Aspire - Cornerstone

[DianneS]

Originally Posted by TDB1227

March 19, 2013 I took delivery of a 2013 Aspire. Had great trip to Colorado (in the blizzard ).
Tomorrow taking delivery of a new Cornerstone - I am expecting the world

OK - this makes me nervous! We have a 2014 Anthem on order for delivery in August. We originally were considering the Cornerstone primarily because we thought the 450 in the Anthem wasn't going to be enough (we now have 525 in our Navigator - so we are stepping down). However, the salesman said that the 450 would be sufficient for what we are towing. We also loved the DEQ model which is not available in the Cornerstone. However seeing that 2 people have made the move up to a Cornerstone means they must now have been unhappy with the performance. Can you elaborate? You might save us from making the same mistake.

[DSL417]

There have been suggestions and a potential floor plan that is similar to DEQ in the Cornerstone. Maybe a call to Todd Jenkins would shake that info loose that you might seek, although they are pretty tight lipped about changes. On the other hand Cornerstone is top of the line. Potential floor plan was on another thread in this area...just don't remember which.

As I said earlier, I am currently pulling what you propose to pull. I had no problems in the southern Rockies. On the other hand, I do not drive above 60-65.

Don't know all that you hope to achieve. If you can afford Cornerstone, you might afford the mods (there is an outfit that is well thought of near Red Bay of all places to turn your Cornerstone into a DEQ) in one of the sofa areas. I would think it less than $20K to do so.

[TDB1227]

Originally Posted by DianneS

OK - this makes me nervous! We have a 2014 Anthem on order for delivery in August. We originally were considering the Cornerstone primarily because we thought the 450 in the Anthem wasn't going to be enough (we now have 525 in our Navigator - so we are stepping down). However, the salesman said that the 450 would be sufficient for what we are towing. We also loved the DEQ model which is not available in the Cornerstone. However seeing that 2 people have made the move up to a Cornerstone means they must now have been unhappy with the performance. Can you elaborate? You might save us from making the same mistake.

Is exactly one of the main reasons why I decided to go to the CORNERSTONE. After having been in Colorado I must admit that doing Raton Pass and Monarch Pass both in the blizzard 2 weeks ago but on the way back in good weather, you can keep up with the truckers but going full power will not exceed 45 mph as long as you keep momentum. Not keeping momentum will slow you down but the ISL will NOT drop below 3rd gear.

The CORNERSTONE, although I didn't drive in the mountains, has a tremendous amount of torque. Somebody I met with a CORNERSTONE told me, before I went to CO, that he traveled with 2 400/450 HP DP in the mountains and he had to wait every time for them to catch up. They didn't do any better than 45 MPH. I thought, at that moment, that was probably the driving style of the drivers but after having been in CO I realized that was NOT the case.

Have now used the CORNERSTONE today extensively and the momentum, pick up etc. is totally different experienced; even, for a while, just doing 65 MPH it gives to the opportunity to quickly accelerate in and out of lanes.

Also the IFS, the air ride which stabilizes while driving etc. etc. makes it a totally different experience. It should, as after all, the difference in price can NOT just be cosmetic. Same as the difference between a Porsche Cayenne and Porsche Cayenne S Turbo.

If you come from 525HP then I think you will notice the difference.

Teun

[DianneS]

[QUOTE=DSL417;1539845]There have been suggestions and a potential floor plan that is similar to DEQ in the Cornerstone. Maybe a call to Todd Jenkins would shake that info loose that you might seek, although they are pretty tight lipped about changes.

Firstly - thanks for your reply. We did check out the new B-44 floor plan which is the one that is "similar" to the DEQ...but only in the front living room area. It has the rear bath and center 1/2 bath. Because we will never have others staying over in our motor home we feel the extra bath sacrifices far too much storage area. The DEQ was the most appealing because of the great storage it delivers (could not find anything with that much storage). We also liked the 42' length of the DEQ and are hesitant to go to 45' because we have a lift on the back of our motor home for one of our motorcycles and adding this to a 45' would mean that we would now not fit on many park lots (we already have this problem).
Everyone looks for features that satisfy their own requirements and having searched long and hard we found the Anthem was a great fit for us except that it has less power than our last 2 motor homes have had. I am finding that "enough power" is rather relative. If you are moving up it seems like lots or sufficient power.....for those that have experienced more power....they find it does not have enough. I guess I was really surprised that there would be customers that bought either an Aspire or Anthem and were so dissatisfied that they were willing to take the large hit on the pocketbook to move up immediately to the Cornerstone. We just don't want to be one of them (at least for a few years).

[dusty56]

x2 with Teun. I put 13,000 miles over hills, mountains and cities in the Aspire. Ran great, won't break any land speed records, what motor coach will, but we wanted a larger bathroom and a change from the noisy ac. That was our first priority. Looked at American, Newmar, tiffin, and decided to stick with Entegra (CS has been great repairs few).

Put a few thousand miles on it and we are glad we made the decision. From my driving perspective having both for a while, the K3 chassis stands out as a front runner for the upgrade. Once you settle in you will also find there are numerous items/upgrades throughout the coach that quickly add up that the average salesman wouldn't even know about. The ride is firmer, the air system assists you on the drive, the all around disk brakes will stop you and you can get out of the way with agility when necessary.

I hope this helps you in your decision. Any one of the 3 models from Entegra in my mind is a solid choice. I think the 450 is a good solid motor we liked it.

[TDB1227]

Originally Posted by dusty56

x2 with Teun. I put 13,000 miles over hills, mountains and cities in the Aspire. Ran great, won't break any land speed records, what motor coach will, but we wanted a larger bathroom and a change from the noisy ac. That was our first priority. Looked at American, Newmar, tiffin, and decided to stick with Entegra (CS has been great repairs few).

Put a few thousand miles on it and we are glad we made the decision. From my driving perspective having both for a while, the K3 chassis stands out as a front runner for the upgrade. Once you settle in you will also find there are numerous items/upgrades throughout the coach that quickly add up that the average salesman wouldn't even know about. The ride is firmer, the air system assists you on the drive, the all around disk brakes will stop you and you can get out of the way with agility when necessary.

I hope this helps you in your decision. Any one of the 3 models from Entegra in my mind is a solid choice. I think the 450 is a good solid motor we liked it.

Totally agree with Mike. The hit to the pocketbook was so large that the sales person tried for 3 weeks avoiding the subject with several excuses. To me it is very simple: I would like to have the CORNERSTONE for the chassis and the power. The hit is big - so I can drive longer in a coach I am not totally satisfied with or take the hit immediately and start enjoying my life.

Another observation Mike made and I 100% agree with - throughout you will experience little things which I was not aware of and were not mentioned during the sale but were very pleasant to discover.

Brgds T.

[bullheaded]

Originally Posted by TDB1227

Totally agree with Mike. The hit is big - so I can drive longer in a coach I am not totally satisfied with or take the hit immediately and start enjoying my life.
Brgds T.

This is the BEST quote I have seen on this forum!

[Nowabeachbum]

Originally Posted by DianneS

Firstly - thanks for your reply. We did check out the new B-44 floor plan which is the one that is "similar" to the DEQ...but only in the front living room area. It has the rear bath and center 1/2 bath. Because we will never have others staying over in our motor home we feel the extra bath sacrifices far too much storage area. The DEQ was the most appealing because of the great storage it delivers (could not find anything with that much storage). We also liked the 42' length of the DEQ and are hesitant to go to 45' because we have a lift on the back of our motor home for one of our motorcycles and adding this to a 45' would mean that we would now not fit on many park lots (we already have this problem).
Everyone looks for features that satisfy their own requirements and having searched long and hard we found the Anthem was a great fit for us except that it has less power than our last 2 motor homes have had. I am finding that "enough power" is rather relative. If you are moving up it seems like lots or sufficient power.....for those that have experienced more power....they find it does not have enough. I guess I was really surprised that there would be customers that bought either an Aspire or Anthem and were so dissatisfied that they were willing to take the large hit on the pocketbook to move up immediately to the Cornerstone. We just don't want to be one of them (at least for a few years).

The decision, I think, is also partially a matter of where you spend the majority of your time. We are mostly on the East Coast, rarely venturing west of the Mississippi. I never noticed that there was a hill my 450 hp motorhome would slow down on until I went west! I then quickly learned it slowed down on all of them! Which really wasn't a big deal since we don't spend much time out there. If I lived out West, my choice would have been the "more power" Cornerstone. I also noticed it seems most of the people that made the jump, changed from Aspires rather than Anthems, which means they also enjoy a lot of interior improvements.
In the end, it seems to me the real problem is the length of time that you have between when you order your new Entegra and when you pick it up! All that time to second guess yourself!!

[DSL417]

And, as suggested before, as a poster detailed in the thread improvements with the desk in their Cornerstone, It would be fairly easy to insert an entertainment center (and maybe a L-shaped couch, although I'm not too impressed with the L couch).

That way if you want to get a Cornerstone DEQ, then simply do a conversion yourself with a trusted woodworking and electronic shop. Can't imagine it costing more than @20K. JMHO

[hogdriver]

I am out of this fight with an Aspire but I do have the DEQ floor plan. DSL417 mentioned you old probably get custom woodworking done to make a Cornerstone floor plan like a DEQ layout. Just thinking about the discussion I seem to recall with the right ammount of cash you can motivate a Cummins shop to take the motor in a Anthem DEQ 450 hp to change injectors and rod it up to nearly 600hp. I don't know if full Cornerstone power is possible but I'm thinking if horsepower is your only criteria , 50-100k will buy a lot of ponies.

[DSL417]

Interesting....with a smile on my face why do I have a vision of Entegra Anthems running a race around Las Vegas Speedway...like they used to do with semi tractors

[Jake62]

So I asked this on another thread, but if you only had $300,000 to spend, would you buy a new Anthem (at a steal) or a 2-3 year-old Cornerstone. Obviously if you can buy a new Cornerstone then go for it, but we want to do a cash deal so I'm not prepared to go into 400K realm to get one. Getting the Cornerstone gets you the K-3, 600 HP & hopefully the "bugs" worked out; however, you really don't know how the original owner took care of it and you no longer have a warranty.

[TDB1227]

Originally Posted by Nowabeachbum

The decision, I think, is also partially a matter of where you spend the majority of your time. We are mostly on the East Coast, rarely venturing west of the Mississippi. I never noticed that there was a hill my 450 hp motorhome would slow down on until I went west! I then quickly learned it slowed down on all of them! Which really wasn't a big deal since we don't spend much time out there. If I lived out West, my choice would have been the "more power" Cornerstone. I also noticed it seems most of the people that made the jump, changed from Aspires rather than Anthems, which means they also enjoy a lot of interior improvements.
In the end, it seems to me the real problem is the length of time that you have between when you order your new Entegra and when you pick it up! All that time to second guess yourself!!

Above: "changed from Aspires rather than Anthems": my thoughts were that an Anthem has exactly the same chassis as an Aspire and is most likely more heavy as it has more amenities. That would slow me down more, maybe more twisting of the chassis etc. I was looking for a robust, bus like feeling in handling/driving as well as wear and tear.

Teun

[DSL417]

Can't trump when you have the cash...the OP wants a DEQ w/1 bath.

Not likely for 2014 in a Cornerstone. Alternatives -

- What I mentioned earlier.
- Choose a floor plan unacceptable (I base this on they're a twosome looking for this type of entertainment area in their floor plan)
- Take an Anthem with less horsepower
- Modify a Cornerstone to look like DEQ
- Move to a different coach. IMO the only alternative of equal quality and close to the same price point as Anthem w/IFS (Mountain Aire with same HP with Comfort Steering I think) or Essex (a bunch more than the Cornerstone, but has the similar floor plan and HP, combined with Newmars Comfort Steering)

I do like the similar floor plans offered by Newmar...just don't like the price tag for comparable amenities. Essex is a pretty steep price to pay for the floor plan, IFS, and HP.