as strong as the gas unit but pumping hot water or freon through 40' of hose is going to have an effect.
Air brakes are wonderful , when you push that pedal it stops !
It is also virtually silent when driving and the smoother ride keeps the dish rattling down to about nothing !
I do my own oil changes and fuel filter changes . It's a little more work than the gasser and a bit more expensive .
Overall if we went back to a sub 30' coach I would consider another gasser but over that I think I would buy another Diesel.
The DEF system is not bad to deal with , they are not as trouble prone as they once were and interstate travel is what they seem to like.
I think the choice depends on your budget, your performance expectations and coach size.
They each have their pros and cons. As I stated earlier we own diesel now but would consider gas again .

MidMichHunte · 06-05-2019, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petewolff

Guess I'll add my 2 cents.
We had a Winnebago Vista , just under 30 feet long with a V10 engine. What a great coach , plenty of power, nice floor plan and reasonable fuel mileage.
The V10 could be noisy but in that coach pulled grades just fine and oil changes were cheap and easy to perform.
The ride wasn't great with lots of body roll and tons of understeer but it was ok once you got used to it and understood it's limitations. The brakes were good as well.
The dash heat and ac were great .
We replaced the Winnebago with a 2019 39' diesel pusher , it's a different animal completely.
The power comes on differently but it comes on and it takes grades nicely. With the engine retarder going down steep grades is much easier on the brakes and my nerves.
The ride is spectacular , no more understeer and it is smooth. The handling is superb when compared to the gas coach.
The dash heat and ac are not as strong as the gas unit but pumping hot water or freon through 40' of hose is going to have an effect.
Air brakes are wonderful , when you push that pedal it stops !
It is also virtually silent when driving and the smoother ride keeps the dish rattling down to about nothing !
I do my own oil changes and fuel filter changes . It's a little more work than the gasser and a bit more expensive .
Overall if we went back to a sub 30' coach I would consider another gasser but over that I think I would buy another Diesel.
The DEF system is not bad to deal with , they are not as trouble prone as they once were and interstate travel is what they seem to like.
I think the choice depends on your budget, your performance expectations and coach size.
They each have their pros and cons. As I stated earlier we own diesel now but would consider gas again .

Good info, are you towing something? What engine/Trans combo do you have in it? I was looking at a Winni Forza DP but moved away from it based on power/towing cap. We have a 5k Jeep we'll tow through the mountains so if the Wimmi can do it without problems or slowing down too much, I may look back into it. TIA.

Frost31720 · 06-05-2019, 01:24 PM

I drive a 2016 Ram 2500 Big Horn ed., 6.7 L Cummins, tow a 33' 5th wheel approx. 11K lbs. +/_ (never weighed) and tow a 15' utility trailer with a RZR behind that all thru the Colorado Mtns. and thru out the west with no problem. The diesel has a much more lower end torque then a gasser does. I can pull Monarch Pass, Eisenhower tunnel doing 68 mph easy, going down the backside the Jake brake keeps me well under control 40 -45 even less mph on the long decent. Love it!

petewolff · 06-06-2019, 06:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MidMichHunte

Good info, are you towing something? What engine/Trans combo do you have in it? I was looking at a Winni Forza DP but moved away from it based on power/towing cap. We have a 5k Jeep we'll tow through the mountains so if the Wimmi can do it without problems or slowing down too much, I may look back into it. TIA.

We have a 340 hp 700 ftlbs torque Cummins with an Allison 2500 in our Fleetwood Pace Arrow LXE 38N.

We do tow but are limited by that drivetrain to a 33,000 GCVW . As a result we tow a Chevy Spark (2300 lbs) on an EZ Tow Dolly (330 lbs) that combo with fuel , water and people keeps us below our max.

The Forza has the same drivetrain so you wouldn't be able to tow your Jeep.
Don't get me wrong it would pull it but would put you over max GCVW.
We have friends that tow a similar vehicle behind their Fleetwood Pace Arrow (same as ours) and they have no power complaints. But it's a risk in my opinion in terms of warranty and being overweight in the event of an accident.

According to Fleetwood ( we were at the factory last month) the Alison 2500 transmission is the limiting factor with a 33k max.

HighDesert · 06-13-2019, 06:04 PM

Had an interesting conversation with a neighbor in an RV park this morning. Conversation got around to the diesel vs gas issue. He owns a DP. HD to replace a side radiator a few years ago. Cost. - $10K. I like diesels, but just can’t deL with RV vine problems and price associated. Gas coaches these days, on higher end, tend to be pretty nice.