Riding in Mark Martin's 800+ HP Motorcoach & Toolbox Tour!

Good lord, that thing goes. >> Got this nice toolbox that just barely fits in here. >> We wanted everybody who saw it to say, "Wow." >> Experimented with gear ratios and experimented with shocks. >> Today we're going to get a tour on exactly how Mark organizes all of his tools in his compound turbo motorcoach. But before we do that, we're going to hit the road and see how this thing runs. If you're driving this thing and you go to make a left turn, do you throw your hand over the top? >> There's the Arkansas handle on the steering wheel. >> The steering wheel is not close enough to do the Arkansas grip. Man, this one This one drives so nice. I had This is the fifth one in 11 years and it drives nicer, better. The steering feels tighter. This is quiet, quieter. Amazing how how much improvement they've made over over those years. Even over the last one, that's 3 years 3 years ago. This one's quieter and tighter feeling. And Newell's, you know, got the constant dampening suspension. So, you've got sport and comfort mode on the shocks settings, just like you do in a sports car. >> Huh. >> Yeah. You can stiffen it up if the road's smooth. I run it in, you know, sport mode all the time. Um but once you get on a choppy road, then you can go to comfort. >> Can't even feel the generator running. >> I know. It's great. >> That's crazy. >> Can't can't, you know, I mean, it you hardly even hear it. It's a different generator than the last time. They had the They had used Martin generators forever. And they had to make a switch. Uh Newell did and and uh this generator is is a little bit different tone. It's still the 20 kW. It's a little bit different tone in it and so it makes it sound quieter and they they meet the emissions with it without having to have a DPF filter on it, which is nice. So, it doesn't have to regen and everything. >> They actually have to put DPF filters on generators now? >> Yeah, my my coach before this had a DPF filter and would regen while it was running and stuff. >> Wow, I had no idea it got that's crazy. >> so they were having to meet emissions even with the generators. Of course, we're talking about a 20 kW generator, so it's not like a you know, a little bitty one or something and I don't know all the particulars. I'll leave all that stuff up to to Newell. Uh even Cummins requires a bunch of uh you know, they have to certify. Newell has to certify the cooling and and you know, all all the stuff so that you know, Cummins will give them a warranty and stuff. So, with this new emissions engine that Cummins is coming out with for 27, uh Newell has to go through an entire testing process, you know, to Wow, what power. >> got some thrust. That's impressive. >> Yeah, I forgot I forgot to I had it downshifted, but good lord, that thing goes. >> It just picks up and goes like a truck does. It doesn't even Wow. >> Yeah. How about that? >> I mean, I can I can see your foot move and I feel it in my seat. >> Yeah, and this is going uphill. See, how quiet, smooth. >> That's amazing. >> Yeah, I actually switch it up to sport mode on the shocks. There isn't a credible credible uh pace. You know, they just uh they never stop uh making progress. As technology comes along where they are comfortable with incorporating it into their coaches, you know, they they don't jump on everything right out of the gate until they can test it, you know, because they have to service it. They have to get it out there in the field. So, um they they have to be sure that when they make an upgrade that uh you know, it won't give them any problems out in the field. They do a great job of doing that and keeping up with the progress of technology. This is a new door. I'm one of the first coaches to get this new door uh that they They had the other door that used for you know, over, you know, decades, two decades, long, long time. Uh but they they had to upgrade that door and it's so much better. Closes tight. Zero noise. I think the coach is quieter because of this new door. I'm so lucky, you know, that my coach fell didn't fall two months earlier. If it'd have been two months earlier, I wouldn't have got that door. And I didn't know anything about it. I just found out right before it delivered that that we got it. It's a electric operated and air I I guess held in place with whereas the other door was all air operated. So, this is just a much better uh operating door. It's much more solid, seals tight. We were going 80 miles an hour and it's just quiet. >> I can't hear any wind noise or anything. >> It's amazing. >> I've never been in one of these at highway speed before. It is it's really impressive. It feels very glued to the road. It's not like floaty, it's not buffeting. I don't There's no body movement. It's just going down the road. >> Yeah. Yeah, with the shocks in in comfort, you get just a little bit of you know, a little bit of float in the front. Then you go to to sport >> and it's just >> solid. I just like to If the road's like it's concrete road and you got those chop chops in it, I just like to run the smoother shocks then cuz I try not to rattle anything loose, you know, I'm I'm psycho about rattles, squeaks. I haven't had any squeaks in a long time, but uh you know, it's so easy to rattle because you can have a coffee cup in the in the you know, in the cabinet. And if it gets over against another coffee cup, you'll hear ding ding ding, you know, so it's a constant battle uh to make sure you you have these things rattle-free. This was This was This is the best coach I've ever had. >> How long does it take to actually pick everything? If you call them and say I'm buying one of these things and you you you go there and you look at all their little swatches and colors and all that. How That just seems like a a lot. >> Well, Amber Kernan, uh you know, is uh main interior designer. You give her an idea of the scene, you know, the kind of things you like. She usually uh has a couple different choices, starting points. And then when you zero in on I like that direction, then you start adding in. There's so many You can choose every single, you know, every finish in it. You know, it would be totally overwhelming. Uh >> That's what I was thinking of. It's just every single thing. >> Every single thing you you pick. You can choose. Like they start with two pieces of frame rail laying, you know, in the floor and start from there. And if you spec it a certain way, it has that process has to be different. You know, you can spec it with bigger holding tanks, and if so, the base have to be, you know, slightly different size or you have to have your spec done before they start that frame because it not every one of them is exactly the same. And of course, they do mid entries and front entries. So, you know, you have to have that zeroed in as well. >> Why are you a front entry guy? >> Um space. I I I would much prefer mid entry. >> Really? >> Much. You walk right into the kitchen. You don't have to come around. The front's way way more convenient in my opinion, but Arlene and I uh really every single half inch matters to us. You don't lose anything with this door, but if you put this door back there, you lose a little bit of space. And we worked real hard trying to get that space back, and we're that we're never able to do it to get it where we wanted it. >> I thought it was maybe cuz you drive it so much, it's easier just to pop in and out without tracking dirt through it. That's what I don't like about my mid entry is I got to like take my shoes off and then I'll drive in barefoot cuz I don't want to walk across the carpet with my, you know, gas station shoes or whatever. >> Yeah. You get out at a truck stop, always fuel, asphalt over the ground, and makes me makes me nervous. It didn't even downshift. >> It just just dug right through it. >> Just Pulled right through it. >> I could hear the the rumble. That same noise back there is what sounds like a tornado when you're standing behind it on the dyno. It's amazing how quiet like there's like rattles and squeaks and stuff. I don't think I've ever been in any coach that didn't >> I know. >> make any noise. This is the quietest one I've ever been in. >> It's like a It's like a house being in a earthquake every day. I mean, you you know, you think about it how rough the roads are. It just beats them to death. So, these things have to be constructed you know, amazingly constructed. >> What's your favorite and most hated places to drive your Newell through? >> I don't enjoy two-lane roads. So, I and I don't enjoy construction. But, uh other than that, I you know, I enjoy driving all the time. Um I don't like the Northeast like up around Rhode Island and all. Newport, uh Providence. It's, you know, three, four, five lanes wide and chaotic. And I don't I don't love that. That's That's what I dislike the most. Um I like two lanes. Three lanes is fine, but when it starts getting more than three lanes and it's uh obviously it's because of a city and congestion, then you've got so much going on on both sides. You know, it's not my favorite thing by any means. >> And this thing just digs when you turn it. That is so shocking that it almost to me feels like it's leaning into the turn because I'm I'm like You were for it to roll out and it doesn't. >> Yeah, they could tell you more about the suspension but it's it it detects and corrects for the air you know the air bags do for for that. You still if you put it in the turn it rolls but it doesn't roll if you don't really jack it in there. Uh sits really sits really straight. It has big sway bars on it. inch three quarters it's standard and usually I order them with 2-in sway bars. Uh just so happened that they broke the machine when they were making this the one the 2-in for this one. So this one has a inch and seven inch three quarter front and a 2-in rear. And for right now I'm not worried about it. It drives so good. This coach drives better than any coach I've had. I'm not interested in messing with anything about it. As far as the you know shocks, anti-roll bars or anything like that. I think it's perfect balance right now. >> Have you done some experimenting in the past with gear ratios? >> Yeah, experimented with gear ratios and experimented with shocks because I thought I could do better than their CDC uh shocks. And you know I did road king shocks and I had them build me uh re-valve the front shocks like three or four different times. And all I had all I managed to do is make the coach ride rougher. >> Really? >> I never never was able to improve it. So then I went back to Newell's you know standard shocks and it was better. Road better and and uh you know had the had the same body control. So they really got it figured out at Newell you know and uh with their suspension they did a lot of testing to refine and bring it to to this level. >> In a quarter mile, merge onto I-15 South. >> Down the back stretch into turn three, and I pulled a little bit on his left, but look at him leaving positions at the right hand. He really uses the right hand. Most race drivers do more pulling with their left hand than pushing with their right hand. >> He gets a lot marks on the driving instructor in our high school. >> That's right. Driver training, that would be a C- minus at least, but it's good enough for about 190, 95 miles an hour for Mark Martin leading the Great American Race. >> 11 years. This is the fifth Newell coach. So, kind of got my system figured out on how I want to organize things and carry a lot of tools because you know, I'll get places and need to hang something on drywall, so I need a stud finder. I've got an a massive amount of tools. I've got this nice toolbox that just barely fits in here. And then behind it, you know, I've got all kinds of stuff from goggles to you know, for grinding. I've got uh cut off tool, grinder, angle drill, regular drill, hammer drill, everything you can think of that you might need and then down below, if you look down below this rack, you see easy outs, tap and die sets, uh >> Okay, yeah, back there I can >> Yeah, screws, some small bolts, miscellaneous screw stuff, just all kinds of little things. Then like up here I've got uh wiring uh crimps uh fuses all kinds of stuff I've run into on the road like with a tow car needing something for the lights. Uh I don't even know I'm not much of electrical so I don't even know what those things are called but I've got you know I've got all that stuff, flashlights, lights and it's all you know very conven- convenient, zip ties tape glues, epoxies. >> Do you spend a lot of time on your phone? Well, we found an amazing app that lets you earn money while having fun. Tester app lets you earn money by testing apps in a few easy steps. 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If you like playing games on your phone, you'll you'll find games you enjoy playing and then you'll get some money for sharing your feedback on them. And don't forget to sign up using our link or they won't know that we sent you. >> What are the systems that are in this bay that all your stuff is working around? >> So there's two 5,000 W inverters that invert the lithium ion house batteries, you know, into appliances like your coffee maker and uh you know, most of your household appliances, even the 110 part of the uh electric hot water or on those. You can run um one AC without a power source through the those batteries. >> Oh, wow. >> Through those uh And then, of course, in the back, you see the fan, it's actually running. That keeps this bay cool because those inverters of course, make a good bit of heat converting uh the 12-V stuff to house 110 um you know, power. I think uh you know, even the microwave and stuff like that works without a power source, just off of the battery. >> That's wild. >> So, that that's a very important bay, and on the other side of that bay is the radiator for the generator. The generator's in the nose of the coach, but it pipes back to the radiator that lays flat in the bay on the other side and has a fan to cool it. And so, cooling this bay into that bay, and you know, it can uh the hot air can escape either when the generator's running or not, you know, it has venting. And it uh that vent uh that vent pulls some air from underneath to a little filter right here, so it gets fresh air in from here and out from there. There's actually a temperature gauge inside that tells you what the temperature is in the heat, you know, electrical bay there. >> Really, that's cool. >> Cuz you don't want to get too hot, or those inverters don't they start to not work right, you know. So, they've got that all science down and figured out. I almost didn't put the grill in and just use because we don't ever use it. Think on my other coach in 3 years we used it one time, maybe twice in 3 years. But you hate to build a coach and not have the ability to grill out. So, we shrunk this part down a little bit so that I could get my uh vacuum, my DeWalt battery charger, my leaf blower battery charger, and all my lawn chair, camping chairs uh back here. And then of course on the backside you access from the other side is my washing bay, the leaf blower to blow the water off of stuff and then, you know, all my stuff to wash with, and hose to reach, and >> Does this have the spotless water stuff in it yet? >> Yes, it does. You want to see that? >> Yeah. >> Yeah, let's go over there. That's So, that's the the CR spotless water system. I brought that to uh Newell years ago. Um and now it's an option on all of them. And so, I bet anybody who put a pressure washer, which is an option, uh which their pressure washers are 220. So, it's like a 4-gallon a minute pressure washer. It's the real deal. It ain't one of those one of them teeny puny things. It's the real deal. But here's my uh here's my water filters, DI water filters. Gets the uh particle particle particle count down to zero. And they spin on and off just like a oil filter. I carry spare filters with me. And uh I've got on the pressure washer I've got a light that's green when it's zero. And when it starts, you know, showing some particles in the in the water, turns red. So, I don't have to come over here. This is a gauge how you can check it. But, I don't have to come and look at that. I can just walk by the the bay back there by the engine where the pressure washer is. If the light's green, I'm still good. >> That's so cool that it's got a built-in like pressure washer reel and stuff back there. Like that's like the most annoying part about cleaning anything is getting all the stuff out and then putting it all away. But, it's like here for you. >> Yeah. >> All the time. >> Everything's here. This is a generator radiator. Uh and that's that other side on the other side of that set. Uh inverter bay and all the electrical stuff. So, that fan keeps it cool. It can breathe through this door. Or when the radiator's running, the fan's running, it just pushes that air right out of there. But, when this isn't running, there's a vent in this door that lets uh the hot air out. So, I've noticed that it really keeps it cool now that they have a temperature gauge in there. I've never seen it over about 102°. So, um the you know, the bays tend to get pretty hot from from the road. This bay stays cooler than the rest cuz it's got the ventilation. >> Huh. I love noticing stuff like this on here. Like they even tack weld the pin into the hinge so it doesn't like rattle out. Just all those little things that they put details into. >> Yeah, and you know, it's really nice. Back in the day, you had to reach down and to to run these uh these trays. But, it's got they've got a button here on the door now where you can just stand right here and run. >> Wow, I've never seen this. >> Yeah. So, >> Huh. >> just kind of show you what my clean This is my cleaning bay. And not not my uh where I keep my instant detailer, not a detailer stuff. This wash, you know, this is my all my wash stuff, my soap, my microfiber towels. Only use the brush on the front of the coach where there's protection, uh PPF, uh and the windshield protection. It doesn't scratch. But if you use that brush on this sanding buff mirror finish paint, you'll see in the sun, you'll see the streaks. So, then you use the lambswool to wash everything else. I just use the the brush on the front getting the bugs off and stuff. Um and then I've got these poles mounted up so, you know, like that, I'd rake one of these microfibers on and I can dry the coach after I…