Advice on a motorhome please

[3930dave]

The class C's I've driven (not towing anything) with that V10 have a reasonable amount of power stock. Older one's had the spark plug issue, but that should be addressed by now. That is the fleet engine for a good sized Canadian RV rental company that I know; they've had good service out of them.

Not that I have anything against Banks (quite the opposite, in fact), but I'd be interested to see how the $$$ work out - if you're going to do a blower, you'll do the exhaust/headers as well (stock big blocks run pretty "warm" to begin with). Banks has great stuff, but not cheap - I suspect you know that already though daugen.

At the moment, diesel is more expensive at the pump in the USA, than gas. Even so, I'd spend the time to run the $ #'s pretty accurately for a given platform, diesel vs. gas.

I'm assuming that you are going to put more than just a few thousand miles on, and esp. if you will tow something substantial behind it, the fuel argument can tend to tilt back towards diesel.

I understand exactly what you described about not being able to hear the engine rpm. I'm a big fan of Scan Guage II as a low cost/fast way to add instrumentation to light road vehicles. OBD II ports can be less common on RVs though.

The hunt is half the fun ! :thumbsup:

Rgds, D.

 

[charlz]

I have a 34' Class C with the V10 in the Ford E450 chassis. Has good power everywhere except long climbs in the mountains, eventually you are revved out and going 42mph....

 

[daugen]

eventually you are revved out and going 42mph....

what's revved out, 4500 rpm? I'd never want to go much past 4000 for any extended period. Lots of oil coolers for sure.
If the gas motor puts out in the 400 ft pounds of torque, I wonder how high would it need to go to maintain
the speed limit? If a diesel is putting out 800+, that's about double the torque. Needs a turbo... and even then you can't expect a gas block,
even a HD one like the Ford, to last very long if pushed far past its design limits.
I'll have to look up what the Viper motor torque output is.

 

[daugen]

Power (SAE): 640 hp @ 6,150 rpm; 600 ft lb of torque @ 4,950 rpm I looked it up.

well, that's the biggest gas motor out there, and it maxes out at 600 at high rpm.
Still at least 200 short of the diesel.

oops correction, but this is la la land

Topping out the convertible lineup is the mighty 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG. The engine is a 6.0-liter V12, twin-turbocharged and boosted to 21.75 psi. Total output is a whopping 621 hp at only 4,800 rpm. Torque peaks at 738 pound-feet from 2,300-4,300 rpm. Starting price for this much power is $214,445.

now we're talking on the torque.

 

[scoutcub]

Power (SAE): 640 hp @ 6,150 rpm; 600 ft lb of torque @ 4,950 rpm I looked it up.


oops correction, but this is la la land

Topping out the convertible lineup is the mighty 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG. The engine is a 6.0-liter V12, twin-turbocharged and boosted to 21.75 psi. Total output is a whopping 621 hp at only 4,800 rpm. Torque peaks at 738 pound-feet from 2,300-4,300 rpm. Starting price for this much power is $214,445.

now we're talking on the torque.

"For now, 2014 Bugatti Veyron will likely stick with its current quad-turbo 8-liter W16 engine. It can deliver 1,200 Hp and 1,100 lb-ft of torque. The powerful engine of this Veyron successor can crank up this super car’s top speed to 270mph with 0-60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds."

And...they're talking about kicking it up to 1,600 HP.....

 

[scoutcub]

2014 FOREST RIVER SUNSEEKER 3050 CLASS C MOTORHOME

If you were interested in V10 Class "C's.....this caught my eye several days ago.

 

[daugen]

Now scoutcub, I was already on thin ice with an AMG, but yes, I've watched every Veyron video. An amazing car.
Hey, now we're getting up to 1100 pounds of torque!

but note, all done by a serious amount of air compression. A naturally aspirated gas engine isn't going to make it in this rare air.
That was a nice class C, but we need a walkaround queen, no berths stuck in a corner. Had a boat like that way back when, learned not to do it again.

I really want to check out the new 30-32 footers. The salesman who of course didn't have one wrote them off as not having anywhere near enough load carrying capacity.
Meaning you could put 5-700 pounds of cargo in them, instead of over a ton for a coach. Might have to cut back on the number of canned goods...

 

[dmccarty]

When this thread started, I looked at some RV's on the web, and noticed quite a few with V10 gassers. It has been real obvious which cars/trucks had turbos and which did not when I have been in the Appalachians. Non turbos get to a point that they have no power because of the altitude and those vehicles slow to a crawl. The vehicles with turbos just keep going. Its very obvious.

I did not dig deeply but the V10 engines did not seem to have turbos and I wondered if the the bigger pusher RV's came with turbo diesels. A turbo would be a requirement. If a vehicle has problems climbing the Appalachians what is it going to do when it hits the Rocky's. Course 35 mph going up the hill is better than walking with a backpack. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Then you get to which engine will get you the lowest cost per mile, diesel or gas?

Later,
Dan

 

[daugen]

Dan, all the larger coaches have diesels and all the diesels have turbos.
It's one thing to slow down from 65 to 50; it's another thing to slow down from 65 to
35, with your eyes glued to the engine temp gauge as the engine roars away in a lower gear.
that might get old quickly.
Drew

 

[MotorSeven]

Man, reading all these concerns....makes me love my lowly Class B even more:thumbsup: If it won't fit in my Van, then I don't need it:laughing: