Community Forums

Broker · 04-30-2016, 11:21 AM

We are interested in a 4369 Dutch Star and are wondering from some of you out there that have become recent owners if you could share your experiences with the 450 Cummins in the Mountains? What can we expect when pulling some of the longer steeper grades?

Thanks in advance for your input

twojayhawks · 04-30-2016, 11:49 AM

I imagine opinions will vary I will offer mine. My 2015 is almost 39K loaded and we pull a 4200 toad. We returned Sunday from a two week trip to Virgin Utah (Zion). Leaving from KC we crossed the rockies and parts of Utah were also a hand full. We never had to use second gear but third (@ about 25-30 mph) was the right combo to pull pretty much every pass. Descending was wonderful there wasn't a down hill run that the engine brake couldn't keep in check with little or no braking. Generally speaking I thought it did fine. I will say if I went west for every trip instead of maybe every five years a coach with better power/weight might be in order.

PanJH · 04-30-2016, 03:05 PM

We spent most of last summer in Utah and surrounding states. I was quite happy with the performance to the 450 on our 4338. We pulled a pickup truck for our toad. Just keep the RPM's up by downshifting manually when needed and you'll have no speed or overheating issues.

Dutch Star Don · 04-30-2016, 03:54 PM

I have a 2014 Dutch Star with the 450HP. I've climbed the I-5 Grapevine, Oregon Siskyous (sp), Baker Grade into Vegas and a couple of other grades out west several times. My coach weighs 37K and I tow a 6K Silverado.

Here's what I've found. On steep grades my coach doesn't care if it's towing or not. On a 5% - 6% grade I can hold 55-60 mph. Once it gets steeper, I'll immediately drop to 49 mph. Shifting into fifth really does nothing, but prolong the eventual drop to 49 mph. I eventually drop into fourth and it will hold at 49-51 mph.

When I had my 2005 Diplomat with a 400 ISL, I could pull any grade out west at 55 mph while towing my 6K Silverado. With that coach, I would drop into 5th at the base of the grade and top it in 5th.

I know my Dutch Star is 5K heavier than my Diplomat, but I expected the Dutch Star to pull like my Diplomat did when not towing, but it doesn't. Personally, I think the Dutch Star gears/tires are too tall. It was most likely set up to be more economical on the highway with taller gears, but suffers some in the mountains.

No matter what I do, I find 5th gear to be useless, even when trying to stay in my max torque range. The way the Dutch Star is set up, it really needs a gear between 4th and 5th.

Tobias7000 · 05-01-2016, 02:15 AM

Personally, I wish I had more power or better power to weight ratio in the mountains. But I can still pass most semi trucks going uphill at Donner pass and Grants pass. I enjoyed a better power to weight ratio in our 2008 Country Coach Inspire 360, but the Dutch Star is a significant upgrade in so many other ways. If you can afford it, opt for a stronger motor (London Aire) if you don't like to slow down going uphill. Despite slowing down, Our motor never overheated and faithfully took us through the mountains. We decided the small trade off in uphill speed was worth it for all the other features in the Dutch Star.

Tobias - Newmar 2015 Dutch Star 4366
Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

mc4fun · 05-01-2016, 05:06 AM

From my limited run with the new unit I am very impressed.
For me the whole package is great, on the other hand I do not care to head up a pass at 60, and my DS has not dropped much below 50 up any slope we have gone.

drhines · 05-06-2016, 01:16 PM

The first thing I noticed with my 15 Dutch Star was the power in the mountains. I go to Colorado western slopes every year. I had the same ISL Cummins in my 2010 Allegro Bus. It had much more zip to it, but I probably weigh 10k more pounds. It's all about torque weight ratio.

Yes, I wish I had a little more zip in the DS but with me driving only 6-7k miles per year, there is no way I would pay the $50-$70k extra to get the ISX Cummins even if it was offered. The ISX is an awesome engine but is not offered and Cummins does not offer the ISM engine anymore which would be a good compromise.

Doug Hines
2015 DS

WYRon · 05-06-2016, 04:32 PM

Have been from the ocean to over 9500 feet in the Rocky Mountains, and some scary steep descents with no issue, including a Honda CRV toad. Going up with the 450HP is no issue, and going down reasonably slow with engine brake handled everything I saw. I'm a little shorter (and therefore lighter), but I don't think that it would affect my conclusion much.