Safari 25 SE FB/Can-Am set-up

[Ssm_001]

So we took delivery of our wonderful 2007 Safari 25 SE FB late last week and had CanAm carry out their hitch/set-up magic on my 2006 Toyota 4runner Sport Edition. The trip home was pretty uneventful, but something really unexpected happened. While towing, it was apparent that the Safari was back there, but even in some cross winds and aside many large trucks it was very stable and controllable. Braking was very much the same, the larger Sport brakes on the 4runner worked in lockstep with the AS brakes and did a fantastic job of scrubbing off speed. Aside from the first five or ten minutes of getting used to keeping that 8.5ft wide trailer between the lines, we stuck in the slow lane and travelled between 95 and 105km/h the entire way very comfortably. It was when we got home that the strangeness ensued....

A few kilometers down from CanAm is a town called Lambeth. The morning of our delivery we went in to Lambeth to top up the tank on the 4runner before hooking up the Safari and heading home. When we arrived home later that day, some 181km later, the 4runner had consumed a little more than one quarter of it's 78L tank of fuel. The trip computer used to sit at a steady 14.2L/100km and had actually dropped to 13.8L/100km. This is actually comparable if not slightly better than when not towing? I know CanAm gassed up my tires to the max, so there would be less rolling resistance where that is concerned, and I manually selected gears and did not go higher than fourth, but I can't see those things being a considerable factor. Needless to say I was very pleasantly surprised - has anyone else experienced this? I was under the impression that the 1GR powered Toyotas were pigs when towing, but my experience thus far has indicated otherwise...

[AldeanFan]

Not possible that you got better mileage towing a trailer.

That distance isn’t enough for a real test.

How fast do you drive not towing?
My tundra really sucks up the gas at anything over 100km/h, 130km/h without the trailer is probably equal to 100km/h with the trailer.

Next is hills, there are a few trips we do that are mostly uphill one way and obviously downhill on the return. We always get much better mileage on the downhill trip.

[OTRA15]

If you had a tail wind, that can make a huge difference if you are otherwise being frugal on the gas. Also, as you recognize, higher tire pressure can help more than most folks recognize.

Probably a random event IMO, even assuming the chain of causation in your mind is possible.



Take a longer trip and compute gas mileage by actual miles driven, and actual gas consumed. The car's computer is only so helpful, and can be misleading.

Peter

[Ssm_001]

I drive 105-110km/h regularly.

I topped up the tank when I left our home town and we were at three quarters when we got to CanAm.

Topped up again before leaving London and arrived with slightly less than three quarters of a tank when we got home.

Next morning it still measured the same, slightly less than three quarters.

I understand that the trip computer is about as accurate as an Atari in these things, but the fuel level gauge has never led me astray on anything that wasn't British and equipped with Lucas electronics.

[OTRA15]

Much more accurate to log actual miles and actual gallons/liters of gas, in a log book, over a long trip.

FWIW

[Ssm_001]

For certain, however even with a statistically significant margin of error it is nowhere near as bad as I had heard it would be.