7.5 MPG!

[n-e-d]

Come visit us on the right coast even in Taxachusetts its only $3.65/gal

[CSMRetired]

Based on what n-e-d said, having no idea where you are in California and no idea where he is in 'Taxachusetts' I used Sacramento as a starting point and Boston as the destination.

Found trip fuel cost using Gasbuddy roundtrip

Fuel - 727 gallons using your average of 7.5 mpg
Cost - $2,012.00
Miles - 6,028

In the grand scheme with an RV....pretty darn resonable

[Poppy94]

Oil companies make what the market sets, that's it! I work for big oil and I'm one of the faces that helps fuel your world. Oil is no different than lobster- markets are markets, nuff said on this before mods ban me.

[darhike]

Another reason to go. Gas costs less away from CA. Nicest way to see USA. Heading from Indy to Monterey soon.

[Cajun Po-Boy]

To the OP...you are rving-comes with the game you wanyed to play, poor mpg's are the norm no matter what you tow compared to normal auto driving...as your northern neighbor says "Just Do It"!!!

Happy Camping

[conceptumator]

We had a 2006 gasser (30' Hurricane) and towed our Tacoma on an aluminum car hauler: 7.2 MPG. Without the truck and trailer: 8.0 MPG. Traded it in on a 2015 Legacy DP, dumped the car hauler and now flat tow a Jeep (same curb weight as the Tacoma). First trip was from Orlando to Gatlinburg, TN and back. Through mountains, etc., kept speed at a steady 65. Results: 10.0 MPG. Made me so happy you probably heard me cheering! MH's usually don't make financial sense when you add up everything involved, but it sure is nice to sleep in my own bed and not have to pack up everything each morning to go to another hotel!

I read once about one of the fantastically rich folks around the turn of the century who brought their yachts to winter at Jekyll Island. This particular yacht was 309' - so big it couldn't dock there and had to drop anchor in the inlet and row everything ashore. When the owner of the yacht was asked how much it cost to operate and maintain, his response was something like "If you have to ask, you can't afford it."

[youroo]

Originally Posted by B and B

I was getting 7.5 with my Ecoboost and Fiver. I have a Diesel now and get 14. It didn't stop us at all. To sleep in my own bed every night and make my own food is worth the price of towing.

Hey B&B on (4/12/2015) you Posted that you were getting (10MPG) towing the Fiver with your Ecoboost! Are you camping with Brian Williams? Youroo!!

[Jim Schings]

As some one who has spent many years owning a shop, working with engines, dynos, tuning ECU's and designing fuel/data acquisition systems...


Fuel economy at highway speeds on relatively level ground is dictated by speed and aerodynamics. It takes 4 times the energy to increase your speed by 2 times. In town or on hilly terrain, your economy is more dictated by weight. Tire pressures will also impact either economy. (Not as much as Al Gore tells you, but some (and it will help tire life.)


While lightening your load by even 1000 lbs, you may not notice much change on the highway. In town you will, but how many miles or time is spent in town?


By far the greatest MPG impact is when you get into the 70-75+ speeds. These RV's are aerodynamic bricks and at those speed threshholds you can easily use 20% more fuel than at 65. (The above data also applies to diesels, but MPG variances aren't quite as significant in most cases.)


A trailer type RV is not nearly as bad aerodynamically as a A/B/C coach. (Depending upon the towing vehicle to some degree.) They are effectively "drafting" as in NASCAR, and can save 20% or more energy on the highway. Not much city wise though..

[prof_fate]

2000lb toad? And you list it as a 1980 toyota truck? I think you're low by 800-1000 lbs.

and MPG often increases a bit after break in as things loosen up and the computer adjusts. Not a lot - but some.

Driving slower makes a big difference in MPG - 20%. types of roads affects that to some degree - my subaru can do 30mpg on country roads (45-55mph) and 26 at 73mph on the hiway, and overall gets 24.5. Of course the ad for it pushes the 30mpg figure.

Our silverado average 15mpg in daily driving, and if we stay slow and it's not hilly we can do 11mpg towing, but keeping up with traffic in our hilly western pa area 9.5 is more what we see.

As has been stated there is a definitely a cost to lower MPG, but it's not a huge difference. In our truck vs subaru it's $20/400 miles (both on a full tank will do 430miles give or take, truck costs $20 more to fill). Wife went to baltimore md yesterday to visit her dad and took the car - saving us $30 in gas over the truck. that's almost like real money!

Now we're taking an 6 day trip in july, gonna spend about $1000 on gas pulling the camper, plus $250ish on campsites. And breakfast and 1/2 the lunches will be in the camper (vs restaurants).
If we did the hotel thing (which we considered) we'd eat out all meals and spend $300 on gas and probably $500 on hotels. All meals would be eaten out.

cost might come out as a wash, but the experience would be very different.

[banda]

Originally Posted by Stinkielee

Grumpy: "Lets say you pay $3.00 per gallon."
You must not be in California. We paid $4.29/gal here. Granted we are in the "boonies". Costco is cheaper, but not worth the 45 minute drive there. No Pilot stations around for the Good Sam discount. We laugh when we hear about the National Average for gas. NOT HERE!


But you are right. That should not stop us. What the heck, you only live once, right? Go For It!

Come to Texas! May not be as scenic, but gas is $2.55 per gallon! (And diesel is $2.65!)

[Roll]

Originally Posted by Poppy94

Oil companies make what the market sets, that's it! I work for big oil and I'm one of the faces that helps fuel your world. Oil is no different than lobster- markets are markets, nuff said on this before mods ban me.

So Poppy....

Gas has a "price" based (I thought) on material and manufacturing costs plus profit. Why doesn't that price follow the gas to the pump?

Why do we pay the current market price for gasoline that has likely been in storage for months and may have an actual price substantially more or less than current market prices?

Just curious.

Gary

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Stinkielee View Post
Grumpy: "Lets say you pay $3.00 per gallon."
You must not be in California. We paid $4.29/gal here. Granted we are in the "boonies". Costco is cheaper, but not worth the 45 minute drive there. No Pilot stations around for the Good Sam discount. We laugh when we hear about the National Average for gas. NOT HERE!


But you are right. That should not stop us. What the heck, you only live once, right? Go For It! You are correct what drives the price in California so high is the tax's. What really gets me that Calf. has always been the highest, and the state has the biggest refineries in the USA. So it is certainly not the producers. Chevron, Shell and Exxon make there main homes in that State. I lived and raised my family in the Bay Area, when we retired we couldn't afford to live there anymore just because of the tax's. Travel up highway #5 it will shake your camper apart. The old saying was go west young man, now it's go east young man. Everyone is correct as soon as you get out of the state you will see gas going down even in the boonies. And for Gary's question it is because they filled there tanks at the height of the price. We have the same here with oil. I heat with oil and pay much higher then the market place only because they pre bought it at the higher end and they are not going to lose money.

[conceptumator]

I would dread the thought of fueling in CA at those prices, but you do what you have to do. We live in FL and travel through the southeast mostly. In that area, FL has the absolute highest fuel prices around and it's mainly due to the tourist market (in my opinion). Most of the fuel out here comes in through Miami and gets trucked elsewhere, so why is it more expensive in Miami than the rest of the state? Makes no sense but it is what it is. What upsets me most is all the federal taxes they put on fuel and then misappropriate or mishandle the funds and our interstate highways go to pot! Just like SS, sometimes the Feds are not the best in handling our money! OK - off the soapbox; sorry for the drift! Have a nice weekend!

[chrismbrock2009]

Dang 7.5mpg.

I get that with no toad on cruise control at 60mph.

I say you did great pulling your toad.




2015 Coachmen Mirada 35bh

Global Wedding Photographer

[Jim Schings]

Originally Posted by Roll

Gas has a "price" based (I thought) on material and manufacturing costs plus profit. Why doesn't that price follow the gas to the pump?
Gary

The price of gasoline is a market price. It has little to do with the cost to produce or profit. The price set is "whatever the market will bare" . (aside from taxes). If gasoline is selling for $4.00 per gallon that is what the retailer will list it for trying to maximize his profit. If it still sells well at $4.10 then he will raise his price to $4.10. If he paid $3.50 a gallon for it that works fine. If the market is only moving gas at $3.00 a gallon that is what he will have to sell it for. No matter what he paid for it. Or he stops selling. Same with the producers. Same with your house. I.E. You will not want to sell your home for what you paid for it. You will sell it for what you can get for it. Free enterprise. Market based pricing...

[F and E Damp]

Our 32' Class A gasser (an '02 with the V-10) got a fairly consistent 7.5 mpg no matter where we were. We didn't tow.

For comparison, our older ('86) Class C with a 460 Ford got a consistent 6.0 mpg at sea level and 4.0 or so at altitude. We have a lot of altitude around here! The newer rig was a pleasant surprise. What took us out of the lifestyle eventually, was the cost of overnight stay. and the much higher price of fuel.

Originally, SPs were $15 a night and commercial CGs were maybe $25. Our last trip before we sold the rig, SPs were $28 -$35 and commercial CG's ranged as high as $75. When we had the old rig, gas was less than $2 a gallon most places. Our last trip down the Oregon coast, it ran about $4.30.

[waiter21]

Just finished a 2300 mile trip to the east coast (VA, NC, SC). Averaged 8.04 MPG. Best was 10.72, worst was 6.47.

gas was lowest cost in the SC area ($2.49) highest in Ohio ($2.79)

[aceinspp]

That just the price of owning an RV. Should not maybe talked to some folks first. Later RJD

[1nshort]

I have an A at 38+ feet. Fairly new at now, 6980 miles on it. Towing a 3600 pound TOAD. Driving 60-63 MPH in mixed conditions averaging 6-7.5 MPG. Ford 30 valve V10, with Banks Ram air in place of stock air filter. My first MH with V10 got best mpg after 18K miles on engine. Very happy. Current trip Annapolis Md to San Diego Ca and back. Currently in Mo. Be happy, it is what it is, your 7.5 is actually darn good.
1nshort

[Duckogram]

Just got 8.27 towing from Bernalillo, NM to Moab, UT via US 550/191. Winds were light but mostly favorable. I attribute the 10% increase to my previous normal averages to not using the cruise control. This way I was able to use the power of the engine rather than lower gears for shallow grades. It also enabled the torque converter to lock much more frequently which put my 61 mph cruise in the 1900-2000 rpm range. Since my coach only tips the scale at 13,500# and my toad is 1410#, I am pleased with the result. Now I'm thinking that a 5 star may be the ticket... TBC