Is 350hp enough?

[Jagob]

Originally Posted by HJLowell

So why did you start this thread.
Sounds like you have limited yourself to one model of 2007. With specific HP.
It is what it is then.
If your not willing to look at a higher end models like the Tiffin bus with what ? 450 hp and more Torque???
Then buy the one your set on and live with it.

My budget is the limit. I’m finding that 2005-08 range gets me to my price point and I want to stay with a quality coach in order to hold as much value for a few years and then trade up. In that year model range and price, 350hp is the norm. I asked the question and started the thread because I wanna make sure that I won’t be disappointed pulling a Jeep to CO behind such a coach. If I thought that would be the case, I’d stick to another 5th wheel, but based on the thoughtful answers here, I think I’ll be just fine.

[winniman]

Originally Posted by twojayhawks

It would be useful to know specifically what the weight of the coach is. Not knowing anything about it my stock answer is YES it's enough. You are not new to RVing so you likely already know what happens when you have to climb a real pass like you will find in CO. There will be a slow lane for trucks & RV's etc. & a passing lane for auto's. You'll take your place in the right lane and be limited by the slowest climber. Trust me that will almost always be a 18 wheeler. Been camping in CO with class A's for over 20 years, starting with a 230 HP coach, and could always & effortlessly climb any pass easier than a loaded 18 wheeler.

I agree. Using your transmission to keep at max. torque helps with power and cooling. Using the 100 lbs per hp ratio is a good yardstick to measure by. My 38 ft DP has only 275 hp, and has a gross weight of 25000 lbs. If you have 450 hp, but weigh 45000 lbs, you actually have less power than me. My rv has plenty of power for what I do, and actually has far better hill climbing power than my previous v10 gasser did. Higher hp is no advantage if the rig weighs considerably more. Figure out the weight, and compare it to the 350 hp. Unless the rig weighs considerably more than 35000 lbs, it probably decent. I didn't notice what the length or weight of the rv was. It might be a bit slower on the hills, but much quicker at the fuel station. lol

[TonyMac]

My 40DP weighs in at just under 29,000 pounds and pulls a 4300 pound toad, with a 350hp C7. On the uphills, I pass the trucks. That's about all I need, to NOT be a hinderance to the working man. Why would you want anything more? If you want to pass the 4-wheelers on the uphill, you are wrong.

[HJLowell]

I understand
Dont lug that engine in the mountains .
Use your manual shift and keep your rpms up where they belong for your specific engine.
Dont overheat the engine ever.
Its why so many of these engines fail. Heat damage

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Jagob

My budget is the limit. I’m finding that 2005-08 range gets me to my price point and I want to stay with a quality coach in order to hold as much value for a few years and then trade up. In that year model range and price, 350hp is the norm. I asked the question and started the thread because I wanna make sure that I won’t be disappointed pulling a Jeep to CO behind such a coach. If I thought that would be the case, I’d stick to another 5th wheel, but based on the thoughtful answers here, I think I’ll be just fine.

[wmiii]

I had the same question. We took our 37' National Tradewinds 330hp Cat, through Yellowstone, Utah and back to Florida via the Grand Canyon and the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Once I learned to manually down shift, I was able to keep RPMs up and engine temp down.I am now looking for our next one and leaning toward a 40' Newmar Dutch Star from the same year range (2007). They seem to be about the same price as the 40' Phaetons and have 400hp Cummins.

Wm Mayberry
2003 National Tradewinds 375LE (SOLD)
2011 Honda CRV

[96 Wideglide]

Biggest disadvantage to a marginally powered coach (around 1 hp per 100 lbs) is the 6 speed automatic transmission!
When you get into 6+ % grades, you effectively have a 4 speed transmission, with wide gap's between 3rd and 4th and 5th.
If you can't maintain RPM's in 4th, your generally stuck dropping to 3rd, holding your RPM wherever you like, and watching the scenery!

Semi's with less power to weight than you, can pass you, because they probably have 3 or more gears between your 3rd and 4th.

Just the way it is!!

[sledhead]

We have a 2000 american eagle with an 8.3 liter cummins 350 hp motor home, the coach itself weighs around 27000 lbs, after you add all the liquids (fuel water propane) and all the other stuff we take, Im sure its close to 30000 lbs. We tow either a 2015 full size silverado crew pickup at about 4700 or a mini van on a tow dolly if we have the grand kids. We have not yet been west but have gone south to tenn. and w.virginia a few times and on some of the longer steeper grades downshifting and a slow climb occur but we arent in that big of a hurry any way. If you find a coach with a 350hp diesel that you really like I would say buy it and enjoy it, we do.

[bhammond1980]

I had a 07 Dynamax grand sport that had a GVW of 36k, Allison 3000 and the Cat C7 set at 350HP. We owned it for 5 years and made many trips west, east and south. We tow a Jeep Wrangler limited. The Cat C7 never caused us any problems and averaged 7.5mpg. Climbing a mountain was never the issue, we just chose the right lane and monitored rpm and settled in at 45mph. My issue was going down the other side. We had the single stage exhaust brake that really wasn't that effective. I always worried about brake temp because I had to use them most of the time to stay at a safe speed.

[38Chevy454]

Originally Posted by docj

Most of the focus of these discussions is usually HP with very little time spent on torque. HP will determine the speed you can maintain climbing a steep hill but torque determines how fast you accelerate off the the line and whether or not you can regain speed on a uphill climb if a truck in front of you forces you to slow down.

One reason that torque is usually not discussed in these threads is that in diesels torque is pretty much a function of engine displacement. You can tune an engine to get more HP but you can't do much about the torque.

As someone who owns a DP powered by a large block engine, it is like night and day as a previous post noted. My MH accelerates more like a car than a MH. It's a lot of fun to drive. Could I live with a MH with less HP and torque? Sure, but mine is more fun to drive at least IMHO.

Agree, 350 hp out of 6.7 liters vs 50s hp out of 8.9 liters (using Cummins ISB vs. ISL) will have a big difference.
Yes the strict definition of hp is work performed, and that is torque over period of time. But a higher torque engine is easier to drive and does it at lower rpm. So even though both engines may be rated 350 hp, the bigger size just works better.

[fairway2002]

My past. 350 good 85% of the time. 450 good 95% of the time. Towing our jeep did no see much difference

[richard5933]

HP is all relative. I've got only 318 HP mated to a 4-speed manual. It gets the job done, but I won't win any races. I can cruise all day on flat ground at 70+, but on long/steep uphills I'm dropping to 3rd gear and 45 mph or so.

Good thing I'm not in a hurry.

If you have a budget, you get what you can afford. If you have to choose between more bells and whistles inside the coach or more HP in the engine bay, I'd vote for the HP.

[Spdracr39]

It's not the same because a 40' DP out weighs a truck and fifth wheel by at quite a bit but to answer your question, as long as you aren't planning to zoom up the hills at the full speed limit it will be fine.

[LDK1]

Originally Posted by Jagob

My budget is the limit. I’m finding that 2005-08 range gets me to my price point and I want to stay with a quality coach in order to hold as much value for a few years and then trade up. In that year model range and price, 350hp is the norm. I asked the question and started the thread because I wanna make sure that I won’t be disappointed pulling a Jeep to CO behind such a coach. If I thought that would be the case, I’d stick to another 5th wheel, but based on the thoughtful answers here, I think I’ll be just fine.

I have a Cummins 360hp with turbo with my 2019 40' class A DP. Unless you lower expectations, I think you may be frustrated in the mountains. I am learning to chill out. That I will get up those steep mountains sooner or later. All is good.

[JohnBoyToo]

Did you say what length and weight of coach ?
Is your jeep a 2 door stock jeep or a dressed 4 door with all the goodies ?


Without those facts 350 is fine (for most grades ))


our 425hp-1250lb-ft crawled up 7% teton pass because leaving Jackson Hole there's a tight curve right at the bottom and I was scenery watching so started up slow and never got above 30 mph - but we are @ 37k with 5K jeep - eeek !