We’ve owned the 2020 New Aire for about 6 months now so I thought it’s time for a review. In terms of what we didn’t like about the 33’ 2019 New Aire, the 35’ 2020 New Aire fixes almost everything. Almost. Sadly, Newmar made a few changes that are less than idea. The floor plan in the 2020 New Aire 3541 is very similar to the floor plan in the 2019 New Aire 3341.

Floor plan for the New Aire 3541

2019 New Aire 3341 floor plan

Pros: 

• First up is the engine. The 8.9 ISL engine is perfectly suited for the weight of this RV. The difference over the 6.7 ISB is night and day. I still can’t explain why Newmar ever sold a 35,000 pound motorhome with that tiny engine. In any case, we can now ascend grades with aplomb. This alone was worth the upgrade.
• King bed (vs queen) and 10” longer sofa. Both self explanatory and both appreciated. On the 2020 New Aire 3341 Newmar decreased the pantry and included the same 84″ couch we have now.
  
• Increased storage space, both inside and out. The kitchen pantry is larger, as are the bedroom drawers. The additional 2’ of width in the cargo bays is quite noticeable. We managed to fit 7 weeks worth of food and supplies no problem (this was during COVID-19 when we avoided going anywhere, including grocery stores, for the entire summer).  We also had both backpacking gear and tent camping gear with us.
• We opted to add the washer and dryer in the 2020 due to increased length. In the 2019 model we had several shelves installed instead of the washer/dryer, providing a huge amount of storage but necessitating trips to the laundromat. We’ve not missed that storage space in the 2020.

We opted for the washer and dryer in our 2020 New Aire 3541

• 90 gallon diesel tank vs. 75. Fuel economy is about the same (7.5 mpg), so the additional range of 112 miles is great.
• For 2020 Newmar included a built in tire pressure monitoring system, though it’s not currently working because of a bug the vendor is trying to fix.
• 105 gallon fresh water tank vs. 75. Very nice when dry camping.
• Changes to the shower are nice: a foot nook and body wash/shampoo/conditioner dispensers, tiled floor and shower width floor drain. Downside: the tile floor (vs. shower pan for 2019) decreased height a good 2 inches, meaning my head is now higher than the shower head.
• Lighted vanity mirror

The built in foot nook is a nice addition for shaving legs

The built in dispensing system for shampoo and body wash is great

The lit mirror is nice, but not necessary

Same:

• While the same as our 33’, this is technically a huge con since it’s a large part of the reason we traded up for the 35’: the sucky engine brake. Even though we have an ISL engine, Freightliner put in a single stage exhaust brake, which is woefully inadequate.  In our 2015 Dutch Star, with the same engine and about the same weight, the engine brake on high would noticeably hold back the RV on steep downgrades. I would barely touch the service brakes. With the New Aire, on the exact same mountain (Wolf Creek Pass) I can barely tell I engaged the single stage exhaust brake. I have to use service brakes all the way down.
• In both our New Aires, we love how usable the space is when the slides are closed. On travel days it is easy to make a meal at a rest area.

With both models, we like how usable the coach is with the front slides closed

Cons:

• Freightliner changed the steering wheel column from 2019 to 2020 such that I can barely get into the drivers seat due to decrease in the amount of space between the front of the seat and the column (4.5” with the seat all the way back).

The seat and column are about 4.5 inches apart with the seat as far back as possible

• File this under change for the sake of change. Newmar decided to replace perfectly functional buttons for all lights, shades and fans with touch screens. In theory this sounds fine, as it reduces a clutter of 6-8 buttons at each location with a single touch screen. The problem is what used to take 1 action (push button to close dinette night shade for example) now takes 4 actions (hit touchscreen to wake it up, click on the home button, click on the Shades menu, and then click on dinette night shade). Simply keeping the touchscreens always active (e.g., don’t timeout) would improve the problem. The Silverleaf screen is always active, why not the touchscreens?

Simple functions like turning on lights or opening shades take at least 4 steps to complete. On the plus side, dimming is available throughout the coach.

• Because of the aforementioned touch screen ergonomic mess, we tend to leave lights on most of the time and never use the Aquamiser  (which recycles water while heating for a shower). 4 button pushes vs. 1 may not sound like much, but count how many times you turn on/off lights, open/close shades and fans per day, then multiply by 4.
• On-guard collision mitigation and adaptive cruise control. This was optional for 2019 and we did not get it on purpose. For 2020 you have no choice, and boy do I hate it. Collision mitigation sounds good, right? In practice all it does cry wolf constantly, beeping incessantly when no collision is imminent. In fact, I’ve seen it beep while there isn’t another vehicle in front of us for miles! Yet the little display screen says I’m 1.5 seconds from hitting something. This goes on for a few minutes until it finally resets.
• Split width, pull out drawers over the kitchen sink decrease storage space (albeit increase storage flexibility). We’d trade flexibility for space anytime. Karla has removed the drawers, but the frame remains as it is bolted in from below.
  

While pull out drawers seem helpful, the framing (seen here) plus drawers (removed) subtract several inches of storage space in both width and length

• The pantry latches are less functional (they come open more while driving than the 2019 implementation) and are less robust (they broke within the first 800 miles of driving).
• Fewer windows open to allow fresh air in. What’s the deal with this trend Newmar? For 2019 you removed functionally in the long windows by the sofa and dinette. Now for 2020 you removed it from the short windows as well. The only windows that now open are the one by the passenger seat, one in the bathroom (who uses this one?) and the tiny ones by the bed.
• Removed end storage cabinet at sofa (a perfect place to store DVDs)
  

Moral of the story: two steps forward and one step back.