What Cars Do You Drive?

[MC1]

Originally Posted by rdickens

My sister and BIL have a Scamp16 SD (Layout 6). We're jealous of their
additional storage space; they are a little jealous of our larger bed and
our ability to sleep more grandkids. Trade-offs .. trade-offs

Maybe someday .........

Ray

Ray, in the interest of science why not borrow one of your relatives 16's for a test pull. Thinking most of us would be interested in the towing difference between the two, with the same TV.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by honda03842

Ray, I assume you have a transmission cooler. One interesting thing comparing a Scamp 13 to a Scamp 16, is that much of their weight they have in common. Their axles, tires, most of their frame, propane tank, battery, grey tank, appliances, dinette, bunks. Even the fiberglass weight is not linear with length, as you increase the length, the ends are a constant.

There is a 4" difference in height. I guess we don't notice it because we have no roof air conditioner and Scamp 13s with an air conditioner are taller than our Scamp 16.

I'm surprised Scam does not offer the 54 inch bed in layout 4. AS well I believe Floyd has mentioned the weight difference between the Deluxe and standard unit. I'm not sure I understand the large listed difference.

Ray, wishing you safe travels,

Current specs for Scamp show a 2200 lb axle for the 13' and a 3500 lb axle for the 16', which may account for the differences in height.

[rdickens]

Norm -
Yes. We installed the automatic transmission cooler on the CRV in the same
week that we installed the hitch and the brake controller.

Like you, I don't understand why Scamp doesn't offer the 54" bed in the
Scamp16 Layout 4. There are some who think that the 54" bed might make
even more sense in the Scamp16 trailer than the Scamp13. There are also
a few who think that configuration might be close to our "ideal trailer".
Wayne, at Scamp trailers, told me that I should not expect to see the
54" bed in a Scamp 16 Layout 4 any time soon.

Wayne -
Maybe next summer, I might try to do a test pull of my sister's trailer.
I have absolutely no doubt the Ford Escape would handle a 16 foot
trailer just fine. It would probably be a difficult pull for the Honda CRV.

Towing the Scamp13 with the CRV, we often needed to put the
automatic transmission into the "D3" mode which locks out the
top gears and puts the engine at about 3500 rpm at highway towing
speeds. (My wife, who is used to "normal" highway driving, says that
it sounds like the CRV engine is racing all the time while towing in "D3".)

I'm sure that a manual transmission in the CRV would provide much
more control of engine rpms and be a better towing situation.

Coming back from California on Interstate 80, I put the Ford Escape
transmission in "S" (sport mode) to keep the engine in the 2250 rpms
range as we came over Donner Pass. While 18-wheelers were slowly
laboring up the mountain in the right lane, we set the cruise control
on 60 mph,passed them in the left lane, and never slowed down at all
as we went up and over the mountain.

The differences in the two cars is as follows:

CRV ==> torque= 163 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm hp = 180 hp @ 6800 rpm
Escape ==> torque= 270 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm hp = 240 hp @ 5500 rpm

Turbocharged engines (like the Ford Ecoboost) and diesel engines
generally have much higher torque at lower rpms. That seems to be
a good recipe for more power and better fuel economy while towing.
See the following thread:
Towing a 16' Scamp with small diesel

I bought the Ford Escape with the idea that we might tow a 16 foot
trailer some day. Still TBD.

Ray

[honda03842]

Ray,

I wonder if the inner cabinets of a Scamp 13 and Scamp 16 are the same height. It seems to me it would be easy to configure a layout with the 54" bed. I wonder what the reasining is at Scamp?

[MC1]

Originally Posted by rdickens

The differences in the two cars is as follows:

CRV ==> torque= 163 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm hp = 180 hp @ 6800 rpm
Escape ==> torque= 270 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm hp = 240 hp @ 5500 rpm

Ray

Ray, I can pass along our experiences which in a way are similar to yours.

Nissan Quest mini van TQ 180 / HP 150
Infiniti G35 TQ 260 / HP 260

Both towed the 4,500lb 23' for a number of years. Both vehicles we took out of overdrive when towing. The Quest ran at 3,200RPM and the car at 2,800RPM at highway speed. The Quest went over 300,000miles in 17 years with no ill effects. The G35 was very quiet towing in 4th gear at 2,800RPM.

You can view the two rigs in our Registry.

[Bob Miller]

[QUOTE=rdickens;551461]Norm -

"Clips"
"I have absolutely no doubt the Ford Escape would handle a 16 foot
trailer just fine.
It would probably be a difficult pull for the Honda CRV."
Yes, especially when you consider that the towing limit for the CRV is 1500 lbs.

Towing the Scamp13 with the CRV, we often needed to put the
automatic transmission into the "D3" mode which locks out the
top gears and puts the engine at about 3500 rpm at highway towing
speeds. (My wife, who is used to "normal" highway driving, says that
it sounds like the CRV engine is racing all the time while towing in "D3".)
I'm sure that a manual transmission in the CRV would provide much
more control of engine rpms and be a better towing situation.

I don't know what you consider "Normal" hiway speeds, (the towing speed limit in California is 55 MPH) but when towing either our 13' Scamp or 13' Bigfoot with a 2011(?) CRV, we used D3 almost all of the time. Otherwise it continually shifted in and out of 4th gear, not a good thing for the transaxle. AND, 4th gear lugs the engine when towing. You can actually see the MPG computer display drop when holding 4th on the level.

Needless to say, I don't support the need to drive at "Normal Highway Speeds" when towing, especially in those states that now have speed limits as high as 80 MPH.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by rdickens

Robert,

You mentioned a 9 mpg hit when towing.

Could I ask what your in-town, highway, and towing mpg numbers are and what your towing speed typically is?

For our 2014 Ford Escape 2.0L Ecoboost FWD, we are getting 32-34 on the highway,
about 23 mpg towing a Scamp13 at ~60 mph, and ~24-25 mpg in town.

I have considered an F-150 2.7L Ecoboost whenever we upgrade our other car.

Also, about how many miles do you have on your F-150 and how has your reliability been?

Just curious .... ��

Ray


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

rdickens, I added your data to the MPG table:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...6oSPkw/pubhtml

Just want to remind everyone that they are welcome to post their tow vehicle/trailer combo and fuel economy (towing and not towing) on the following thread:
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...-68330-16.html

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by frank_a

We tow a 2012 15' Parkliner with a 2014 Ford Escape with the 3500# tow package. We look to sell the Parkliner (and the Escape) down the road a couple years and upgrade to an Escape 21 or 5.0TA. We've been looking at Nissan Frontiers for that duty. With a V6, even with 4WD, they will tow 6300#s. We're hoping mpg figures improve industry wide over the next 2 or 3 years, and maybe we'll all have better choices!

Frank

Frank if you are serious about the Escape 5.0 you may want to wait until the new redesigned Nissan Frontier is released and all the specs on it are out.

Current models/packages of the Frontier vary greatly in regards to the pay load numbers and most are low numbers compared to other midsize trucks (I discovered this while purchasing my Frontier), so if the new redesigned Frontier has the same pay load numbers as they currently have you may not be able to take your wife along with you on your trips as you will be maxed out or over your trucks payload with the Escape 5.0... for sure the dog will have to stay home. I would have loved to have gone with a 4 door Frontier but the low payload on that model was a problem as I also wanted a cap on the truck bed along with pulling the trailer.

The low payload numbers are something that needs to be watched especially here in BC where they do have a bad habit of setting up Road blocks in the summer months and pulling over pick ups they suspect to be overloaded on their GVWR.

BTW the current Frontier models are also not known for its best in class on MPG's either. When traveling a highway speeds of 105 kip's I average 16L/100km or in US speak at 65 mph I get 14.7 US mpgs on average pulling a 16' fully loaded (2550lb) Scamp. BUT Nissan is saying the new redesigned ones will be much better in regards to MPG's.

If Nissan was to improve the MPGS and provide a bit more GVWR on their new models of the Frontiers I would seriously consider buying another one. If not I will for sure be replacing mine with a different vehicle.

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Frank if you are serious about the Escape 5.0 you may want to wait until the new redesigned Nissan Frontier is released and all the specs on it are out.

Current models/packages of the Frontier vary greatly in regards to the pay load numbers and most are low numbers compared to other midsize trucks (I discovered this while purchasing my Frontier), so if the new redesigned Frontier has the same pay load numbers as they currently have you may not be able to take your wife along with you on your trips as you will be maxed out or over your trucks payload with the Escape 5.0... for sure the dog will have to stay home. I would have loved to have gone with a 4 door Frontier but the low payload on that model was a problem as I also wanted a cap on the truck bed along with pulling the trailer.

The low payload numbers are something that needs to be watched especially here in BC where they do have a bad habit of setting up Road blocks in the summer months and pulling over pick ups they suspect to be overloaded on their GVWR.

BTW the current Frontier models are also not known for its best in class on MPG's either. When traveling a highway speeds of 105 kip's I average 16L/100km or in US speak at 65 mph I get 14.7 US mpgs on average pulling a 16' fully loaded (2550lb) Scamp. BUT Nissan is saying the new redesigned ones will be much better in regards to MPG's.

If Nissan was to improve the MPGS and provide a bit more GVWR on their new models of the Frontiers I would seriously consider buying another one. If not I will for sure be replacing mine with a different vehicle.

We're closing in on retirement Carol, and while we could no doubt swing the 5.0TA, many of the new full size trucks are more than we paid for our first house. We've briefly discussed selling our house and just buying a big new truck and the 5.0, travel while we can, and when we can't travel anymore, sell the truck and trailer and with savings we expect to have, buy a house near the grandkids and grow old gardening.

Frank

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by frank_a

We're closing in on retirement Carol, and while we could no doubt swing the 5.0TA, many of the new full size trucks are more than we paid for our first house. We've briefly discussed selling our house and just buying a big new truck and the 5.0, travel while we can, and when we can't travel anymore, sell the truck and trailer and with savings we expect to have, buy a house near the grandkids and grow old gardening.

Frank

Oh I hear you, over the winter intend to make some big changes in regards to the home base as well as the travel trailer options and what to tow it with for the long term, as I will have more travel time shortly. Lots of hard decisions to make as I can't as i want have it all! LOL

Just saying there are some other options out there in the midsize vehicles & trucks today than there where when I purchased my truck (Nissan and Toyota where the only two making a midsize at the time I purchased my truck) that would be worth your time to look closely at for the reasons stated.

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Oh I hear you, over the winter intend to make some big changes in regards to the home base as well as the travel trailer options and what to tow it with for the long term, as I will have more travel time shortly. Lots of hard decisions to make as I can't as i want have it all! LOL

Just saying there are some other options out there in the midsize vehicles & trucks today than there where when I purchased my truck (Nissan and Toyota where the only two making a midsize at the time I purchased my truck) that would be worth your time to look closely at for the reasons stated.

And I still have my '01 F150, but it only has a tow capacity of around 5500#!. That is not likely to be a future TV, even though it is low mileage (118,500) and well maintained. Maybe we won't go with a 5th wheel too, in which case the F150 would probably be fine.

Frank