RV Mile per Gallon

[BigJohn]

My 27ft Coach House 272XL gets between 11-14.5 with the 6.8 V10 and my Roadtrek Versatille with 5.2 Magnum gets 16 mpg. My 2007 Dodge 1500 towing my 245 Terry 5th wheel gets 11.0 with the 5.7 hemi. I used to have a Revcon 32 Ft Prince and 7.5 was normal with a 454 and a RV cam. All the newer ones seem to get better mileage. My VCoach house has the full Banks Power kit on it so I think that is helping my mileage.

My son owns a very well maintained Ford with the V10.... It only has 65k miles on it and when he is driving very conservatively, he gets 8 mpg.... and when he drives 70 mph... he gets 6 mpg. I seriously doubt anyone with a V10 is getting 14.5 mpg, unless they are coasting off a mountain.

Of course your mpg might be averages at 45-50 mph on county roads.


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[Cujet]

Ha! You guys go slow. Not once have I achieved that kind of MPG towing an enclosed race car trailer. I'm more in the 6MPG range.

 

[MSCH]

My son owns a very well maintained Ford with the V10.... It only has 65k miles on it and when he is driving very conservatively, he gets 8 mpg.... and when he drives 70 mph... he gets 6 mpg. I seriously doubt anyone with a V10 is getting 14.5 mpg, unless they are coasting off a mountain.

Of course your mpg might be averages at 45-50 mph on county roads.


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yea, they say most men lie about two things and fuel economy is one of them.

 

[John105]

Not a motorhome, but a full 8foot wide camper.

9.8-10.5 keeping up with traffic on the interstate

11-12 driving slower on secondary roads.

You can argue with physics all you want, but you can't fight it. Takes a certain amount of power to move big bricks through the air.

I had always heard big rigs 6.3-6.8 mpg, and they have to fight for 6.8 which translates to millions of dollars of savings.

 

[John105]

yea, they say most men lie about two things and fuel economy is one of them.

So fuel economy has bumped out ******?

Kinda interesting the reverse. I had a gf who was quite attractive. Ask her for height. 5’9 3/4”. Ask her for her shoe size. 8 1/2. Females round down to make the number smaller. Men exaggerate the other way

 

[hemioiler]

Ha! You guys go slow. Not once have I achieved that kind of MPG towing an enclosed race car trailer. I'm more in the 6MPG range.

Speed is a big part of it. I towed my trailer home a few hours ago and played around with my speed using the lie-o-meter to gauge the difference. 19.2 l/100 is what I got going 100 km/h. Bumping that up to 105 - 110 km/h put me into 20.5+. Faster than that it easily got into 22 l/100 km. All on the same straight-ish freeway with the same wind conditions.

 

[wwillson]

The only reliable fuel economy number is when you calculate miles driven/gallons.

 

[Cujet]

Speed is a big part of it.

Here's the thing though, going 50MPH in a 70, 75 or even 85MPH zone, which is what it takes to achieve those numbers, is more than a little annoying.

As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of driving, and I've attempted to achieve some claimed numbers. Even with the cruise control set on 45, it often can't be done. Once a vehicle drops below 55MPH, the gains become minimal. The time wasted becomes epic.

 

[hemioiler]

Here's the thing though, going 50MPH in a 70, 75 or even 85MPH zone, which is what it takes to achieve those numbers, is more than a little annoying.

As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of driving, and I've attempted to achieve some claimed numbers. Even with the cruise control set on 45, it often can't be done. Once a vehicle drops below 55MPH, the gains become minimal. The time wasted becomes epic.

You don't need to do 50 in a 70. In my area, truckers are legally governed to be at about 105 km/h (65 mph). I'm not going below speed limit, generally I'm sitting in the right lane and keeping up with traffic there as that's where the truckers are sitting too. My travel routes do include some rural driving as well, which is where the lower speed and fuel gains come from, but that's the only place I'm doing 50. I keep up with traffic on all roads.

The other thing in addition to keeping your speed down, is keeping your foot out of the throttle. So disable CC and just let the truck naturally coast up and down smaller inclines, don't try to pass people unless they're way below your speed, and remember that everytime you hit the brakes you just wasted the fuel you need to get that speed back up (so leave room in front of you).

I get this driving style isn't for everyone. But that is how those numbers are reached. And bonus points for getting there more safely and with less stress on your truck/trailer and people inside. Does it really matter if it takes you 10 mins longer driving this way on a 3 hour trip?

 

[vwmaniaman]

I usually cruise at 65-70mph. That was calculated mileage from full tank to full tank.