Good mileage?

[jornvango]

We're on the way back to Texas from our first long trip with our '95 Sovereign (22 ft).
Our towing vehicle is a 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7L HEMI 4x4.

Our gas mileage on this trip is around 12 MPG. On the Interstates and highways, we drive around 60.

Is 12 MPG "good"?
Without towing the trailer the Jeep gets around 18 MPG on long trips.
We're wondering if there is a car out there that can tow our trailer and still get around 20
MPG (or better)? Maybe a recent Hybrid SUV or a Diesel truck?

[overlander63]

Yes, 12 is good. I can't rhink of anything that gets better mileage towing, and I can't think of any truck that gets 20 not towing that would be capable of towing your trailer.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by overlander63

Yes, 12 is good. I can't rhink of anything that gets better mileage towing, and I can't think of any truck that gets 20 not towing that would be capable of towing your trailer.

^^^^^^^^
YEP! Remember you've got your hotel room and restaurant right behind you.

'kind'a takes the edge off "poor" mpg.

Bob

[Bruce B]

I am always a little fascinated by our obsession with fuel mileage.
I find myself doing this too so please don't think I am being critical here....
Just for the heck of it I have calculated actual fuel costs for towing our trailer this year. So far this year we have towed about 5000 miles. That number will double before the year is out so we can see what the numbers are for my F-150 vs the 20mpg diesel you desire. I will calculate the costs using the actual locally available average price according to gasbuddy.com. Should be close enough for a picture.

Here we go: 5000 miles at 12 mpg regular fuel at $3.64 gives me a cost of $1516.66.
At the 13.5 I seem to be averaging, the number is $1348.15.
Now the 20mpg diesel at a fuel cost of $4.07 gives us a cost of $1017.50.

So, for 5000 miles a year towing, the difference in cost of fuel between a 12mpg gas engine and a 20 mpg diesel engine is exactly $499.16.

I am not aware of any vehicle that can get 20 mpg while towing but perhaps a Touareg diesel can if pulling a light enough trailer.

Certainly for us the additional savings of $660 some odd dollars a year in towing fuel costs (for 10,000 miles of towing) do not make the diesel a necessity.

Don't think I do not like diesels, if I had the option in the future to have a diesel F-150 I would be there in a flash. It is just not easy to rationalize based on cost of fuel saved towing...

Bruce

[JamuJoe]

12 mpg is probably within expectations for your rig. My 2011 FC23FB is similarly sized, and I tow with an 08 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel. I averaged 16.3 mpg (measured) on this current trip from CO to WA, keeping the cruise control on 60. Of course I pay the diesel 'penalty' of about 7% higher than premium (AAA national averages).

[elolson]

That is excellent mileage towing. I got 14.4 with a 2005 Cummins and am getting 10.9 with a 2002 F350 7.3l powerstroke both towing a 34'. You are right in there with the diesels.

[slowmover]

From 18 to 12 is a change of 33%. From the 1960's until now trailer towing with a gasoline passenger vehicle typically sees 30-40% increased consumption (other conditions held constant).

You'd have quite a few people in the square-white-box-travel-trailer crowd jealous of double-digit mpg. Those are often 7-9 mpg for comparable.

MPG in towing isn't about length or weight so much as frontal area and overall aerodynamic resistance. Yes, there are turbodiesel SUVs that can hit the low 20's with a TT the size of yours.

But, as BruceB notes above: how many nights will you be aboard, and over how many miles?

The "best" TV is the one which best meets solo duties and can also tow the trailer. Economy has to be about all ownership & operational costs.

Keep records. Make notes of temps, altitude, etc. Different vacations will have different fuel consumption numbers. A truly accurate picture takes time & miles.

And, there are ways to improve the mpg of most any tow rig. Having the right TT was the biggest part of the solution to lowest operational costs (given TT's of the same price which will also last the same time/miles).

.

[MrUKToad]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

MPG in towing isn't about length or weight so much as frontal area and overall aerodynamic resistance. Yes, there are turbodiesel SUVs that can hit the low 20's with a TT the size of yours.

Rednax is right, most people get a similar mpg regardless of TV or trailer; it's that frontal area that has the most influence on gas mileage and in that respect, we're all quite similar. My figures do go south when the wind is blowing hard...

We average 12mpg (US) over the year when towing but 28 mpg (US) when not towing, and most of our mileage is not towing. This is using a 3.5L V6 Toyota Sienna towing, some of the time, a 2011 28' International.

Those figures work for us and the way we use our vehicles - others will have different stories to tell.

[jornvango]

Thanks everyone.

What I'm hearing is that we'd better get used to 12mpg

Uphill through mountains around Ruidoso (NM) was a different story: at one point, the mpg dropped to 4!

[daveswenson]

Originally Posted by jornvango

Thanks everyone.

What I'm hearing is that we'd better get used to 12mpg

Uphill through mountains around Ruidoso (NM) was a different story: at one point, the mpg dropped to 4!

I wish I got 12 mpg.

Dave

[TG Twinkie]

Just completed a 2700 mile trip thru CO, UT, AZ, WY.. Averaged 13.2 with my '98 Dodge 2500; 5.9 Ltr. V8. 5 speed manual transmission. Pulling a '74 Argosy 26'. Never drive over 60mph.

[slowmover]

Aero resistance doesn't just rise, it shoots upwards past 60-mph.

Example:

Most folks resistant to better mpg (as well as longer tire life, driver having wider periperhal views, etc) aren't aware of how much time they actually spend at travel speed . . less than they would imagine versus recording it to see the data. Control over the stops made during the day is the key to best average mph from start to finish. Key-on to key-off. IOW, a "slower" travel speed is sometimes just as fast or faster than one higher in mph. But with fewer lane changes, fewer braking & acceleration events, and fewer steering wheel corrections, the lower speed can show significantly better FE in addition to lower horsepower demand via aero resistance.

When FE [fuel economy] is understood to be fuel cost per mile (cents per mile) then changes to an established baseline (records of all gallons & miles) when expressed as a percentage change can take the sting out of fuel consumption.

As an overall example, one can -- in ones solo daily duties -- learn to combine trips and drive fewer miles to accomplish the same ends. And then drive those remaining miles at a higher skill level for better solo FE. Done correctly this can pay a high percentage of vacation travel miles or more (assuming vacation miles are around 5,000 annually).

This isn't hypothetical, I've been able to change the numbers on my truck, solo, to underwrite in excess of 5k annually (given trailer towing numbers for level Interstate). The point would be that the absolute number folks think they get while towing can be understood from a larger context and modified from that position to change the overall fuel economy of the tow vehicle. A reduced cpm in all instances.

If I said my vacation travel fuel was free, would you believe it? Given the same annual fuel budget (at a constant fuel cost) it is entirely possible. My signature (below) shows my real costs. Easy to budget for fuel given actual consumption numbers, solo or towing.

It all starts and ends with records. And the willingness to make changes in driving habits.

.

[mstephens]

I wish I was getting 12. I am right about at the point now where I am going to stop worrying about, thinking about, and obsessing about gas mileage while towing. I've spent a year now towing our new FC 25 on about 10,000 miles of every kind of road imaginable, and my grand average is about 10.2. The truth is simply that towing trailers around the country is not a very economical activity per se, it's a kind of expensive one that happens to be very fun and interesting and exciting. Ya gotta pay for it. It is in my view a luxury pursuit. You can only do it if you have some cash to spare. Kinda like yachting or golf.

I suppose rather than wish for 12MPG, I'll switch instead to wishing that gas would come down to $2.89/gal. That would make me happy as a clam too. But either way, we'll probably still do 15k to 20k miles in trailering next year.

Enjoy the 12MPG - you're kind of at the high end of the curve there!

[Bk Yd Safari]

I tow with a 2009 1500 Chevy Silverado 5.3 V8. Recently made a trip through SD, MT, WY, UT, NV, AZ and several states in between. Total milage was just over 6500 with 5600 with AS in tow. Average mpg for the trip was 14.0. Generally try to keep hyway speed below 65. Leaving in a few weeks for south FL and hoping gas prices will continue to ease.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by REDNAX

Most folks resistant to better mpg (as well as longer tire life, driver having wider periperhal views, etc) aren't aware of how much time they actually spend at travel speed . . less than they would imagine versus recording it to see the data. Control over the stops made during the day is the key to best average mph from start to finish. Key-on to key-off. IOW, a "slower" travel speed is sometimes just as fast or faster than one higher in mph.

That's true I just got back from a trip and towing for about 300 miles a day on the same highway there were many vehicles unique enough to say "That's the third time they passed us today."

[Zia]

I drove from Ca to Smoky Mountain, Tennessee with Lexus GX470 got an average of 12 mpg. Leaving tomorrow back to CA via Kentucky and Arkansas. A total trip of over 5000 miles. This is precursor to our trip to Aaska next summer.

[rodsterinfl]

I wanted to post these results as an mpg record. I have read posts about mileage and towing and savings, etc. I decided to do my own experiment. Here goes:

The weather was 68% humity 69 degress F. There was a 45-50 degree off mild headwind breeze from the right.

25' with full water tank flat Florida I-75 travel. 2009 F150 4.6L3V HO 6speed auto 3.55:1 with Hess Mid-grade fuel.

Goal? To find if there was a difference in MPG between 5mph increments and if so, how much. I did this on the first day of travel and on the return day with almost the same results. Figures are rounded withing two tenths of a whole.

50mph - 15mpg
55mph - 14mpg
60mph - 13mpg
65mph - 12mpg

I know this looks too perfect but 60 mph, for example was bouncing at 12.8 to 13.0 on the readout so the rounded results read approximate amounts. I ran each for 5 miles or so and then sped up to 65mph the rest of the trip. My fuel fill and manual check indicated 12 mpg which is also in line.

One poster not long ago mentioned how he could save 20% by driving 50mph and apparently he was correct.I get 21.4-22.2 mpg at 65mph not towing but it drops to 20 at 70 mph.

The new Ford 150 that debuted this week is supposed to be around 4 mpg better than the offerings now. Lets see, that would be a range from 16-19 mpg towing!!!! Hope springs forth!

[Alphonse]

Ford simply doesn't tell the truth on fuel economy. They create expectations they can't fulfill. Any Ford service department manager will share his/her remorse about it!

[Reganzo]

I have been reading this thread with interest. Is everyone calculating their milage the old fashioned way gallons used by milage driven, or using the on board computer readout?

My experience with the on board computer in my truck (F-350 diesel ) is that it isn't accurate and most times gives a higher MPG than if I calculate it manually.

My best milage occurs when I stay between 60 to 64mph, and I keep in the right lane with the cruise control on. My last trip of 1500 miles I got 11.8 Mpg

Regards,

Reganzo

[Ike T]

I use GPS or map-calculated mileage for our trips rather than odometer. Trip computer. What's that?