Is the ride of a newer Newmar noticeably better than other RVs?

[Massparanoia]

From my experience, unless you’re buying a Newell or a Prevost conversion they’re all pretty much the same. Driving a diesel pusher, the noise is in the back but when you stop you have 1500lbs of hot iron under your bed. With a gasser, the noise is in the front and you have about 500lbs of hot iron in the living area when you stop.

An independent front suspension will help with handling, but that’s significantly more money. I’m sure to catch flack, but my $75k gasser with Koni FSD’s and Sumo’s rides and drives just as well as diesels I’ve rode in/drove that cost significantly more money. With the exception being the Prevost coaches. Remember you’re driving a wood and fiberglass box down the road mounted on two pieces of C channel steel.

Newmar’s seem to be better insulated than most, I was camping in PA this weekend with temps well into the 90’s and my coach was at 70 degrees with 2 13.5k ac’s. Driving down the road I’m comfortable with the dash air and the gen running the a/c’s.

Make sure your tire pressures are dialed in based on the weight of your coach, not the pressure it says on the sticker/tire sidewall. Also make sure you have a proper alignment done.

[PandS]

Originally Posted by hogdriver

Okay, I’m going to get hate mail about this but everyone is entitled to an opinion, including me…..

Our motorhome No1-1995 Holiday Rambler diesel on Oshkosh chassis. Nice RV. Ride like a school bus.

Motorhome No2 - 2003 Monaco Diplomat 40 ft - 8 airbags made a huge difference. Solid front axle still was rough.

Motorhome No3 - 2013 Entegra Aspire. 45 ft tag axle. Wow, what a difference a tag makes in handling. Solid front axle. Still bouncy on the front and rough on rutted roads.

Motorhome No4 - 2014 Entegra Anthem. 45 ft tag axle. Wow, wow. Independent front suspension. Handles with two fingers.

Motorhome No5 - 2021 DutchStar. 44 ft tag w Independent front suspension. Drives very sedate. Like a big sedan…….now the hate mail……Comfort Drive…..I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. I’ve driven motorhomes over 150,000 miles and Comfort Drive is nice but I wouldn’t pay a lot of money for it. The tag axle and air drive is what makes it nice.

My favorite are those 38-40ft tag axle MHs like Newmar’s and Country Coaches. IMHO

Why are you not driving your favorite? Seems odd that you wouldn't.


A rough road is a rough road. Drive 78 thru eastern Pennsylvania in ANYTHING and I think you'll agree.


Very happy with our Ventana. -Paul

[Dutch Star Don]

Motorhome No5 - 2021 DutchStar. 44 ft tag w Independent front suspension. Drives very sedate. Like a big sedan…….now the hate mail……Comfort Drive…..I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. I’ve driven motorhomes over 150,000 miles and Comfort Drive is nice but I wouldn’t pay a lot of money for it. The tag axle and air drive is what makes it nice.

I know many say they don't feel the difference with the Comfort Drive as I think they get use to having it and then don't give it, it's due.

In your statement highlighted above.....could that be because of Comfort Drive, you're not fighting the wheel, wind and road crown??? The highlighted statement and the statement that follows, don't go together well.

I added a system called True Center to my 2005 Monaco Diplomat. It was a manual version of the Comfort Drive, set the wheel, hit a switch and it held the steering in wind and road crown conditions. It worked great, but was no match for what the Comfort Drive does automatically.

[dizcom]

The more you weigh, the less you sway. A bigger coach will give you a smoother ride. A newer one also. It comes down to the features you like and what you're willing to compromise to get it. Everyone likes to think their rig is the best, which is not realistic given that I'm driving it.

[Mle75749]

We have owned 2 Newmar’s. The first was Gas….a Baystar… gas engines are loud and at the end of a long trip you’d have a ring in your ears. We now have a diesel Dutchstar 4054 and the Newmar quality combined with diesel is astonishingly quiet. The Comfort Drive system in Newmar also makes driving a joy. Both my. Husband and I drive but we can drive comfortably so much longer than before and not stop feeling exhausted.
I’ve never owned another brand but in our research everything we read about the quality of Newmar has born out in ownership.

[Mle75749]

Originally Posted by Massparanoia

From my experience, unless you’re buying a Newell or a Prevost conversion they’re all pretty much the same. Driving a diesel pusher, the noise is in the back but when you stop you have 1500lbs of hot iron under your bed. With a gasser, the noise is in the front and you have about 500lbs of hot iron in the living area when you stop.

An independent front suspension will help with handling, but that’s significantly more money. I’m sure to catch flack, but my $75k gasser with Koni FSD’s and Sumo’s rides and drives just as well as diesels I’ve rode in/drove that cost significantly more money. With the exception being the Prevost coaches. Remember you’re driving a wood and fiberglass box down the road mounted on two pieces of C channel steel.

Newmar’s seem to be better insulated than most, I was camping in PA this weekend with temps well into the 90’s and my coach was at 70 degrees with 2 13.5k ac’s. Driving down the road I’m comfortable with the dash air and the gen running the a/c’s.

Make sure your tire pressures are dialed in based on the weight of your coach, not the pressure it says on the sticker/tire sidewall. Also make sure you have a proper alignment done.

Our Baystar 3124, 2014, was a nice coach but LOUD and more work to drive than our current Dutchstar 4054 diesel. The Comfort Drive also changed the driving experience immensely. It’s a trade off because gas is cheaper to buy which is why we bought our used Baystar but long term, long trips, traveling into the mountains etc. A Newmar diesel with comfort drive is worth it if you can do it.

[New2road]

Perfection is impossible to achieve.
Equally, one coach may eliminate some of the issue but not all. Sometimes the cure is more painful than the complaint.

How much do you want to spend in your search?

We shifted from a gasser to a DP. As Don mentions, on a nice road it is very quiet. We don't find many nice roads these days. Engine noise is absent, but house noise from being abused by road conditions is present. We are still able to have conversations, listen to music, and hear to dang speed warnings.

Coach is new, cab a/c works great. This is a known weak area for DP. There are companies working on stand alone units that mount forward to try and eliminate this issue. Check with NIRVC and see if it can be retrofit into your rig.

Power isn't an issue for us, we went big. We don't really use the full capabilities of this powertrain. We were fine with gasser east coast hill performance, so this rig is stress less in the hills. How much time do you spend in the mountains?

We have Entergra's version of comfort drive. I have run it to both extremes, and have it biased to very little assist. Personal preference.

Remember, there are only a few chassis manufactures out there. the houses will be different, but the drive trains are shared. With minor differences, the drive experience may not be as different as salespeople would have you think.

Best of luck

[ArtJoyce]

You mentioned "squeaks in dash and plastic covers around the windshield" I think that my be a problem with your MH. Most likely can be fixed, its just a question of finding the issue. you can have squeaks in dash and plastic covers around the windshield in any MH. Our Holiday Ramble has been free of such noises.

[SurfsideGolfer]

I have a 2006 Monaco on a Roadmaster Chassis, not available any longer. There is no engine noise unless you open a window and it glides down the road without a rattle or noise. This is my fifth pusher and money will not buy it unless such time as I cannot use it any longer. My last coach was a freight liner chassis, and while it was trouble free for 100,000 miles, you could see and feel every crack in the road.

[sheilaraskin]

Originally Posted by haveaday

Hi,

I own a 2016 Holiday Rambler XE 35E with about 45,000 miles on it. We've owned it for a little over a year and put about 17,000 miles on it.

Overall, we're quite happy with the RV but wish it rode better. I have a list of compaints, many of which I realize are the nature of the beast.

When we bought our RV we bought it for the compromise of price and quality and felt it was an acceptable compromise. We could have gone with a more expensive unit but didn't feel it necessary for the interior furnishings, features, or layout.

So, what I'm wondering is, would a higher-end RV resolve some of our ride complaints? None of these complaints are show-stoppers, but we're using it enough that I'm left to wonder if we'd be better served by a higher-end unit.

My complaints are:

• Noise, it's quite loud going down the road with a huge portion of that noise being various squeeks and rattles
• Heat, in warm climates, even with the generator running, the dash air and both 15k BTU roof units on, the RV gets well into the 80s
• Power - this is probably the easiest, we have a 340hp Cummins ISB, I wish it had a little more grunt up the hills etc.

Noise and smoothnees are really the biggest issues. I'd love to hear from others who might have been through similar circumstances. My current RV wasn't cheap, but obviously not the level of a Newmar. But, it's a Freightliner chasis, is there really that big a difference between ours and better RVs?

Thanks for any opinions!
Ben

If you are seeking a REALLY GREAT RIDE, look no further than the new MAXIM Chassis the Freightliner builds. We have a Winnebago Horizon and it is the best ride of all the coaches I've owned over the yrs (started in 82, have owned 9 coaches). Take it for a test ride, you will be amazed.