Mpg

[sittingbl]

Here it is the question in mpg.


What is the best that can be achieved?
For Sport 16, 22

Trying to be efficient. What can I expect? Plan for.

What is the best prime mover for fuel efficiency?

[jcanavera]

You would be surprised as to the fact that it depends a lot upon your tow vehicle. I'll give you an example of my experience. I used to tow a 27' Safari (6,500 lbs) with a Chevy 1/2 ton van. 5.7 liter V8 3.73 rear axle. According to the Chevy documentation I could not use OD when towing. Mileage was between 11-13 mpg.

Fast forward to today. I now have a 30' Classic SO (8,600 lbs). My current tow vehicle which is a 3/4 ton GMC van. 6 liter V8 4.10 rear axle. According to GMC it was qualified to tow in OD. Mileage is between 11-13 mpg.

So in one aspect you might always assume that a smaller lighter trailer will use less fuel. But there are some situations where the tow vehicle may have a greater affect on mileage than just the weight of the trailer.

The difference in gross weight of the Sports is 1,000 lbs. Depending upon your tow vehicle, that 1,000 lbs difference may make a big difference in mpg. It just depends on the tow vehicle's engine size and rear axle ratio. The beefier the tow vehicle, the less impact on mileage.

Now in all fairness it's not as easy as that because when you are not towing, the difference in mpg is much more noticeable. Going back to my comparison, my half ton Chevy would do about 17 mpg when not towing. The GMC will do 13. So while it was a wash for mpg in towing, around town it's a much different matter.

Jack

[Ahab]

I tow our 22' with a Ridgeline and get 16 mpg avg. on relative flat land, going 60-65 mph. Going into a 35 mph headwind or climbing mountains, all bets are off. You will get a wide varience. Worst for us was 10.8 and best 20.3.

[Len n Jeanne]

We can get 15 mpg with a 16-footer, towed by a 2011 Toyota Tacoma-- if we keep our speed down to 60 mpg or less. (Called Life in the Slow Lane.) Faster speeds kill the gas milage. We wanted an all-around light truck for non-towing purposes, as well. Sadly the 2013 Tacomas will tow much less weight, but their highway driving milage is a lot better than ours.

[Camper Dave]

We tow a 25' Classic with 2006 Ford F250 V10 410 rear axle and average 10 MPG at 65 MPH average speed traveling the southeast states or 13-14 MPG not towing on interstate driving.

[tkowalyk]

Today from Gettysburg PA to North Wales PA - mostly highway without any heavy traffic.

137 miles

2007 Durango

2013 27 Classic

10.7 MPG - average speed less than 65MPH

This is about average for us when towing.

Can be less - 9 - 9.5 when towing up into the Poconos.

Can be a bit better - 11 - 11.5. long trip to Florida - 62 to 65 (usually closer to 62 MPH)

10mpg is about the overall average

We plan on keeping the Durango for another 4 years. Then upgrade to a Diesel.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by sittingbl

Here it is the question in mpg.


What is the best that can be achieved?
For Sport 16, 22

Trying to be efficient. What can I expect? Plan for.

What is the best prime mover for fuel efficiency?

One needs to distinguish between Cost of Ownership (includes acquisition) and Cost of Operation (includes fuel cost) as that relationship is key in understanding not simply cents-per-mile cost, but to put "annual nights aboard" your TT into perspective.

One can, for example, obtain a TV with fairly low purchase cost and high specific fuel consumption and have it come out far ahead of nearly every other TV choice based solely on long ownership where annual TT use is but 30-nights or around 5k miles.

Alternately one can obtain a Euro turbodiesel SUV that will achieve low 20's in mpg (by report), but the true costs of ownership can/will be high otherwise. The genuine benefits of this TV type is the highly sophisticated suspension, brakes and anti-roll controls. A TD sedan would be better yet.

Spec your TV according to the way most miles will be driven, solo or towing, and narrow your choices that way. The TT mentioned can be towed by just about anything.

.

[Wayne&Sam]

With my 20' Safari I've averaged 12 mpg with both my '07 ML500 and '12 Durango Hemi.

[mefly2]

Late Ford F150 triton w/FC20~18-20 mpg average pulling
New Ram 2500 cummins diesel w/ EB25 11-13 mpg average towing.
~55mph

[Silver Hawk]

2007 Ram Cummings (work truck). 31' AS;
19 to 21 mpg adv. non towing cross country 75 to 80 mph. (17.1 mpg in mountains 3 - 7% grades).
14.8 mpg adv. towing at 65 mph. cross country - mostly flat.

[A W Warn]

with a 30' Excella:
2000 Silverado 1500, 5.3L 4 speed auto got 12-13 mpg. Solo got 16-18 mpg.
2010 Silverado 1500, 6.2L 6 speed auto got 12-13 mpg. Solo got 18-20 mpg.

with a 25' safari:
2010 Silverado 1500, 5.3L 6 speed auto got 12-13 mpg. Solo got 18-21 mpg.
2012 Silverado 2500, 6.0L 6 speed auto got 9-12 mpg. Solo got 13-15 mpg.

My experience shows travel speed affects mpg. Going 65 in lieu of 55 adds about 10 to 15% my fuel cost.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Silver Hawk

2007 Ram Cummings (work truck). 31' AS;
19 to 21 mpg adv. non towing cross country 75 to 80 mph. (17.1 mpg in mountains 3 - 7% grades).
14.8 mpg adv. towing at 65 mph. cross country - mostly flat.

This is consistent with mine ($4/gl diesel @ 25-cpm) and with more than a dozen other reports using a pre-2008 DODGE Cummins TD truck with a TT of 28-35 length (8k to 11k weight). FORD wasn't in the running at that point, and the earliest Duramax GM's were about par.

The latest DEF diesel trucks should be near to this. BUT the high initial cost and likely shorter lifetime make a diesel pickup of this type less a bargain.

The 1/2T series new DODGE diesel is rated to 9.2k towing. That might make a good choice where a truck is a sensible choice (biggest TT's + fulltiming)

.

[srpuywa]

2012 silverado crew cab 1500. 5.4 , 6 speed auto
11-15 towing,
15-20 not

[sittingbl]

hard to beat the 13mpg towing, it seems.

[TouringDan]

I average about 13.5 mpg towing my 66 Tradewind that weighs about 4,800 lbs loaded. I drive gently and about 60 mph.

I love my TV which is a 2wd 2008 Tundra double cab, 5.7L and six speed. I can get 20 with this TV when not towing. My biggest complaint is that it is HUGE.

If I were buying a TV for a 16 or 22 ft Sport I would go for a V6 Tacoma or similar or a V6 Durango or Jeep GC with the 8 speed Tranny.

Good luck.

Dan

[sittingbl]

Thanks everyone. I thought TV meant one you watch. Now I know it's tow vehicle.

[srpuywa]

Depends on where you live, I wouldn't tow my FC19 with a V6 with the Cascade and Olympic mountain so close

[Safari-Rick]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silver Hawk View Post
2007 Ram Cummings (work truck). 31' AS;
19 to 21 mpg adv. non towing cross country 75 to 80 mph. (17.1 mpg in mountains 3 - 7% grades).
14.8 mpg adv. towing at 65 mph. cross country - mostly flat.

Same here as Silver Hawk: , 2007 Ram Cummings 6.7L Diesel.
Just got back from North/South Rim Grand Canyon/Bryce/Zion and San Diego and averaged exactly the same mpg! And that's going at 60-65 mph. (and sometimes a little faster!) lol

[TouringDan]

Originally Posted by srpuywa

Depends on where you live, I wouldn't tow my FC19 with a V6 with the Cascade and Olympic mountain so close

Michigan is flat. 6-8 speed transmissions do make a difference also. I really think a v6 would be a good choice for a Sport.

Dan

[mopariac]

My 2005 Dodge 2500, 5.9 gets 23.7 without towing and 19.3 with towing our 29' Ambassador.