Just sold the Leisure Seeker wanting to upgrade to the Alpine 30'. We want to tow a 2 door Suzy behind, the choices are 4.8l turbo or 5.3l turbo the latter being a lot dearer. My question is from people who have either, is the 4.8l turbo powerful enough or should I save up a bit more and go for the 5.3l turbo.Cheers
I don't have a Winnebago I have a 7 meter A class MH based on a MAN bus/truck chassis. 4.6 Turbo. It comes in around 8.5 Tonnes. I flat tow a Suzuki Grand Vitara four door. Travelling down the Newell Highway on the flat I can easily do the 110kph if needed, Normally I do 95 kph . A little slow up hills but that's what slow vehicle lanes are for. Would be nice to have the extra power but it's adequate.
I would make one suggestion though. I would research the flat towing rigs and go for one with telescopic arms that you can connect even at an angle. They then lock automatically when you straighten up. So much easier than the rigid type which I bought. Those, you have to be straight before you can hitch up. Well worth the extra outlay.
is the 4.8l turbo powerful enough or should I save up a bit more and go for the 5.3l turbo.Cheers
That depends upon your frame of mind. Are you a petrol head and want to be at the head of the queue on the road? Do you want to be able to climb hills without having to change gears? Are you content to take a little more time climbing hills to save money?
Remember if you liberally use the extra power of the bigger engine then there will be more added costs than the initial purchase price. The smaller motor will be capable of climbing any main road hill in a reasonable time or they would be fitting it. If you are impatient and want to climb hills quicker and be first off at the traffic lights then go for the bigger motor.
The choice is all yours and not something that anyone can dictate through the forum. My recommendation would be don't hang around waiting for the extra finance, get your wheels and get out there.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Thanks guy's understand all that but would like to hear from someone with a similar rig. Not in a hurry to get anywhere . I was just interested in why Isuzu changed the engine size in the same models NQR450, were they undersized for this rig. Maybe I should contact Isuzu. Thanks again.
Are you talking about the NQP400 vs the NQR450? We have an NQP400 and I had to do a lot of ringing around to Isuzu and others when researching for a diesel chip for the engine. I talked to a number of people and my conclusion is that the iterations of the engines were to address various " improvments" in the words of one engineer. I respectfully suggest that the improvements were to address engine issues as they came up AND to add innovations. The innovations part included the rail pressure for instance and combustion ratios etc and from what I see in the lists there were a fair number of engine sub versions over the life of the 5 litre block.
I would conclude that with the rate of development I see the later engines would possibly have a significant advantage over the earlier models. Therefore I would suggest the 5 litre block may be superior to the earlier 4 litre blocks.
But that is just focussed on the engine...the previous answers regard what you need the engine to do. The answers are good, lead foot?, economics?, maintenance, etc are all part of your need which you will decide.
Conclusion ... I think the more powerful 5 litre gives you more "safety margin"
Some times the bigger engine can be more of a truck engine ? Yes I know it is !! Meaning more of a slugger . A motorhome can't be driven hard anyway or things get damaged inside ., Turbo Diesel engines have heaps of torque when required. Check final drive ratio, tyre diameter between the two as well .. I drive these as work trucks . Very good both of them . From memory the 450 had the extra ratio ? But mainly use over 100 kph . Just lowers rpm at cruise .
