Motorhome purchase advice welcome

Tonysavage
Tonysavage Forum Participant Posts: 6
edited June 2020 in Motorhomes #1

Hi

Having an old motorhome of which I love, just lacks power on hills.

my family want me to take them on a road trip to Spain but have said we would struggle with our motorhome.

question is..I want to change to a suitable motorhome that is man enough to to take on hills and mountains. Do I look at 2.3 -3 litre engine witH at least 150 BHP or something else.

Anyone with any recommendations please..budget of 40.000”

regards

tony

Comments

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #2

    Tony

    If your budget is £40000 I think you will have plenty choice. We are now on our second Peugeot based motorhome with 130hp engines and I have never found them lacking in power. Where slightly more power might be needed is if you wanted to go for an automatic but these usually already have an engine upgrade. Perhaps get hold of a copy of MMM (Motorhome Monthly Magazine) as they have a good section on buying secondhand.

    David

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #3

    We went for a 2.3 Fiat based Euro 6 150hp, rather than the 130hp. It certainly has plenty of power on hills, even close to our maximum loading. In France last year there were a few really steep bits and it tackled them with ease. 

  • Aspenshaw
    Aspenshaw Forum Participant Posts: 611
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    edited June 2020 #4

    We have a Fiat 130bhp with Comfortmatic. It's slow. There is an 'Up Button" for going uphill and it did change gear very well on 1:3 hills in Scotland. You can also use it in manual. It suits us as we travel with the snails. Overall, I like the Comfortmatic.

    Without knowing your vans weight, I would say a 150bhp is the minimum for the extra oomph. 150bhp will let you run with the lorries rather than us snails.

    This may give you an idea:

    https://www.fiatcamper.com/en/product

    Have you thought about having your engine performance tuned for better performance? 

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #5

    150bhp will let you run with the lorries rather than us snails.

    As our MH's unladen weight is less than 3.05 tonnes the same limits apply as if we were a car. It's one of the things I enjoy about the MH, no more traveling with the HGV's. On Motorways we normally travel at about 65 mph. It returns a slightly better MPG than 70 mph. It's still a relatively new engine at only 5000 miles, but so far we have averaged 29.3 overall.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,139 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #6

    So much depends on the weight of the van and the generation of the engine. We have a Euro6 2litre Peugeot 160 engine in ours and it flies but we're only 3500kg fully loaded. It goes far better than the 2007 3litre in a 4250kg unit we had back along.

    Really, you can only test drive and see what you think.

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,859 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #7

    I have just realised I was telling fibs about my new motorhome which actually has the 160hp engine. However I still stand by my point that the Bailey Approach 740 with the smaller 130hp engine was no slouch and we toured all over Europe with it. Difficult to compare it with the newer engine as we have only done about 2500 miles and the new motorhome is smaller and lighter. I do appreciate the extra 5 mpg I get with the new one!!!

    David

  • cyberyacht
    cyberyacht Forum Participant Posts: 10,218
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    edited June 2020 #8

    150BHP in my Peugeot lowline van. I tend to cruise about 5mph slower than SteveL and get around 32-33mpg

  • no one
    no one Forum Participant Posts: 216
    edited June 2020 #9

    Most modern engines should be more than capable to do what you need.

    I am wondering how old your 'old' Motorhome is and whether the engine could be upgraded which would work out cheaper, unless of course you really want a change.

    My 'old' MH only has 85bhp! its good enough for me (2800kg loaded), and trundles along quite happily, but there again, I would probably never take it across Europe! if I did I would look for an engine upgrade as it is old with no electronics to confuse matters wink

  • Tonysavage
    Tonysavage Forum Participant Posts: 6
    edited June 2020 #10

    Wow 

    thank-you all so much, given me plenty of thought..just have to find my MH now.

    really excited 

    tony

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,139 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #11

    Good hunting!

  • Oneputt
    Oneputt Club Member Posts: 9,144 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2020 #12

    Don’t forget to put some of the purchase price on your credit card