Is 330 HP enough for a 37-40' DP

Had a 36 foot Winnie Journey with 330hp CAT. Climbed any grade out here in the West with no issues whatsoever. Soon learned the sweet spot for speed/gear/% grade, then just let it do its thing.

Bottom line-- any of them will get you there.

Only YOU can decide the trade-off between MPG and speed on hills. Bigger, heavier, faster use more fuel.

Many, who are used to driving heavy vehicles understand that you will slow down on long grades. Others who have only driven cars and light trucks expect to climb grades at the same speed as cars-- not going to happen without a LOT of HP.

I have a 36' Bounder with the 5.9 Cummins @ 230 hp. that runs fine up hills. My rig loaded weighs about 19 to 20,000 lbs. The maximum load with a toad on mine is about 24000 lbs.

I have a cummins 275 HP in my 1999 HR endeavor. It's enough engine to get the job done. I don't feel like it's under powered, but others will tell you different.

I like my coach quite a bit. It's 38' long. It will pull a loaded 26' flatbed trailer weighing 7000# at 75 mph no problem at all. It will feel miles ahead of the ford you're driving now. All the heat and noise are behind you. Best way to go.

ILVMYGT wrote:
I read some place that 1HP per 100 pounds work out well. So for a 300HP a 30K coach would be ideal. It's all about performance. More weight just means your get up to speed slower or it takes longer to up the hill.

Our coach has a 385 HP CAT and weights about 38K loaded and about 41 K with the toad and seems to be about right. I would go drive the coach to see how it preforms. Find a route with some long hills to go up and down. Going down will allow you to determine how effective exhaust or Jake is. This will allow you to see if the coach meets your expectations.

Mine is a 330 HP Cummings in a 36 foot Allure and I say its NOT enough...and 1 hp per 1000 pounds of weight is some bogus number someone pulled out of their ear.

For a real 30K of weight...400 HP works MUCHO better

We plan to test drive several over the next year or so. We tend to know when " the right one" comes along. We've purchased two RV and several boats by 'gut feeling'...so far with good results. No hurry in shopping but can pull the trigger if that perfect ( for us) DP comes along.
I've never driven a class A but I'm hoping that it's smoother and more powerful than our class C (1999 Coachman 315, w Ford Triton V 10).

I'm still researching chassis and air bags (what chasiss is best and how many air bags should we look for assuming no tag axle.

Thanks in advance for any shared expertise!

I read some place that 1HP per 100 pounds work out well. So for a 300HP a 30K coach would be ideal. It's all about performance. More weight just means your get up to speed slower or it takes longer to up the hill.

Our coach has a 385 HP CAT and weights about 38K loaded and about 41 K with the toad and seems to be about right. I would go drive the coach to see how it preforms. Find a route with some long hills to go up and down. Going down will allow you to determine how effective exhaust or Jake is. This will allow you to see if the coach meets your expectations.

The other day I was monitoring the engine performance while running at 65 MPH on flat land with minimal wind. The engine typically ran at ~200 HP and 400 ft/lbs torque. This was in a coach weighting ~40,000 lbs and pulling a Jeep GC.

I suspect you would have minimal problem with either the 300 or 330 HP engine.