Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Murfreesboro, TN
Posts: 356
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The First 55 Days Out
We picked up our 2017 Aspire in MI from MH2Go on 8/29. After spending 55 days/nights in our coach since moving up from our 34’ Tiffin gasser, I thought a 1st season wrap-up might be of some interest/help to others who are considering a similar change. [Sadly, I completed winterization yesterday - coach in storage until early March.]
Before we chose our Aspire, we compared Entegra, Tiffin and Newmar (JMO - I believe these three are the best in our price range). After a few months researching and looking, our top reasons to choose Entegra include:
Really like the overall design and construction, including:
Chassis (x-brace, etc...)
Design of the 44B floorplan (we find it perfect for our needs, and, I’m not a fan of full-side slide-outs - I’m probably overly concerned, but a a 28’ span with no floor-to-roof support scares me…)
Interior decor, fit/finish, storage, etc… (my wife was sold the moment she walked in the coach…)
Warranty - 2 years is impressive
Drive-ability - on the road, our coach was the winner
Exterior design - we love the look, and have received many favorable comments about the beauty of our coach
Value - when combined with the above, the price made our choice a no-brainer
Quick run-down of the perceived benefits over our gasser:
Quieter - even with the generator running, much quieter - especially when climbing
Smoother ride - almost a “night and day” improvement
Power - almost 3X the torque to handle twice the weight
Handling and overall coach stability - big improvement (my wife drove 160 miles during our trip home from MI - she loved it…)
Fuel mileage - so far, an ~1.5 - 2 MPG improvement
Carry capacity - seems to be often overlooked, but our Aspire has ~10,500 lbs. vs. the gasser’s ~4100 lbs.
An example of driving performance: we recently completed a 100 mile trip to a SE TN state park. Although there are no “mountains”, I-40 east out of Nashville includes a number of fairly long grades, and 111 has a “fun” 3-mile grade that alternates between 8 and 9%.
On the way to the park (climbing up the Cumberland Plateau, and driving up the 3-mile grade), we averaged ~8.3 MPG while running ~62. On the way back, the average was ~9.4MPG. [We have a small toad - ~2800 lbs.]
Fortunately, we've encountered very little to complain about, although I have to admit I was truly “intimidated” during the first few weeks: this thing is huge, and, on the surface, the systems appear to be very complicated.
However, once I had a few highway and campground miles under belt, the driving experience actually became enjoyable. Also, we learned that the complicated systems are there to actually make our coach more livable, and, with help provided in this forum, the intimidation factor gradually went away.
[Ex: I admit I was fearful of the winterization process. Other than using much more antifreeze than the 2 gallons mentioned in the manual, and nearly knocking myself out twice (raised up under the bedroom slide - ouch - "concussion protocol"!), the process was quite simple]
Problems: I’ll probably jinx our coach; however, we’ve been very lucky so far - only 4 minor items that will eventually require warranty work.
Sure, I’ve tightened a few screws and bolts, adjusted the headlights, and pulled the fuse on that stupid CO alarm a couple of times, but swarming ladybugs last week were actually a greater aggravation than all our coach problems combined.
Things may change next season; however, for now, we're Entegra “fan persons”, and, if given the opportunity, we’d definitely make the exact same decision.
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Bob Gash
Murfreesboro, TN
2017 Entegra Aspire 44B - Sold
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