I folks! We are preparing to purchase a 36' Barth. One of them is a well-loved '89 with a Cat 3208 engine, and the other is a 93 with a Cummins 8.3 Turbo. I assume the Cummins has more horsepower, but being a turbo, probably wouldn't use more gas than the Cat 3208. Am I right? Will we be able to tow a small car with either coach? Is one engine better than the other?

Any hope you can give us to help us make our decision would be great.

Lorelei,

When I bought my Regency, the owner said that the CAT was the standard engine, and that the Cummins was an upgrade. I don't think fuel economy is much different between the engines. The fuel economy will be affected mostly by the weight of the coach and whether you have a four or six speed transmission. The Cummins with an Allison World six speed transmission is the best configuration.

Bill G

quote:

Originally posted by Lorelei:
I assume the Cummins has more horsepower,

I would be more influenced by torque than horsepower on an RV. Also, which coach has which transmission?

Both engines are very good. Given the age of our chosen marque I would go with the best coach at the best price and not worry about the name on the engine but rather its condition and history.
Transmissions are also important and I would guess the 93 would have a 5 or 6 speed which would be a plus.
We tow a light 2001 4 door Chev Tracker with no problem and it is only a 4 speed Allison.
Good luck
Don

Thanks for your perspective. My husband feels we should just try to determine which coach was more "lived in," and hence, more cared for. The 3208 Cat is in a '89 Barth in Florida, and the 8.3 Cummins is in a '93 Barth in Phoenix. Both coaches are 36', and both appear to be in very good shape, with one being a little more worn. Both have under 60K miles and have not been driven for the past year and a half. Now all I have to do is find out which type of transmission they have.

I would bet the '93 is a 6 speed world transmission and the '88 will be a 4 speed. Hopefully the 600 series and not the 500 series in the '88.

Personally I would go with the cummins

quote:

Originally posted by Gary Carter:
Personally I would go with the cummins

This would be my choice if I were only looking at a drivetrain instead of the coach. The thought of having the 5 or 6 speed with an American Made 8.3L Cummins would be more appealing to me from a mechanical and servicing standpoint.

Same here - if one does one's own work occasionally, there's more room to work an I6 than a V8 - also, I've seen later coaches where the Cummins is on rails, and can roll out for major servicing - but this feature seems to be specific to side-radiator models.

Do all Regencies have side radiators?

I don't know if they all have side radiators or not but a Regency that doesn't have a Cat, must be a dog!

Hi Bill
Nope. Ours has the radiator at the front and the engine is on rails.
I guess with a side rad you must depend on the 4 electric fans to push enough air for cooling?
Doesn't sound too good to me!
I have noticed that under some driving conditions and pulling the Tracker the fans do not even come on until we stop.
Don

quote:

Originally posted by bill h:
Do all Regencies have side radiators?

Rusty
Ours is on rails to be able to roll the engine out for service but does not have a side rad. I have only seen one other Cummins powered Regency and it also had the roll out feature. Maybe all Cummins powered ones had the feature??
The 8.3 is not a "throw away" engine so maybe that is why they came with the rails?
Don

I've seen only two (where I crawled underneath to see the engine) one Sovereign and one Monarch, both with side radiators.

I sure wish my 5.9 Cummins were on rails!! Working on the injector pump, air pump, power steering pump isn't the easiest!

Not looking forward to replacing the rear main seal later this year! That 6 speed is BIG and HEAVY!

I would also guess there is another 1-2 MPG if I had a front radiator, that big fan takes a lot of power and has to run all the time, no ram air back there!

quote:

Originally posted by Don in Niagara:
Hi Bill
Nope. Ours has the radiator at the front and the engine is on rails.

Oops, I forgot. Wish I had looked closer when you were next door. That seems like the best idea. I wonder why more MHs didn't do it that way. Would you happen to know whether the radiator in front was done by Barth or Spartan?

On the old brochure from Texas RV the Regency with the Gillig - Cat 3208 was listed as $5,200.00 more than the Spartan - Cummins. See attached below. sky

Barth: Cat or Cummins