I just tabulated my gas mileage

[Rattlecan ★]

Just a hair under 12 mpg on the trip down to Florida. Pretty much about what I expected.

In areas where we were fighting wind it was in the 10 to 11 range and other times it was high 12s and even broke 13 on one fillup.

So I would say pulling the trailer is more economical than staying in hotels.

[Razors Edge ★]

Just now, Rattlecan said:

Just a hair under 12 mpg on the trip down to Florida. Pretty much about what I expected.

In areas where we were fighting wind it in the 10 to 11 range and other times it was high 12s and even broke 13 on one fillup.

So I would say pulling the trailer is more economical than staying in hotels.

I'm seeing 12mpg pulling the Airstream for most trips. It does go down when going over mountainous terrain, but usually it gets a bit balanced out coming down from the mountains.

On the highway solely - no stop and go - I am getting better than that, but haven't gotten in a long trip like you to really see how it all plays out.

[Rattlecan ★]

8 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I'm seeing 12mpg pulling the Airstream for most trips. It does go down when going over mountainous terrain, but usually it gets a bit balanced out coming down from the mountains.

On the highway solely - no stop and go - I am getting better than that, but haven't gotten in a long trip like you to really see how it all plays out.

Yeah I expect the Airstream would be a lot more slippery than what I am pulling

Aero counts for a lot.

I have never really tracked my mileage without the trailer

I need to do that for comparison.

[BR46]

It's better than my average of 8 mpg.

We get better mpg pulling a trailer than without. 

[Razors Edge ★]

Just now, Rattlecan said:

Yeah I expect the Airstream would be a lot more slippery than what I am pulling

Aero counts for a lot.

I have never really tracked my mileage without the trailer

I need to do that for comparison.

When just driving normal - mix of all driving - I'm around 19-20mpg.  Highway trips are a wee bit higher than - maybe 21 - and purely around town, stop and go, is 18-19.  

I generally fill up before a trip, hook up, take the trip, drop the trailer back in storage, and then fill up ASAP, so the "trip mpg" is pretty close to what the trailer trip mpg would be.

[Parr8hed]

Mine got 14.5 pulling a trailer bigger than that across the country.  It was an 16 ft enclosed tandem axle.  

[Razors Edge ★]

20 minutes ago, Parr8hed said:

Mine got 14.5 pulling a trailer bigger than that across the country.  It was an 16 ft enclosed tandem axle.  

With your diesel?

[Rattlecan ★]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

With your diesel?

Yeah I'm thinking it would have to be.

[BR46]

3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

When just driving normal

If I keep the motorhome under 70 I can squeak out 9mpg but going over 70 I can drop it down to 7mpg. We tend to hang out in the right lane with all the semi's at 67mph. 

[Rattlecan ★]

54 minutes ago, BR46 said:

If I keep the motorhome under 70 I can squeak out 9mpg but going over 70 I can drop it down to 7mpg. We tend to hang out in the right lane with all the semi's at 67mph. 

I tried to hold around 65 as much as possible. You can be a long way down the road if you can maintain that all day. I spent my entire trucking career rarely exceeding 62.

[Razors Edge ★]

2 hours ago, Rattlecan said:

Yeah I'm thinking it would have to be.

I read diesel trucks are great in that they get pretty close to the same mpg whether they are pulling or not and regardless of the weight or terrain.  Maybe not "exactly" true, but probably more accurate than the drop from 20mpg to 12mpg I see (not quite half, but could see that showing up in Colorado hauling.

[Razors Edge ★]

10 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

I tried to hold around 65 as much as possible. You can be a long way down the road if you can maintain that all day. I spent my entire trucking career rarely exceeding 62.

My rule is pretty much 65 is the limit.  I'll go higher for an important passing situation, but I'm finding 65 is still pretty darn the limit to be "relaxed" when towing, and god knows I don't want/need any stress.  For me, slower speeds (shorter daily distances) will just be part of my logistics planning.

[Bikeguy]

6 hours ago, Rattlecan said:

Just a hair under 12 mpg on the trip down to Florida. Pretty much about what I expected.

Back when I had a Land Rover, it got 13 to 15 on a good day without a trailer.   We rented a U-Haul 6X12 cargo trailer to move some stuff to our daughter's home in WI.   I got 12 mpg and it didn't even feel like there was a loaded trailer behind me.  

My Subaru Forester... it's not a good tow vehicle, just not enough power to go much faster than 65, even if I wanted to.  I got 11 mpg towing a 5X8 cargo trailer vs the normal 25 mpg with no trailer.

[Parr8hed]

13 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

With your diesel?

Yes. I get 18 Av around town. If I baby it and keep it around 65-70 on the expressway I can get 22. Pulling a big camper is 12-13 depending on terrain. A smaller trailer like the 16 ft enclosed is around 14-15. 

[Parr8hed]

9 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I read diesel trucks are great in that they get pretty close to the same mpg whether they are pulling or not and regardless of the weight or terrain.  Maybe not "exactly" true, but probably more accurate than the drop from 20mpg to 12mpg I see (not quite half, but could see that showing up in Colorado hauling.

It’s all in your right foot. And those big campers just suck. I don’t care about weight, it’s just pulling a big sail down the road. That’s what kills your mileage. But my gas 150 got about 6-7 pulling same camper. My 350 gets 12-13.