A.c.e. Mpg

[ShadowT]

I finished a one-way trip from NW FLA to Seattle WA with side trips. We drove over 3K miles in 8 days. With the Ford V10 gas engine the MPG varied as follows:
84 octane at 55 mph about 8.5 mpg
84 octane at 70 mph about 7.2 mpg
87 octane at 70 mph about 8.5 mpg
If you've ever driven to Rushmore or Yellowstone with Montana, Idaho, and Washington mountains you know how rough it can be for a newbee!

It became apparent that the mid-grade fuel gave us the best economy and performance.

[Skip426]

In Canada 87, is regular, 89 mid. Mistakenly got 85 into my Dodge V10 once, nothing worse that the sound of 10 pistons trying to swap holes, 2 containers of octaine boost and 5 tanks of premium later I could run 87 again.
Rapid City , and Yellowstone, nice trip; but quite a change when you come from a state where 340' above sea level is the high point.
DW and I went Coast to Coast in Canada last fall , 9 provinces and 13 states, enjoyed Vermont and the Dakotas the most. Shame that Bennington, Vt. with its covered bridges took such a hit with flooding this year.
Safe travels. Welcome to the West Coast, permenent move?
I'll take a 20% chance of a distructive earthquake in my lifetime over 3>5 hurricanes a year.

[ShadowT]

It maybe permanent (last few years before retirement). We still have the home in NW FL and the wife will travel several times by air per year.

Yes, hurricanes are bad, really bad if they are near you. They have caused some hurt to us in the past. We've been through several earthquakes but they were not close enough to cause us a problem.

Great point on octane in Canada...

[anotherone]

I would like to do that trip and probably will. Wife wants to see the vermont area next year. Hurricanes dont bother me since we get about a weeks notice they are coming. Fl hasnt seen any in 5 yrs! And yes I lost my house in andrew. No biggee ; built another and nicer.
Just got an 11 serrano and hope for some good mileage , which has to be better than our 04 adventurer 33v. It was getting 7 on a really good day.

[ToledoCharli]

Wow Shadow, you really beat yourself up on that drive!. Any handling issues? Were you fully loaded, 1/4 full water, 1/2 full? What pressures were you running on rear/front tires? Did everything work ok. We leave on our first major trip 2nd week Oct but only 800 miles.

[Skip426]

anotherone, time your trip carfully , I was amazed that so many RV parks and attractions closed down so soon after Labor Day. New England was virtually boarded up by the end of Sept. Only about a 1/3 of the parks we had listings for were open and we caught a lot on their last day. One place said we've got to get this place closed so we can get three weeks off before we start work at a park in Fl.

[Possum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426 I'll take a 20% chance of a distructive earthquake in my lifetime over 3>5 hurricanes a year.

I was up a pole installing a banner for our Toy Run when that quake hit last week. I'll tell you it was a tad hairy when the pole and the ladder started doing the twist.

A buddy of mine just moved to Powell River. Watch out for Paul, he's squirrelier than I am.

[ShadowT]

I was 1/2 full fresh and less than a quarter gray and black. I did not weigh and was at 95 PSI at sea level. I did have the mounted spare so the rear compartment was about 400 lbs. Interior food space was 1/2 capacity and closets full, All other lower compartments were empty.
Has headwinds in South Dakota and occasional cross winds in the mountains -- all southern driving was in the 80-95 degree range while the northern states were in the 70-90s. No rain, very little clouds.
With large trucks, SUVs, or anyone going over 15 mph more than you. you feel the pull when passing begins and the steering play is enough to make anyone nervous on curves with steep downgrades or construction areas with narrow roads. In Iowa during a large detour the roads were narrow two-lane on-coming traffic. Loose gravel on the road sides with a 60 mph. I hit the gravel once, it was not pretty and the on-coming truck slowed a bit as I did. Phew--any faster or panic moves I'd be fish tailing.
It is best not to "push" speed or speed limits. On the average I was 5 mph below the limit. In parks or mountain areas, about 1/4 of the time I was seeking a turnout to let the speedsters pass.
I have to admit, there were many places on the freeway in the mountains I wanted to enjoy the scenic view but spent more time looking to the white line, behind, and ahead.

[anotherone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShadowT I was 1/2 full fresh and less than a quarter gray and black. I did not weigh and was at 95 PSI at sea level. I did have the mounted spare so the rear compartment was about 400 lbs. Interior food space was 1/2 capacity and closets full, All other lower compartments were empty. Has headwinds in South Dakota and occasional cross winds in the mountains -- all southern driving was in the 80-95 degree range while the northern states were in the 70-90s. No rain, very little clouds. With large trucks, SUVs, or anyone going over 15 mph more than you. you feel the pull when passing begins and the steering play is enough to make anyone nervous on curves with steep downgrades or construction areas with narrow roads. In Iowa during a large detour the roads were narrow two-lane on-coming traffic. Loose gravel on the road sides with a 60 mph. I hit the gravel once, it was not pretty and the on-coming truck slowed a bit as I did. Phew--any faster or panic moves I'd be fish tailing. It is best not to "push" speed or speed limits. On the average I was 5 mph below the limit. In parks or mountain areas, about 1/4 of the time I was seeking a turnout to let the speedsters pass. I have to admit, there were many places on the freeway in the mountains I wanted to enjoy the scenic view but spent more time looking to the white line, behind, and ahead.

whew I'm exhausted just reading this.

[ToledoCharli]

ShadowT--Sincerely appreciate your accounting of coach setup and driving situations. Last year there was some construction on highway as we turned north out of Conway Arkansas headed up into Missouri but I don't think the ozark mtns will be quite the experience that you went through. Again, thanks for info.