I remember all the bragging by Sprinter T1N owners that their vans got over 20 mpg diesel. For instance:
The most accurate 2004 Mercedes-Benz Sprinters MPG estimates based on real world results of 137 thousand miles driven in 10 Mercedes-Benz Sprinters
www.fuelly.com
of course these weren’t necessarily “RV’s.” Regardless, it coincides with the “physics laws” alluded to above. If you can cram your belongings, toys, and family into a 20’ high roof van, you can certainly save on fuel.
this reminds me of meeting a young couple with a 1 yr old near Depoe Bay, OR who had shipped their Sprinter-based RV (equiv to Wesfalia Sprinter) from Germany and were circumventing the USA (across Canada to west coast, then down to Mexico, then I forget where from there). They managed, and their setup was remarkably civilized…by Bohemian standards.
once saw an old VW Westalia for sale with a sign bragging about its history; had been across much of Europe, parts of Africa, then across much of Canada and US. Quote (more or less): during this time (in N. America), ”we” and our 4 (
) children lived in this van (
).
another couple I ran into had taken their T1N from USA to Argentina and back. Actually, he left the van and his wife in Argentina for job reasons, leaving her to navigate the return trip in the van on her own.
. Evidently they were still together, and happy. more recently I learned that getting across the Darian Gap (Panama-Columbia) is quite an “adventure” so I have no idea how she managed. I assume a ferry was involved.
fast forward to Chevy Silverado commercial where the omni-powerful pickup drags the 35ft fifth wheel up hellacious mountain roads to arrive at a pristine lake with NO ONE else around…yeah, right. Even pushing the limits of where a 20ft AWD or Quigley camper van can take you does not guarantee solitude. Plenty of Earthroamers don’t seem to make it much further than the riff-raff like my friend Micah and me do in our vans…well, his limits are beyond mine.
but I digress.
oh, I get maybe 16-17-18 mpg gas. I had hoped for 18-20, but Ford rather optimistic in their marketing.