Diesel engine power

[Hpymils]

Is a 300hp diesel sufficient for a 36/37 foot motor home? Will a 300hp lug down on hills?

[tinkerer]

My C7 Cat doesn't like to shift down until about 1600 rpms. I don't know if you would call that lugging.

[Peralko]

How fast you go up a hill is solely a function of the HP at the rear wheels and the weight of the motorhome.

[wallynm]

Depends on your definition of "lug down"

Hpymils wrote:
Is a 300hp diesel sufficient for a 36/37 foot motor home? Will a 300hp lug down on hills?

[wolfe10]

Actually HP alone does not answer the question.

There are Cummins B's with 300 HP and 6XX lb-ft torque
There are Cat 3126's with 300 HP and 860 lb-ft torque
There are Cummins C's with 300 HP and 960 lb-ft of torque

They are NOT the same.

The other part of the equation is loaded coach weight with toad.

[Mr_Mark1]

The answer could be yes or no, how much does the motorhome weigh?

We have a 42 ft. motorhome with a 425 Cummins, weigh just over 40,000 lbs. and we go slow up steep inclines. We always make it over. Our Cummins has 1,200 lb. ft. of torque.

Our new coach will weigh 54,000 lbs, 500 hp Volvo with 1,750 lb. ft. of torque. On the test drive, I did slow on a long grade but not as slow as our current coach. Torque is what moves a diesel.

MM.

[UsualSuspect]

DP's like gassers are not set up to run a 1/4 mile and be at the top of the time trials. My BIL has a 300 HP Cat in a 39 footer, he slows down on long steep hills, but I also do with 350 HP. A Buddy has a 500 HP DP, he also slows down. None of them lug, they will downshift on their own. I guess the questions is, will it be the slowest on the hill, no, will it be the fastest, no, it will be somewhere between the slowest and the fastest.