Diesel Motor Homes - The Viable Alternative...Diesel motor homes are a fact of life on the American road, and they have many advantages over models with conventional, petrol engines. As motor homes and RVs got bigger, so did their engines, until they finally arrived where trucks have many years before. Abandoning the gasoline powered engine for a diesel engine meant allowed the class A and class C motor homes to carry more weight and sport larger bodies. Diesel engines, like those found in diesel motor homes, are more powerful and rugged than gasoline engines. Diesel fuel burns cooler than gasoline, while gasoline is just this side of explosive. Gasoline engines are good for quick starts and acceleration. The explosive nature of the fuel creates the pressure needed to turn the engine very quickly. However, to produce enough power to haul very heavy loads, you need to burn a lot of gas. The diesel engine, with its cooler fuel, may not have the pickup, but it can sure put out the power. This is why larger motor homes went with the diesel configuration. While diesel fuel is often more expensive, the engines in diesel motor homes use less fuel per hour than a gasoline engine would hauling the same load. This often translates into fuel cost savings in the long run. And while the diesel engines can be difficult and more costly to repair, the mean time between failures is much less than with gasoline engines. Many of the larger motor homes come standard with diesel engines, particularly the class A models. These diesel motor homes are the ones that look like a charter bus, and are actually built using many same kinds of parts that a bus would use. They are the heaviest of the motor homes, carrying hundreds of gallons of water and industrial strength batteries in addition to the beds, sinks, showers, stoves and dining tables. And that is before you add in the people, their luggage and all of their toys. Many of the class A motor homes are equipped with heavy duty towing packages. These are used pull a variety of things, including the family car, horse trailers, and even formula one racers. Some people even have a color coordinated trailer the people use to bring all the toys they couldn’t or didn’t want to put in the motor home itself. The bunk over the cab style class C motor homes also comes in diesel models. These rigs can rival the class A in size and options, and are very often used for towing as well. And since they are often used in poorly paved or off road conditions, having the extra power of a diesel motor home often comes in handy. Even the smaller class C and class B models come with standard or optional diesel engines. While the loads these carry are beyond the range of conventional gasoline engines, driving smaller diesel motor homes can provide many of the benefits and savings as driving the larger ones. It may take some getting used to, but the motor home market has discovered what the trucking industry has known for decades. The diesel engine is the way to go for strength, reliability and economy in the long haul. Diesel motor homes are a case of the right tool for the right job. |