Some musings from Mr UK Toad, a complete novice to towing but learning quickly
Last weekend for a while
Posted 05-29-2011 at 05:55 PM by MrUKToad
We took Towed Haul up to Point Farms Provincial Park, on the shores of Lake Huron, for the weekend. The trip was about 185 Kms (115 miles) each way, pretty flat and for once, largely wind free.
It was just the two of us, fairly lightly loaded, and we decided to try to improve on the awful gas consumption figures we had on the trip to the Finger Lakes.
On the way up we started Towed Haul with half a tank of water and the Sienna with a full tank of fuel and followed roads that had a speed limit of 90Kms (55 miles) per hour and tried to keep to that speed. There were lots of stop signs, right angle turns and farm vehicles to negotiate before we hit Highway 21 on the edge of the lake. Highway 21, though is a straight run and apart from some stop lights in Grand Bend, is pretty much non-stop. The rain came a bit but not so bad as to impact speed; only 80Kph (50 mph) on Highway 21, but steady.
Reading for the outward leg was 18.1 litres per 100 kms. That's 13 mpg (US) or 15.6 mpg (Imperial).
The return leg was with a similar half tank of water, in good weather, with a slightly shorter, although more rural, route. Starting on Highway 21 at 80 Kph I just set the cruise control and let it go, only coming off it when I had to. On the cross-country route from the lake to home, the limits were 90kph but I stuck it at 80 kph, again on the cruise. There's a few less stops on this route so it was quicker and with less acceleration and deceleration.
Reading for the homeward leg was 15.8 litres per 100 kms. That's 14.9 mpg (US) and 17.9 mpg (Imp).
It's amazing how you can improve the rates just with some careful driving, some speed limit adherence and have some luck with the weather. I know that conditions favoured us this weekend but I'm still quite pleased with the results.
As a postscript, Point Farms Provincial Park was very nice. The camping bays were good, the bath house new and comfortable and the whole place was well maintained. I think we shall go there again!
It was just the two of us, fairly lightly loaded, and we decided to try to improve on the awful gas consumption figures we had on the trip to the Finger Lakes.
On the way up we started Towed Haul with half a tank of water and the Sienna with a full tank of fuel and followed roads that had a speed limit of 90Kms (55 miles) per hour and tried to keep to that speed. There were lots of stop signs, right angle turns and farm vehicles to negotiate before we hit Highway 21 on the edge of the lake. Highway 21, though is a straight run and apart from some stop lights in Grand Bend, is pretty much non-stop. The rain came a bit but not so bad as to impact speed; only 80Kph (50 mph) on Highway 21, but steady.
Reading for the outward leg was 18.1 litres per 100 kms. That's 13 mpg (US) or 15.6 mpg (Imperial).
The return leg was with a similar half tank of water, in good weather, with a slightly shorter, although more rural, route. Starting on Highway 21 at 80 Kph I just set the cruise control and let it go, only coming off it when I had to. On the cross-country route from the lake to home, the limits were 90kph but I stuck it at 80 kph, again on the cruise. There's a few less stops on this route so it was quicker and with less acceleration and deceleration.
Reading for the homeward leg was 15.8 litres per 100 kms. That's 14.9 mpg (US) and 17.9 mpg (Imp).
It's amazing how you can improve the rates just with some careful driving, some speed limit adherence and have some luck with the weather. I know that conditions favoured us this weekend but I'm still quite pleased with the results.
As a postscript, Point Farms Provincial Park was very nice. The camping bays were good, the bath house new and comfortable and the whole place was well maintained. I think we shall go there again!
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Hi, sounds like you had a great trip. It has been said that the amount of water in the fresh tank won't effect your gas mileage, but the shape of the Airstream and the speed in which we travel makes the biggest difference. I pretty much average 11.5 MPG and this is going with the flow, at various speeds, various weather, and altitudes. I usually travel at 60 to 65 MPH occasionally hitting 70 MPH. I don't like driving [towing] faster than that; That's a lot of metal [weight] to stop in a hurry, if necessary.Posted 05-30-2011 at 01:06 AM by ROBERTSUNRUS 
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I'm finding that the Sienna and the Airstream seem particularly comfortable at 50mph, the engine revs just a touch below 2,000 rpm and pulling quite nicely. Of course, you wouldn't drive at 50mph on the highway and that's when the gas consumption goes up. Highway limits here are 62mph (100kph) and I like to stick to that, even though I end up being the slowest on the road. The gas consumption changes dramatically at 100kph, although it would even when not towing. I've not been able to do a proper check in reasonable conditions yet; hopefully now that the sun is shining I will be able to, so I should get some proper readings.
I think with our tow vehicle, carrying any quantity of water will have some effect because, as you know, it's heavy stuff. I'd imagine, though, if your TV was the sort that has similar gas consumption figures when towing and when not towing then you'd probably not notice a difference regardless of water on board.Posted 05-30-2011 at 07:23 PM by MrUKToad
