IVECO Motohome bases are booming in Australia

DRTDEVL wrote:

pnichols wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

ROBERTSUNRUS wrote:
:) Hi, these trucks look like a Chevrolet van with a melted hood.

Very very different though, maximum GVWR is 15,000lbs GCVWR is 23,750lbs

Those GVWRs appear only a little higher than those of the venerable Chevy 4500 and Ford E450 trucks chassis used here in the U.S. under many Class C motorhomes.

For the life of me, I don't see how 200HP could adequately haul around that much weight in, say, the Canadian or U.S. Rockies. Horsepower is horsepower, and diesel horsepower is no different than gas horsepower - assuming that the designers put the right gear ratios into tansmissions and differentials in order to transform crankshaft torque into drive axle torque.

Maybe Iveco Daily RV drivers are happy with going slower overall, than North American RV drivers?

Horsepower sells vehicles.

Torque moves vehicles.

The engine quoted above only has 200 hp, but can be optioned to about 350 lb-ft of torque. The 7.3 mentioned by another poster is non-intercooled (unlike the trucks), and only good for 215/425. The key difference is that the 7.3 was backed by a 4-speed, while the IVECO has an 8-speed, keeping it at max torque no matter what speed you wish to travel. With twice the available gears, 200/350 can likely pull a lot better than 215/425 with half the gears.

To be more precise ... "torque at the drive wheels" moves vehicles.

BTW, why can't 7.3 drivers merely manually choose the lowest necessary of the 4 gears and then just push the gas pedal down far enough to maintain whatever speed the driver wants or the 215 horsepower is good for ... whichever comes first?

That above approach is how I drive my RV's 305 HP gasser to maintain highway speeds (if I want to go that fast) in the mountains.