Towing MPG

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I guess I'm the gas hog here. With my old trailer-Lance 1880 weight 3800# I got 9 mpg towing. I tow with a Dodge Ram Hemi- 5.7L. Without towing I get around 18-20 mpg. It has the 4cyl fuel saver shutdown feature while cruising, which the tow mode eliminates. Towing with my new used 2007 EggCamper I get 13-15 mpg. So it is a lot better than my old set up. Weight and aerodynamics are the critical element. I read somewhere that every extra 100 lbs is a 1% decrease.

Looking at the various towing MPG data, you aren't far off (now) from others towing FG campers, and actually better than some of them. And I suspect that Hemi gets the job done with little fanfare.

Been looking at a lot of different brands, weights, and types of campers and have drawn some conclusions. Flat areas and sharp corners cause extra drag.

The 26' Argosy (Air Stream) we had got better mileage and towed better than the lighter conventional trailer we had before it, when towed with the same TV. I believe it was because the Argosy had no sharp corners or flat surfaces.

Kip

[zephyr4]

Our Chrysler Town and Country punches a nice big hole in the air for the trailer. At 60 mph we lose about 20% MPG. We get 22-24 highway and about 20 mpg towing the 13' scamp.

[Jim Hovind]

I get 16mpg pulling a 16' Casita with a 4.0 Jeep Cherokee and that is a 65 to 70 mph on the highway. It also seem to gets the same at slower speeds.

[Bud Kennedy]

We pull our 13' uhaul with an 02 mazda (ford) 3 liter V6 pickup.
Coming from virginia to Oregon we got 15.5MG coming acriss the rockies in Wyoning fighting a terrific headwind.

On the flat straight I5 in California we got 19.5MPG.

In between, mileage varied between the two with the terrain and windage.

I expect we will average about 17.5 on this 10,000 mile expidition. We will post the total when we get home in April.

[Nancy]

On our 3-4,000 mile trips we always average 17.5 mpg for the entire trip. That is headwinds, mountains, and smooth sailing. We have a light Scamp (1500 lbs) and tow with an 04 Honda Odyssey.

[Larry&Carrie]

About 16MPG towing with the El Camino-- 65+mph-- 19 MPG not towing.
I think about 14 MPG towing with the Bronco- maybe 16 MPG not towing.

Bottom line is: don't care.... They're paid for. And get attention where ever we go. Life is good. Larry

[mcbrew]

I'm still getting around 23-24 MPG towing the Scamp with he Scion. I haven't towed it in the summer yet, but I expect a little better. My mileage always goes down with the mercury.

[Perry J]

I have an 07 Toyota Tacoma with the 2.7 L 4 Cyl. and automayic transmission.
The advertised mileage is 21 to 26 mpg.
Last Sept. I took a 4000 mile trip to Zion, Teton and Yellow Stone NPs. and averaged 22 mpg.
My 16' Scamp SD has dual propane tanks and I always travel with a full water tank.
I traveled at posted speed limits and sometimes a little faster. Utah has a few test areas of 80 mph.
John

[Borden]

Ours is a 2010 Corolla 1.8 L 4 Cyl automatic transaxle
The advertised mileage 7.8 / 5.7 liters per 100 kms and 6.6 average
Now the real mileage is 8.1 / 6 liters per 100 kms not towing.
7 average on trips when we visit. Long trips will have more hiway
100 kms = approx 60 mph and 4 Liters = approximately 1 US gallon

7 L per 100 for US ( 7 / 4 = 1.75 US gal ) per 60 miles or 34 mpg average around the Sound not towing.

So far seems to be about 20% drop in mileage towing or about 27 mpg; will have to update later with accurate info after we make a long trip.

My wife drives from location to location for here job and mileage includes warm ups at winter temperatures. Yesterday was -24 c to day is nice though only -6 c ( -11 f to 21 f )

Our city is in a valley so lots of steep hill climbing.

We have a customized car from dealer with full tow package ordered at time of purchase.
-progressive transaxle cooler
-hitch
-Proportional braking system and 7 pin wiring harness from dealer

Now for car upgrades:
-B&M 10226 Stage 1 RV heavy duty Shift improver Kit
-Custom made Class III receiver with equalizer weight distribution hitch

So far pulls great as the trailer is so light just do not have the mileage on a long tip to give the towing mileage. Hyway pull at 80 kms hr about 50 mph in town 50 kms or 30 mph.

Trailer tracks well but we will be adding:
-Shocks for northern parks as feel it is a good idea; have kit.
-st205r14 c rated tires to to raise max load to over 3500 lb limit of axle as the car tires same size maxed out at 3040 lbs and trailer c rated 6 ply trailer tires equal 3750 lbs total. (Original factory tires were b rated bias 4 ply tires at about 3100 lbs )
-breakaway switch as mto says we need it to be legal before our next trip was only $17

[Borden]

7 L per 100 kms / 60 mils for US ( 7 / 4 = 1.75 US gal ) per 60 miles or 34 mpg average around the Sound not towing.
7 L per 100 kms / 60 mils for CA ( 7 / 4.5 = 1.55 CA gal ) per 60 miles or 38.7 mpg average around the Sound not towing.

So far seems to be about 20% drop in mileage towing or about 27 mpg US gallons or 31 mpg CA gallons. This winter driving so will have to see in summer weather the difference.

Hope I got the math right.

We have a car tow vehicle, in Canada it seems we tell distances in time. Uncle x is 7.5 hrs, cousin y is 17 hrs and only 4 more hrs to cusins c, d and e, my sister is only 5 hrs

My wife said no! more canvas! so our trip to visit Cousins y, c, d, and e will be in comfort next summer

[Kip in Ga.]

The only trip so far while towing the 2003 Casita 17'er was with the cruise control set at 57 mph. Total trip was about 200 miles. Mileage was 16+ mpg. About half the trip was relatively flat terrain. and half was rolling hills. Same trip not towing would have averaged in the neighborhood of 24+ mpg at the same speed.

Due to the varying terrain, I believe this is a good representation of what to expect.

Tow vehicle is a 2009 Honda Ridgeline. All Ridgelines have 4 wheel drive, auto trannies, and 3.5 V6 Engines.

Kip

[Radar1]

Kip,
Those sound like pretty good numbers.
Our 16' Scamp is probably a couple hundred pounds lighter than your 17' Casita. With our 4.7 V-8 Dodge Dakota, we normally get about 19 empty at 70-75 MPH cruising speed, and when pulling our Scamp we normally set the cruise at 62 MPH and get about 14-15 MPG, although that also includes carrying a canoe or kayak on top most of the time.
Our Dakota owners manual says it's OK to use overdrive (OD) unless the transmission starts downshifting and upshifting a lot so I leave it in OD about 80% of the time. I tried one tank with OD locked out and my mileage on that tank was only 13.5; not a statistically accurate test but I would suspect fairly close to accurate.
I usually cruise at 62 because I'm not retired yet and have to make the most of our travel time, and 62 keeps the cruise control from creeping past 65. I came back from Sebring FL yesterday and my last tank seemed to get me further on the same amount of gas based on the gauge reading (I haven't refilled yet to confirm) but that tank was completely non-interstate driving using GA 133 and GA 19 instead of I-75 to get from Adel to home and we kept the speed at about 53 for that portion. I took 19 because there is a really bad section of I-75 in the construction zone just North of Tifton that really causes a bunch of bouncing even slowed down to 55. GA 19 has recently been re-engineered and is a delight to drive, mostly 4 lane divided highway now.

John

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by John Haggerty

Kip,
Those sound like pretty good numbers.
Our 16' Scamp is probably a couple hundred pounds lighter than your 17' Casita. With our 4.7 V-8 Dodge Dakota, we normally get about 19 empty at 70-75 MPH cruising speed, and when pulling our Scamp we normally set the cruise at 62 MPH and get about 14-15 MPG, although that also includes carrying a canoe or kayak on top most of the time.
Our Dakota owners manual says it's OK to use overdrive (OD) unless the transmission starts downshifting and upshifting a lot so I leave it in OD about 80% of the time. I tried one tank with OD locked out and my mileage on that tank was only 13.5; not a statistically accurate test but I would suspect fairly close to accurate.....
....GA 19 has recently been re-engineered and is a delight to drive, mostly 4 lane divided highway now.

John

John I suspect the Ridgeline mileage would drop a couple of miles per gallon with increased speed. If there was a V8 offered for it, I would have it. Just seems that the 8's aren't affected as much by the trailer as the 6es are. Also the plus of the 8 having more power if it is needed.

I wonder if the canoe might actually affect mileage in a positive way. The sharp "entry" into the air that would normally hit the upper part of the trailer head on, just might have an affect on the air flow.

For some reason Honda chooses to drop the tranny back to 3rd gear if OD is locked out. I would much prefer it drop back to 4th and if 3rd is needed, have a spot on the gearshift selector.

So I just leave it in Drive and let it shift itself to death. Purchased a bumper to bumper 8 year-100K extended warranty, so Honda can fix it if it breaks.

I used 19 a lot, years ago, going to Perry. Nice drive. Glad to hear they have improved it. Is the 4 lane portion connected to the the old 4 lane part that extended south of Griffin?

BTW how was the Scamp Rally in Sebring?

Kip

[Roland H]

I agree with the 20% drop while towing that has been mentioned. Our 2009 Ranger with the 4lt and 4x4 will get approx 23-24 mpg on hwy without the 13ft Trillium. When we add the trailer this drops to around 19mpg (Imperial Gallons). This has only been tested once and it was 90% hi-way travel. This was also very easy driving at approx 60 mph max. Thought the the Ranger due to its small size would get a little better mpg but not so far anyways.
Roland

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Kip in Ga.

I wonder if the canoe might actually affect mileage in a positive way. The sharp "entry" into the air that would normally hit the upper part of the trailer head on, just might have an affect on the air flow.

I used 19 a lot, years ago, going to Perry. Nice drive. Glad to hear they have improved it. Is the 4 lane portion connected to the the old 4 lane part that extended south of Griffin?

BTW how was the Scamp Rally in Sebring?

Kip

Hi Kip,
I expect the canoe doesn't hurt mileage, since it both brakes up the drag just behind the cab, and interrupts the flow hitting the camper.

I normally use the 4 lane portion South of Griffin to connect to I-75 near Forsyth, but that bumpy stretch of I-75 just North of Tifton may cause me to zip down through Zebulon, down 19, an link to I-75 at either Tifton or Adel.

I finally filled the tank after the back road portion. Even though my speed was only in the low to mid 50's, the miles per gallon dropped to 13.9. I figure this was due to more stop and go traffic (traffic lights) and still had a head wind.

Scamp Camp in Sebring was great. Got to meet more people and get more ideas. There was a Subaru Outback from ME and a Toyota Avalon from Canada pulling 16' Scamps with good results, although they were lighter models than mine.

John

[Borden]

Our boler is larger than one of our prior trailers but milage is better, it is probly the arodynamics and lower weight both.

Originally Posted by Kip in Ga.

Looking at the various towing MPG data, you aren't far off (now) from others towing FG campers, and actually better than some of them. And I suspect that Hemi gets the job done with little fanfare.

Been looking at a lot of different brands, weights, and types of campers and have drawn some conclusions. Flat areas and sharp corners cause extra drag.

The 26' Argosy (Air Stream) we had got better mileage and towed better than the lighter conventional trailer we had before it, when towed with the same TV. I believe it was because the Argosy had no sharp corners or flat surfaces.

Kip