In the latest Family Motor Coaching, an article announced Tiffin is planning to make a 28' diesel pusher, the "Breeze", with a 215 HP Navistar engine.

OK, so it's plastic, not aluminum, and its a Tiffin, not a Barth, but it's a departure from companies focussing on behemoths.

Rusty, I don't see a big market for this coach. I know the set-up works perfect for you, but you're in the minority when it comes to RV buyers, in that most don't practically live in the coach and travel a million miles a year . For a couple, 28 feet is a tad small for full or semi-full timing, and for recreational use, most would rather have a FI gasser. Fuel is normally cheaper, it's easier to work on, or to find someone to work on, and most people are just more familiar with gas engines.
That being said, for those who don't need the space of larger coach but plan on logging the big miles, this would probably be a perfect choice. I'm sure the fuel milage will be good, and a DP is so much quieter to ride in. Did they give any prices? Where did Navistar come from?

quote:

Originally posted by Danny Z:
Where did Navistar come from?

Navistar has a pretty big tent nowadays. They are the International Tractor Trailer Trucks you see on the road.

http://www.navistar.com/Navistar/

I don't know, Danny. A 28'/30' diesel pusher, properly laid out, with lots of large basement storage and a long wheelbase of around 200", would be the perfect full timer for me. Most of the 35'/40' coaches don't really function any better than one like I described above. Don't misunderstand me, the longer ones are very nice, and I had a 35' Dynasty once. A few years ago, Family Motor Coach magazine had an article about a guy named Mumma who had a coach like I have described, built for him. It ended up costing $180000 but was really quite nice and worked great for full timing. It was a FRED. Think about the old 28' Trek, with a different bed set up. BTW, Tiffin expects mileage in the "mid teens". If they price it below $150,000, they'll sell a bunch of them.
Just dreamin'
Jim
P.S. Actually, my dream coach would be a MCI 30' long. Anybody ever hear of one?

quote:

28 feet is a tad small for full or semi-full timing.

Gulp....next year, the bride & I are gonna try 3/4-timing in a 24 footer......

...You may see us on Reality TV - Divorce Court

Question(s) and some observations for this what if process.
Aren't storage, seating and sleeping comfort the real considerations if it is just a couple?
Besides the current cruiser I've had slide-ins and trailers. I actually preferred the cab-over slide in since the trailer was pretty small and you had to sleep where you sat. The cruiser is larger than either but it is you "island" if you are gunkholing and anchoring.
Even nearly fulltiming isn't it still your "slightly larger than a New York City apartment" on wheels and you have the surroundings you choose?
A friend I worked with, often out of town, did most of his extended work out of town using a mid-twenty Hi-Lo. He and his wife seemed to enjoy it quite well, I know I enjoyed visiting with them after work.
Still considering ownership, just like the idea of being a minimalist somewhere in my life.

The 28' DP isn't for everyone, but now there's going to be a coach for those who want one.

In many instances, the larger coaches have only duplicate features in the greater space - like a dinettte/table and chairs, two sofas instead of one. Two people can't make use of that. And I know a lot of people that, like me, take several two-three week trips a year, several quite long (my top is 3800 mile round trip). The economy of the diesel is attractive, as is the smaller size.

If I were in the market, I'd have preferred the Cummins 6.7L, especially since GVW is 21,500 lbs. My Breakaway is 16K.

If you compare it to many live aboard sailboats, there's a lot of room. And you can get out and use a picnic table.

If fuel goes back up, you will see more and more small rigs with clever ways to use space. Like the B class RVs, they will cost more per foot, but people will demand the economy.

I for one have considered going up to a Prevost, but the size is too big for us. We simply don't want a house to go down the road or the added expense of fuel and maintenance. If they made a 36' Prevost, I'd be seriously considering it.

Of course I agree Rusty is not the norm, but let's get back to talking about Coaches

I'ts not the size,I'ts how you use it.

Four Winds brought out a model called the Serrano 31Z. It's 32' long, on a 190" Workhorse W20, front diesel chassis with a MaxForce 7 6.4-L diesel that has been tested at 13.2 mpg by an independent testing source, loaded to it's full GVWR of 20500#. Also some cavernous basement storage. MSRP with a lot of goodies $146,000. Only problem, it's not a Barth. Damn, I wish they were still in business.
Jim

Some very good observations here have made me re-think my statements. I based my 28' remarks on our coach, which I still feel would be a tad small for full-timing. We have a very small storage compartment below, a shower that would give Houdini closterphobia, and either we sleep on twin beds or take up the whole living space with the fold down, which would be a pain on a daily basis. With proper design, all these could be overcome. The screen room adds another 140 feet or so of living area, and properly tied down would only have to be removed for the most inclement weather.
I've been on a few live-aboard sailboats, and that's a life-style all it's own.
Also, I would assume any new coach is going to have some slide-out floor space, which makes up in width what you lose in length.
I guess I'll have to check one out in person before I form a final opinion, but I won't be replacing the Euro with one any time soon.

Jim, i don't know of any 30' MCIs. If they made any they would be in Canada. The 5 series was the first to be sold to the US starting in 1963 and they are all 35'. I have however seen a 2 axle 35' Prevost several times at one of our bus rallies. My bus book has no info on them but i know they had a few of them. About the only 30' one that i see is a Flxible "New Look" or a Crown Intercity at 32'.

For us, the basement storage is the big thing. Even if our 28' Regal had more storage, we're at the max on the front axle with almost nothing other than the coach on it, and have only about 1000# available for the rear axle. I could tow a trailer or pickup with camper top to take care of full timing necessaties, but towing something in the 5000# range with a '85 454 is not my idea of fun.
Jim

For the Busnuts out there, GM made 3 30' 4106s. The were used to haul folks to the top of pikes peak. A Western GM club member has 2 of them. One converted and the second for spare parts.

We have a 43.5' Newell. A great full timers coach.

We also have a 30' Breakaway. We bought the Barth to travel to Alaska by way of the Alaskan water highway (ferry). We used the shorter unit as both a car and to live in.

Marleen has one requirement. A seperate bedroom. The Barth has all we need except washer and dryer. And we lived in it for a little over a year while the Newell set in Yuma. We only wish we had the center door.

With GM discontinuing the big block gas engine most of the Workhorse chassis will probably now be diesel. Going to be some short FREDs available I would guess.

A few years ago, Tom and I investigated a Prevost. When we got inside and walked through the coach, I commented that it didn't have as much interior room as our Barth did. We looked high and low and finally discovered that although it was 45' or so, it had like a 7' deep engine "room", floor to ceiling at the rear of the coach. The bed was a walk around queen, we figured that interior wise, we would gain about 2' of living space.

Needless to say, didn't make the move, kept the Regency, the Prevost sure was pretty, but we think our Regency is pretty too (and it's paid for)

Tina