New RV'er. Question about fuel economy.....

[70gsconvt]

Originally Posted by brobox

I have a theory about those that slow too much, (55mph) to save a mile per gallon. If you travel 80 miles per day less (10mph for 8 hours) over 5 days that is 400 miles. 400 miles less traveled is another night in an RV park, now over $35. a night average. There went the fuel saving unless you are a Walmart camper.

To the OP 7 MPG is very normal. I am breaking in a new MH and will be pleased when I reach the 7 MPG range.

This is kind of how I was looking at it. Every 4-5 days was a day lost being somewhere else. That's why man keeps inventing things that go faster.....to get us "there" quicker. I know half of the trip is getting there, but I still prefer getting there sooner, mpg be damned.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by 70gsconvt

This is kind of how I was looking at it. Every 4-5 days was a day lost being somewhere else. That's why man keeps inventing things that go faster.....to get us "there" quicker. I know half of the trip is getting there, but I still prefer getting there sooner, mpg be damned.

Yep, I can see everything at 65 MPH as I can at 55....my eyes aren't that old yet.
I am not tying up traffic and causing dangerous lane changes by those doing the speed limit, especially some of the truckers that won't take it off cruse control.
I have saved the cost of one RV park stay per week.
65 MPH is my win-win speed, I still get good fuel mileage and I save close for $40. a week in RV park fees.
And I don't have people giving me the one finger salute for being in there way

[wa8yxm]

Originally Posted by Virago-Rider

The gps said we were on 540. But, all the signs on the highway said 49.

This is very common, some of the roads near me have as many as 4 names and of course the GPS displays the only one that is NOT on the signs.. Makes life fun

I go to church on "North Way" only there is no sign anywhere near the church (Which is on a corner) that says North Way, nearest North way is a good half mile down the pike and where as the church is on a main road, NORTH WAY is a side road.

However if you look close the main road turns a bit, Well, Turns out the main road, which is known as both 17 and 25, (one is GA and the other US I think, but not sure) north of that curve, also bears the name NORTH WAY.

Took me two tries to find the church 1st time.. First try I found N-Way but the address range was wrong, Engaged brain and quickly found church next to bank, parked behind bank so Darling Daughter would not see motor home and .... Surprised her.

[Remfire]

Ave 8.3 running 60 to 65 2011 V10


Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

[Road]

My d max gets 8-9 when grossing 23000# my 8.1 workhorse gets 6-8 grossing 26000# and I drive 70+ mph gas its a lot cheaper especially at the travel centers enjoy your new motorhome

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by 70gsconvt

62 MPH!?!?!?!? That would just kill me. I'm an old school, muscle car head, drag racer . Maybe I could cut it back to 65, but that's about it. I'm a firefighter/paramedic and have been driving the big red trucks like a maniac for 24 years. My friends would make fun of me if they found out I was driving that slow.

No generator running, just the dash a/c. I knew it would be worse than my old setup. And I'd read a number of posts from people claiming 12-14 mpg with similar sized rigs and I didn't believe that for a minute. Just making sure. We'll be scrubbing the old girl down over the next week and I'm going to buff out the lower section that has the marina blue paint before washing and trying the 4 coats of industrial floor wax that I've read about here from Lowe's/Home Depot.

There have been hundreds of discussions on this point over the years. There are always those that have ridiculous mileage claims of 12 - 15 mpg. A couple years ago I approached a Ford technical rep at the Winnebago GNR and posed the question to him.

His response was: "Anyone claiming double digit mileage in a motorhome with the Ford V10 in the F53 chassis needs to recheck their math".

[bamaboy473]

Prior posts may have already touched on the subject of loading. Our MH runs very lightly loaded (basement bays are mostly empty). That reduction in loaded weight has to contribute to our getting 9.5MPG @ 62MPH.

Another factor is that a very great amount of driving is highway, as we plan to never be caught in rush hour in large cities again (Atlanta was once, didn't learn our lesson and got into Dallas once. No more) Stop/Go/Stop kills mileage more than any other factor.

[Waiter21]

Just finished 6,000 miles in our "New to Me" 30 ft 2001 Mirada with 2001 Ford F53 chassis. We flat toad a Honda civic.

We averaged 8.2 mpg for the entire trip, hiway speeds normally around 60-62 mph>

Our Mirada is an upgrade from a 1988 21ft Toyota Dolphin class C. We averaged about 14.5 with that.

[mohamer]

Our last trip was to Hot Springs, AR (from home in Joplin, MO)
We were pulling our Prius on the Tow Dolly.
Gas mileage for trip was 7.5 mpg. Speed was 60 to 65 except in the curves and on a hill. Not a lot of flat roads so I was well please with the mpg we got.

97 F53 with 460 gas hog.

[70gsconvt]

Well, my baby is tucked away in storage still for the winter. But come this summer, I'm hoping that, towing the Prius with a tow dolly, and averaging between 60-62 mph, that I can get 7.5 to 8 mpg.

[LVRVLUVR]

Originally Posted by 70gsconvt

Hello, well my family and I took the plunge. We sold our Jayco 31' pull behind the truck camper and I just bought a 1999 Dolphin 5350 with tag axle and V10 engine.

I just got it last night and drove it home the 300 miles. It has the Banks PowerPack on it. I averaged a bit over 7 mpg. Does that sound about right? I drove about 70 mph the whole way with the a/c running. I'm just used to getting like 11 mpg with my 2005 Chevy truck with the duramax engine.

that's sounds way high to me...that's the 2 valve 4 speed and they are thirsty...

what I found out real quick was the fill up..sometimes you can't get the last 10 gals in the tank...seems like its full but you can stand there for another 20 min clicking the last 10 gals in.....
I hope for you that you got 7 mpg..

but...if you went 300 and used 43 gals ... that's 7 mpg...

but if you went 300 and used 53 gals....that's 5.4 ... and that's about what I used to get driving 70

what I do when I check those is go a min of 4 tanks.. record the start..record the gals each fill up..click the gas in till it runs out ,,,,
and yes it will if you are fill ing tooo fast.. you have to be able to see the fuel when you stop pumping....

what happens is the fill tube goes into the side of the tank, when you get filled to that point the gas pump shuts off...you still can put 10 more gals....

next ... if you go by the guage its way off.. they take for ever to get to 1/2 atank...then you better be looking for fuel... cause the last 1/2 goes real quick....and don't run it on the bottom half to empty... it'll over heat the fuel pump and yu'll be gett'n one of those

[Greg2]

Here is my take on fuel mileage.
.
My DW and I were returning from a 3 day weekend camp trip, and stopped before home to refill our gas tank. An attendant said she did not see how in the world ANYONE could afford to drive a motorhome with the poor fuel mileage they get.
I replied-"This fuel took us camping for 3 days. In that time we slept in our own bed and cooked our own food and watched our own tv from our couch. We did not have to pay $75/100 a day for a hotel room, nor $15/20 [couple] per meal for food. Three days @ motel=$225/$300, two meals/3 days=$$90/120. Now it did cost us $75 for the three days full hookup, so lets just forget about the food savings, call it even.
That still leaves us $225/300 to fill the tank back up. [at this time the tank was full.]
So, "How much gas did I pump?...$115.00. So just a rough figure I saved $110/175 for the three day mini-vacation. And all told, I probably have some food and drink left over for our next trip.
.
So, I saved over $100 by taking the motorhome instead of our econo-car!
.
Now my math may be off, but when all is said and done I figure that fuel mileage is only part of the cost of enjoyment. [Still looking for that 10mpg however. Wish I could find it!]

[spyderRV]

I was getting 5.7 on 9 cylinders. Found a dead coil. Hoping it goes up a bit on ten. It was overfueling because of the unburned oxygen hitting the sensor. Now the fuel trim is close to zero.

[70gsconvt]

Originally Posted by LVRVLUVR

that's sounds way high to me...that's the 2 valve 4 speed and they are thirsty...

what I found out real quick was the fill up..sometimes you can't get the last 10 gals in the tank...seems like its full but you can stand there for another 20 min clicking the last 10 gals in.....
I hope for you that you got 7 mpg..

but...if you went 300 and used 43 gals ... that's 7 mpg...

but if you went 300 and used 53 gals....that's 5.4 ... and that's about what I used to get driving 70

what I do when I check those is go a min of 4 tanks.. record the start..record the gals each fill up..click the gas in till it runs out ,,,,
and yes it will if you are fill ing tooo fast.. you have to be able to see the fuel when you stop pumping....

what happens is the fill tube goes into the side of the tank, when you get filled to that point the gas pump shuts off...you still can put 10 more gals....

next ... if you go by the guage its way off.. they take for ever to get to 1/2 atank...then you better be looking for fuel... cause the last 1/2 goes real quick....and don't run it on the bottom half to empty... it'll over heat the fuel pump and yu'll be gett'n one of those

Well, as soon as I bought it I drove to the nearest gas station and filled up. I then drove home from central MI to my home south of Cleveland, OH and filled up again right before getting home. So I believe my mpg claim is pretty accurate. I don't think there is any way that my fill difference was anywhere near 10 gallons.