Roughing It Smoothly in Our Tiffin Allegro Open Road

Why we love our new ride

By Brenda MahlerPublished about a year ago • 2 min read

Image from author's photo album

We are part of the Tiffin family and excited about our journey. We purchased our rig in January, had some maintenance work done to it (that’s a different story), and hit the road in February. It’s been two months and we are having the time of our life.

Prior to this purchase we owned a 2005 Monaco Diplomat. She was beautiful and we hated to part with her.

She, affectionately known as the The Beast, offered a consistently smooth ride and we worried about going to a gas engine. Now we have no regrets. The gas engine does have a little less power but not significant. Hills take a little longer to climb but we’re retired and at 60+ years of age we are not in a hurry to get anywhere. Our days of racing on the straight-a-ways are long behind us. Gas, of course, is cheaper so there is a financial savings.

The Beast was 40 long so we worried about storage, but the Tiffin has as much and maybe more in her 32 feet underbelly. Hard to believe? Because she sits higher the storage compartments are taller and provide more space that goes all the through from one side to the other. When stationed next to my brother’s rig we noticed a significant difference so the guys measured the height of the tires. My husband now brags, “Mine is 4 inches bigger.” Men!

We worried a newer motorhome would be made less durable. In its day the Monaco was top of the line, but they don’t make them anymore. When we began investigating, we discovered the Tiffin manufacturer takes great pride in their product. When compared them to other RV manufacturers, and we looked at a lot, the doors rattle less, the floor provides more stability, the walls are sturdier, and overall this is a quality built machine.

The shorter length of the Open Road allows us more flexibility where we stay. We have found several parks that can’t accommodate 40 feet. Though it depends on an owner’s intentions and desires as to what will work for them. We enjoy staying in state and national parks, and they sometimes have limitations.

I also was intimidated driving The Beast. I can drive most anything from my Harley to a snowmobile but 40 feet!? I drove it once, which made for a humorous story, then decided unless completely necessary I would remain in the passenger’s seat.

Learning to Drive The Beast in Rush Hour Traffic

Thirty-two feet seems more manageable. I’ve driven it without any mishaps.

By purchasing a rig that is 18 years newer, we have access to newer technology. This baby is sweet. In the older rig we had updated and added aftermarket accessories which were sometimes not as convenient. Now we have it all interlinked and functioning with one brain simultaneously.

The Tiffin Open Road fulfills our personal desires.

A wraparound sofa.