Test drove a Tiffin on this chasis and it handled well, but it seemed like it needed all 180+ horsepower to get up to speedon the interstate. Is this enough power out West in the mountains? Headwinds?Any shared experiences would be appreciated. Thanks in advance Jack

we drive our 2007 to AZ almost every year, it has the 5 cyc engine pulling my bass boat , I,ve passed class A,s going up some of those hills.

Our 2015 Mercedes Sprinter 3500 has been tested many times in CO, UT, WY, MT & CA etc. Power is very good, no issues keeping up with traffic. In NM and AZ, we had significant headwinds.Felt no appreciable change. This diesel provides excellent torque.

It's more than enough power to go over the mountains. It likely won't be the fastest vehicle to do so, but you'll get over them. Likely a Ford chassis with half again more power would accelerate a little more quickly and may still be a bit faster driving in the mountains (even with the greater power loss due to not being turbocharged), but you'll still get where you're going and in reasonable time. Once you arrive, any engine power difference makes no difference at all in the campsite.I have yet to hear anyone who believes their motorhome is overpowered, for what that's worth. You'll never accelerate like a car, even a "slow" car (which I guess these days means all of 9 seconds go go from 0 to 60).

Jack, You say "Using all the horspower" like it is a bad thing. If you bought it, it is yours to use, so use it. The diesel is governor controlled (they all are), so don't be afraid to use it. By the way, if this is your first diesel, be aware that they don't warm up much idling and that there is little engine braking to be had. That is why they are good on fuel. Matt

Have you ever had a vehicle that's marginal on power? I'm not saying the 5 cyl is (because it's subjective) but if you feel it's weak then you should pass it up. I always remember seeing one trying to drive up on leveling blocks and it didn't have enough torque to do it.

Mercedes Sprinter chasis | Good Sam Community

24 Replies

road-runner
Explorer III
Oct 31, 2017
The low carrying capacity is definitely a minus for a class C coach on a Sprinter chassis. Even though it's lower, the gap isn't as big as the numbers would show because the sum of the Sprinter GAWRs is larger than the GVWR, which in practice means you can load a Sprinter rig to it's GVWR and not worry about busting a GAWR. The GVWR of most other class C chassis is the sum of the GAWRs, meaning that to carry the GVWR you have to perfectly balance the load to conform to the GAWRs, which is not possible in reality. Having said all that, I think that most Sprinter class Cs are routinely run a few hundred pounds over GVWR, but still conform to the GAWRs. I wouldn't be surprised if many Ford and Chevy chassis run under GVWR but bust one of the GAWRs.
RobertRyan
Explorer
Oct 30, 2017
ron.dittmer wrote:
You think the Tiffin Sprinter is bad? Check out the Promaster based motor homes.

Thankfully RV manufacturers here are using the IVECO Daily Chassis which are reliable and depending on the model have a higher GVWR and GCVWR than a E450 but handle like a Sprinter
Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Oct 30, 2017
irishtom29 wrote:
I looked at some Tiffin Sprinters the other day and was surprised by the low payloads; one was only 792 pounds and the highest of the several on the lot was only 820 pounds. These figures were for cargo and occupants with water considered cargo.

Margins for fuel/water/cargo/passengers, are razor thin in Class C land. GVW isn't all that great for any cutaway van based Class C. Getting yours weighed in all 4 corners is advisable too.
ron_dittmer
Explorer III
Oct 25, 2017
You think the Tiffin Sprinter is bad? Check out the Promaster based motor homes.
irishtom29
Explorer
Oct 25, 2017
I looked at some Tiffin Sprinters the other day and was surprised by the low payloads; one was only 792 pounds and the highest of the several on the lot was only 820 pounds. These figures were for cargo and occupants with water considered cargo.
ctilsie242
Explorer II
Oct 24, 2017
The T1N models (first generation of Sprinters sold by Dodge at first) used the I-5. Some new NCV3 Sprinters from 2014-2016 used a turbocharged four-banger with a seven speed transmission. It probably did well in Europe, but when I was looking at Freightliner's site, no models offered the OM-651 engine... the only engine offered was the six cylinder, OM-642 model.

More info here.

I miss the I-5. It wasn't powerful... but other than getting a metal turbo resonator, that engine was almost unkillable.
ron_dittmer
Explorer III
Oct 24, 2017
ctilsie242 wrote:
I've read complaints about the four-banger Sprinter with regards to power up hills... but just from a brief glance, I don't see the engine offered in new models. The six has been around for a bit. It won't win races, but it is good enough.
I thought the 2006/2007ish Sprinter diesel engine was an in-line 5 cylinder.
ctilsie242
Explorer II
Oct 23, 2017
I've read complaints about the four-banger Sprinter with regards to power up hills... but just from a brief glance, I don't see the engine offered in new models. The six has been around for a bit. It won't win races, but it is good enough.
bagman
Explorer
Oct 18, 2017
The Tiffin is the new 6 cycl Blu-Tec engine as Tiffin just recently came out with a MH on the Sprinter chassis. I believe the new Tiffin is called the "Wayfarer!" Bagman.
Cider
Explorer
Oct 16, 2017
Jack Spratt wrote:
Test drove a Tiffin on this chasis and it handled well, but it
seemed like it needed all 180+ horsepower to get up to speed
on the interstate.
Is this enough power out West in the mountains? Headwinds?
Any shared experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Jack

Not sure which w=engine you are speaking of here. If it is the 5 cylinder Mercedes diesel, yep - I can believe that. One of the reasons they don't make it anymore. If you are talking about the Blu-Tec 6 cylinder, I don't have any issues with ours. We have the 2017 MBS 2400R and tow a '08 Jeep Sahara (just under 4000 pounds). Last trip was from Oregon to MT, Wy, Co, Ut, Id back to Oregon. Crossed the Continental Divide about 8 times and never had an issue. Yes, there were times I was going 40 - 45 up the grade, but that is to be expected pulling a toad with the 6 cylinder diesel. Going from where I am in Central Oregon over the Cascades to the coast without the toad - 65 mph all day long. So in answer to your question, from my perspective - no concerns about the 6 cylinder diesel.