Last week, we went on a short camping trip (about 300 miles one way), I forgot to check the amount of fuel used on the first 150 mile leg, but on the way back we got a little less than 16 mpg on a 140+ mile leg and 17.5 on the second 150 mile leg. We had filled up with an ethanol blend gasoline after the first 150 miles, but not on the second. I believe I got much better on the first leg but didn't get to check it.

We were doing about 55 to maybe 60 mph almost all of the time with cruise control with OD off. The 17.5 mpg was on interstate, 15.8 mpg was two lane Hwy. Good air pressure in all tires. Show accleration. Tonno cover on back. 18 gals of water in Trailer plus case of 20 oz water bottles, soda, food stuff, lot extra stuff, not traveling light for sure. 25 gal of water in the Ranger, case of 10 0z juice, much more stuff - a bed full, 2 gals of generator gasoline, tools, Honda EU2000i with its gas tank full, foldidng chairs, Coleman Cat. Heater/Propane, etc. - not traveling very light. I did leave the two bikes at home. Ha! I am a little leary of going empty, we have had trouble finding water on some of our trips. I hate having to pump the water heater full at a campground, besides it is nice to have a place to wash up, use the toilet along the road if we need to. I didn't try to work with the overdrive on when possible this trip as I often do. At least I did use it as often as I normally do. We didn't have much wind on the way up, but did on the way back. Most from the side or front. I was a little surprised on the mpg on the way home due to the wind we had last Sat. Maybe some was from the back as well. There is a lot of up and down on I-25 along the way up and down due to deep canyons. Some pulling up to a high plains on Hwy 60 and some up and down along it as well.

I feel it is the air in the tires and going 55 to 60 mph are better than cutting out weight. Often we have not gone with a full tank in the Ranger, but normally a 1/2 tank or so. Just in case. Can shower a couple of times that way when doing more traveling than camping, e.I. to and from camping, visiting. Alot of the weight we may need the stuff, not all of it, but you never know. Be prepared, I always think. Just in case.

I am sure weight will help or hurt mpg. It is just hard not to take stuff along. Ha! After all that is why I wanted a small egg and small egg hauler in the first place. I may try to lighten it up some this year considering the cost of gas. I have use the E85 gas and noticed a great deal of losted mpg. Not sure if the lower price off sets the lower mpg. Can not find it around NM to really check it out. We also had several days of cooler weather after topping off the tank with the ethanol blended gasoline. Pershaps I lost a some gas mpg from the gas deflating (opposite of extanding due to heat). The needle did got down much faster than on the way up when it was a warmer day. I blame it on the cooler weather more than the ethanol blend or perhaps the 2 lane hwy compared to interstate had some effect. All 3 I am sure had a factor. I did carry less water on the way home, a lot less. Another factor of course. They all add up + or - on the old mpg. I just have to learn to take less stuff. But I love stuff!

Last year after I changed the oil once we got back from a camping trip to CA, we got about 4 or 5 more mpg on the next trip we took to ND. I may have changed the air filter as well. I need to check it before we leave again.

When will they stop putting gold in with the gas is what I want to know. With the prices, they must be adding gold to the stuff.

I got the Ranger's oil changed today, they had raised the price $4. Due to rising oil prices. Will it never end?

Happy note: one of the cashiers, charged the old price. I thanked her and told her she was doing a good job at public relations. The gal who was checking me out noticed the mistake and mentioned it to the one who had made out the bill.

Frank Borman will never notice the loss of $4, I figured.
Yes, that Frank Borman, NASA astronaut and ex-CEO of Eastern Air Lines. I noticed his bio below mentioned him moving to Cruces in 2006, however his dealships have been in Cruces for a lot longer as has his Mustang. Perhaps more than 10 years longer, yes his Auto Plex was started in 1986.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Borman

What do you do to get better mpg?

Happy traveling, good mpg to all of us!

AW

Adrian,
It looks like you are already driving at the proper speed. My fuel economy increased 25% when I slowed from 65 to 60.

The other two things are weight and engine load. You are carrying over 350 pounds of water. Do you need to carry that much or can you fill when you arrive?

I have a scan gauge, which gives instant readout of things like load on the engine and MPG. When I turn off O/D, the MPG drops by 2 or so. With that 16 ft trailer, you might be able to use O/D, at least on level ground. Try it and see how the engine feels.

Marv

Hi: Don't forget to keep your tug tuned properly ie: new spark plugs. Recent lube/ oil/ filter + new air filter...and correct tire pressure on both tug n tow. Possibly increase rear tire press. by 5lbs. on the tug!!! Mileage matters.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

I have trained and managed many cashiers over the last decade, and I hope that your cashier was not written up or even fired for "sweethearting" your transaction!
I have fired several cashiers over the years for, for instance, ringing up 2 x 1.99 = $4 for $15-20 worth of groceries. Money changes hands, but theft is occurring.
I hope she made an honest mistake and that you were not complimenting her for theft.

That said, I often travel with tanks half-full, near-full, and always try to arrive with a full fresh water tank, and don't see any impact on fuel mileage. I see the greatest improvement in mileage from moderate speed, always using overdrive except for hilly country, anticipating stoplights with zero to very little braking, and very gentle acceleration.
P

I just re-read the post, and can see now that you mean the service writer gave the wrong (old) price, and the cashier charged you what was on the invoice, and then the cashier notified the service writer. In this case, the cashier was in good form, charging you what was written, but warning the writer that she was undercharging you and to not make the mistake again. If the invoice reached the cash register at the lower price, then the cashier was correct to give you the lower price, but it was not in the interest of public relations.
Sorry for the confusion...I am from the "PC" east, where "gal who was checking me out" would never fly for "cashier"!
P

Try slowing down a little and speeding up a little on another trip. Every rig will have a 'sweet-spot speed' depending on the mix of engine, transmission gearing, differential gearing, tire size and load.

On the Ranger, try airing the tires to the max just for the trip.

If I have learned my "cut & paste" lessons, following is a timely reply just in from South Africa. The principle should be the same world-wide.

TIPS ON FILLING YOUR CAR(S) (Good information)



I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol... But here inDurban we are also paying higher, up to RM7.35 per liters. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money worth for every litre. Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline where I work in Durban , we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period through the pipeline. One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 liters.


Only buy or fill up your car or bikes in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening... Your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific grav ity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

Another reminder, if there is a fuel truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy, DO NOT fill up most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.


Hey, it worked!

D & D

The term could mean something quite different out here as well, with my high school students even more so, but it never crossed my mind when I wrote it, as to explaining the does and don'ts of what happened such as right or wrong about the transaction...why? I knew all that. There was no nastiness in the so called warning, more of a joke. As to it not being in the interest of public relations, of course not, it (my saying she did it as PR) was meant as a joke....as in humor and I ment the writer did it (not that kind of it, but not charging the correct price), not the cashier, although the cashier charged what was written down.

Sorry for the confusion, never have lived in the PC east and all; PC?, not Pacific Coast, doesn't go with east, sorry again, not sure what PC would mean, personal computer doesn't work.

This is Snopes advice on this information: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

PC means "Politcally Correct". In other words not reality, just saying something that won't get you sued or hurt anyone's feelings, etc.

This is what I have been told and I try very hard to maintain. ___Make sure tires are at recommended tire pressure and vehical is well tuned. Next is interesting. If one drives at 88 kms/hr as compared to 105kms/hr you will use 12% less fuel.

I tried driving at just 100kms/hr for a test run then tried driving at 90kms/hr. I used way less fuel by going slower.

PS
I always travel fully loaded with everything.

I'm no wind-tunnel scientist (wish I were), but I have the feeling that the frontal area/wind resistance might be as much a factor as anything for mileage. Especially as you get up over something like 45 mph.

So, I wonder if one of those streamlined deflector thingies that you put on the roof of the tow vehicle might be a help (of course this would also depend on how much your trailer protrudes above the roof of the tow vehicle, and perhaps on how close they are together as well).

Raya

Not only is increased weight towed a drag upon fuel economy but I also found that fuel laden with ethanol plays havoc with my miles per gallon. It is getting harder to do so but I try and stay away from it when I can.

Fuel with ethanol definitely drives down our mileage. Wish it weren't so, but our stats prove it.
Find your sweet spot. Drive with the tach as well as the speedometer. Anticipate hills. Slow down when the light in the distance is red... don't wait to slam on the brakes. Accelerate a little more slowly... it's not a drag race.
Smooth, fewer stop highways make a difference. Bumpy, pitted highways cut mileage, as well as constant stop/start or decelerate/accelerate for little towns on more scenic routes. Decide what's worth the time and the scenery.

I just did a 650 mile trip across I-40 in AZ/NM and then up the 25 to Colorado Springs. Its mostly flat, and I already started at elevation.

I decided since it was relatively straight and an easy tug, that I would set the cruise to 65 instead of my usual 60. UGH!!! I was lucky to get 13 mpg that way. At 60, I get 15-19.

I dislike interstate roads, and love scenery.

Frontal area and speed are the two great determinants of fuel consumption, all other things being equal. Selecting the "right" tow vehicle is important (engine/trans/rear-end ratio), but more important is what the tow vehicle is used for every day. If you have several children, for example, a van or large SUV may have to do double-duty. If you tow frequently, safety and comfort may trump gas mileage in importance. I could easily get 15-16 mpg towing my Scamp 16 using my Y2K Excursion with the V10. It got pretty much 15-16mpg on the highway most of the time whether or not I was towing. Towing either my 17' Bigfoot or my 25' Bigfoot with a much larger frontal area, that dropped to about 13mpg. That's also about what I get towing my 25' Bigfoot with my '07 Titan 5.6l V8.

Gas mileage varies a little while towing... but in most vehicles with a tow package, it won't vary much.

Roger

Drag coefficient and acceleration have by far the greatest affect on gas mileage. Engine size doesn't really make much difference - it's the larger drag coefficient of larger vehicles that hurts your mileage, not the fact that the cylinders are larger. Of course the amount of weight you carry is directly related to the mileage you get (each gallon of water you carry weighs 8 pounds). Also, the further down you press that gas pedal, the more fuel you are using, so think of the pedal as a gauge - keep it light and accelerate slowly and your mileage will improve. Something that should help trailer towing (I don't know how much) is that vehicle length has a big effect - the longer the vehicle, the lower the drag coefficient (the reason those Salt Flat racers are much longer than they need to be and also why trains get such good gas mileage).