Cruising Speed

[davesleeve]

12 mpg? Must have been all downhill. We get 6-8 in our 29ft V10 powered Class C pulling Grand Cherokee. Lower at 7000ft here in the rockies. Better in the desert west where it's more flat less mountains. 60-65 is our speed comfort zone.

[19jcm79]

2002 Newmar Kountry Star 38ft diesel pusher F150 toad, I average about 9~9.5 mpg at 60~65 mph, on pretty flat land here in Michigan.

[Glensouth]

8 mpg sounds about right. It all depends on how heavy your foot is when taking off from a stop and a lot of other factors. Cruising at 60 to 65 usually gets the best mpg for me.

[gjbales]

Most of the time average around 9 mpg with cruise speeds on interstate no more than 65. Just completed 3,000 mile trip from Louisiana to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and averaged 8.9 mpg. Very pleased, considering the terrain we were driving once we left Texas.

Gene & Jeanette
2015 Thor Palazzo 36.1 DP

[BikesAndGuns]

Originally Posted by Farkey

Being new in the RV world I have numerous questions and here is my latest.

At what speed do you people usually cruise on an interstate highway?

I travel at about 60mph because the previous owner said that was the best speed for fuel economy and he would average 12 MPG on a trip.

On my last trip of just under 500 miles, I tried to cruise at 60mph and at the end I got 8.2 MPG. Now mind you that was through the hills in the Finger Lakes, but still getting almost half of what he did.

Unfortunately, I can't ask him any questions because he passed away just after selling me the rig.

So I will be very appreciative of all what you have to say on this subject.

Thank you

When towing our 44' Heartland Cyclone with our GMC Sierra 3500HD dually diesel, I go the speed limit. Yes, I could get 1 mpg more if I went 60 instead of 70, but at $3/gallon, that would only save me $45 on a 1,000-mile trip. I'd rather stay with the flow of traffic.

[Termigator]

In April we traveled from Tampa to New Orleans and back in our 36 Thor Palazzo 300hp DP. Averaged 11.8 over 1400 miles not towing anything. I always set the cruise at between 60 and 65 and never go over 65.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Tradition

40 pusher towing Silverado, average 7.5 to 8 running 75 to 80 mph,
Try to stay at speed limit

Nearly every tire I've seen on a motor home are speed rated to 75 mph MAX.

Unless you've got some kind of special tires on your rig, at those speeds you're putting yourself and everyone else on the road in danger.

The speed limit is just the upper limit - it is not a recommendation and not suited to all vehicles on the road. If you're driving a 40-foot diesel pusher pulling a full-sized pickup, you need to slow it down.

Not to mention that the stopping distance at that speed is beyond what's considered safe.

Please reconsider your cruising speed - for your safety as well as everyone else sharing the road with you.

Sorry to sound so preachy here, but rigs going that fast scare the @#$$ out of me and many others.

[Cover Dog]

Max speed for toad is 65, usually run 62-63. I do get a run at hills.

Avg. 6.8 - 7.7 depending on toad/no toad or golf cart, headwind, terrain, stop & go etc.

[stevehepfer]

Originally Posted by Farkey

Being new in the RV world I have numerous questions and here is my latest.

At what speed do you people usually cruise on an interstate highway?

I travel at about 60mph because the previous owner said that was the best speed for fuel economy and he would average 12 MPG on a trip.

On my last trip of just under 500 miles, I tried to cruise at 60mph and at the end I got 8.2 MPG. Now mind you that was through the hills in the Finger Lakes, but still getting almost half of what he did.

Unfortunately, I can't ask him any questions because he passed away just after selling me the rig.

So I will be very appreciative of all what you have to say on this subject.

Thank you

We have a 2008 Monaco Diplomat 36PDQ and travel with cruise control with Allison Transmission on Economy Mode. At 55MPH we consistently get between 10 and 11 mpg.

[sparkysflh]

I have a 35' gasser flat towing a Jeep Wrangler. Using the generator periodically I get around 7.4- 7.8 pretty consistent running with the cruise at 62

[balley8780]

I have a Chevy 3500 dually pulling a 32' 5th wheel. I do get 12 MPG on typical interstates. Worse in mountains, better in Florida. So dump the class A and try a new way ;-)

[MrGoodwrench]

Originally Posted by Farkey

Being new in the RV world I have numerous questions and here is my latest.

At what speed do you people usually cruise on an interstate highway?

I travel at about 60mph because the previous owner said that was the best speed for fuel economy and he would average 12 MPG on a trip.

On my last trip of just under 500 miles, I tried to cruise at 60mph and at the end I got 8.2 MPG. Now mind you that was through the hills in the Finger Lakes, but still getting almost half of what he did.

Unfortunately, I can't ask him any questions because he passed away just after selling me the rig.

So I will be very appreciative of all what you have to say on this subject.

Thank you

Having owned all manner of motor homes since my 1st 24’ Class A, a ‘72 Titan with a Dodge 440, all the way to our 40’ Tiffin Phaeton QBH, I can say with complete confidence that ANYONE claiming consistent fuel economy above 9-10 is full of crap.
All of my class C coaches (even the ‘84 24’ with anemic Chevy 350), and several Class A gassers (Ford and GM big blocks and a couple Triton V-10’s) were lucky to get out of the 6-7 MPG neighborhood.
One exception was the winter of ‘94, headed south from San Antonio to Harlingen, TX in the over-loaded 34’ Pace Arrow with Ford 460/C-6 that was NEVER pushed over 55-60 MPH. There was a significant wind from the north, in the 30-40 MPH range, and at first I was somewhat disturbed because the fuel gage wasn’t moving very much (I had replaced the sending unit the month before in Alabama). Turns out, when I filled the tank in Harlingen (so it was full while parked for several months), my fuel economy was in the 10-11 range.
The MOST impressive fuel economy has been obtained in our latest coach, the 40’ diesel, pushing about 40K lbs, towing a 5K lb SUV. The cruise control stays set at 63-65 MPH and fuel economy consistently stays around 9MPG. Fortunately, I perform ALL the maintenance and repair work myself, otherwise the annual cost is prohibitive.

[montiem]

When I first started RVing I tried every way to figure MPG, using the gallons per fill up by the miles changes with the conditions driven, hills, wind, altitude. Trust the computer, I reset my leg screen every time I fill up, the number of gallons used is always really close to the amount I put back in, you can use that number and the mileage and the MPG will be correct, I can look at the gallons used on the leg screen and what I put in will be almost the the same. Trust the computer, my computer for life is 7 MPG, If your coach has a computer look at the coach screen, the average MPG that is as close as it gets. My computer has several screens, day, leg, trip, coach, life time if it has not been reset. I would be interested in what your computer displays as to what the seller said. Not saying he was dishonest he just did not know you cannot figure even one tank by the next tank, my computer tells me after a fill up if I can go 1000 to 1200 based on the MPG of the last tank, the mileage can change as much as 20% because of a change in wind. Don't worry about mileage, I worry about the difference in price per gallon, I am sure these new computers are more accurate than mine.

[CFXCH]

I cruise between 62 and 68 mph on interstates. 400 ISL cummins likes this range the best. I average about 10.2 miles per imperial gallon or 8.5 miles per US gallon.