04/13/2023
My name is Chris Ekstrom and I am a past employee of Arrkann Trailer. Upon my retirement I have been helping out the dealership by moving trailers and motor coaches to customer locations when needed. I was very fortunate this last March as I was asked to drive a motor coach from Edmonton to Windsor Ontario. The coach in question was a 2022 Entegra Esteem 27U Class C. The trip took five days and covered 4200 kms. Entegra Coach is a luxurious brand that has gained popularity for its attention to detail and features more akin to those you would find in a luxury Class A. I am going to break down the driving experience in to three categories, drive-ability, handling, and performance.
Driveability - This coach never made you want to stop and stretch your legs, the comfort in this coach is second to none. With my long driving days, up to 14 hrs at a time, I never felt fatigued at all. The luxurious leather seats were firm with good lumbar support and I never felt any back soreness at all on the trip.
Handling - The Entegra motor coaches are known as the best riding best handling coaches in the industry and my 4200 km trip will attest to that. I went over some rough sections of road and very curvy highways and this coach did not exhibit any inability to handle. The Esteem models come with high grade Koni FSD shocks, heavy duty rear stabilizer bar and Hellwig helper springs. This combination took any road harshness away and there was absolutely no body roll going into tight corners on highways. You will sometimes get vibrations coming up through steering columns on rough roads, zero on this model. Was I impressed by this? at 14 hrs a day you bet.
Performance - The driveability and handling are very important qualities you need in a coach, which the Entegra has but, performance is really where this coach stands out. Entegra is using Fords new 7.3L V-8, replacing the venerable V-10 model that was used for 30 years. I have driven the V-10 models a fair amount but, this new powertrain from Ford is head and shoulders above the V-10. This motor never left me wanting for more, power was never a question. When driving through some of the lower spots along the Great Lakes, or coming out of river valleys, this coach never lagged power. Some of the valleys would have 8 to 10 percent grades coming out and I had the cruise set at 60 mph and this coach never lost any speed. It would stay at set speed and never climb more than 3700 RPM, which for a gas motor is quite amazing. For anybody who has towed or driving older models, you know gas motors will scream at 5000 or more RPM coming out of valleys and lose power at same time, not this coach. So if you are in the market for a motor coach, do yourself a favor and check out the Entegra line at ArrKann Trailer. You will not be disappointed and I am hoping that somewhere down the line I will have to make another trip.