Gas mileage ?

All about towing and tow vehicles

Postby NathanL » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:14 pm

19 mpg without the trailer @ 70mph (speed limit here)
19 mpg with the trailer @ 70mph
17 mpg with 25' full travel trailer
18 mpg with 21' bass boat on tandem trailer
14mpg with 38' Fountain on triple axle trailer, which is right at the maximum tow capacity for my 3/4 ton truck (not @ 70mph, normally I top out at 60ish with the boat)


2000 Ford F-250 Diesel. I could probably flip my tiny trailer (weekender style) upside down and drag it down the road and still probably get the same mileage as it gets rolling down the road.
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Postby jerry101jlh » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:18 pm

I think I said I knew we could all agree to disagree on this one lol
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Postby Mightydog » Tue Jul 19, 2011 1:50 pm

Our 2.0l 4cyl 2003 Suzuki Vitara gets 20mpg with or without the 1,150 tear drop behind it.
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Postby Constrictor » Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:12 pm

this is all great information! i have 2 trucks, one is a 6 cyl chevrolet full size gets 18 mpg and a dodge quadcab hemi 4x4 that gets 13 mpg. i have a 6x12 box trailer i use to haul rc airplanes in and both trucks get 9mpg while towing the box trailer. the wind restistance is the thing.
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Postby Brian L » Tue Jul 19, 2011 4:48 pm

2000 Jetta TDI Little Guy Rascal
high 40's not towing highway speed 40-42 towing just back from Montanta, North Dakota and Minnesota.
Rascal fits within profile of car except for roof vent
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Postby Mayberryman » Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:17 pm

I have a 4 wide Little Guy look alike weight at about 700 Lbs and I tow with a Scion tC at about 65 MPH. Car alone at that speed gets about 29MPG and with trailer about 25MPG. I do not consider the 4MPG loss to be bad. Oh yes, the car is a 2005 with 110,000 miles, or so on it.
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Postby Mukilteo » Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:23 pm

I don't want to know the mileage I'm getting towing the trailer. I might get depressed and not go anywhere.
What kind of fun sitting at home be?
Some times you have to throw caution to the wind and say "The heck with it, let's hit the road. :D "
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Postby Mightydog » Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:55 pm

It's not distance for you, Mukilteo. It's the speed! We've seen pictures of your trailer and the paint peeling off. I think that's caused by driving too fast!
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Postby Mukilteo » Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:47 pm

That certainly would explain the gravel pitting fenders.
But I'm not so certain about the trailing end unless it was vacuum created by the speed sucking the paint right off.
I guess I underestimate the power in my "99" Nissan 4x4.
Must have happened when I hit Warp speed :lol:
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Postby CarlLaFong » Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:19 pm

I'm really amazed by the folks that have managed to defeat an empirical scientific fact. They have managed to get something for nothing. They should invent a perpetual motion machine next.
Though the mileage losses may be small with a larger, more powerful TV, they are there nonetheless. If you drive with empty pockets and then drive with a pocket full of change, your mileage will go down. It may only be measurable in nano gallons (is there such a term? There is now), but it is there and it is inescapable. More weight requires more power, more BTUs, ergo, more fuel.
I do expect my mileage to go down. I have a Dodge 3500 Cummins Diesel. I can get 22 running empty at legal speeds on the highway. I expect with a larger TD, that I have planned in my head (the plans and the voices sometimes argue with each other), I may loose 2 MPG. We'll see
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Postby emiller » Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:18 pm

Every car or truck is with just the driver in it when they calculate MPG and is usually at 65 mph. Smaller the vehicle the better the gas mileage until you start adding weight. I thought I would get better mileage down sizing to a V-6 crossover which I did around town but I miss our larger V-8 full size truck that got better mileage and carried much more. I wish my wife liked traveling in our 15 MPG streetrod cause I would rather pull my trailers with it more than anything. 8)
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Postby CarlLaFong » Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:40 pm

emiller wrote: I wish my wife liked traveling in our 15 MPG streetrod cause I would rather pull my trailers with it more than anything. 8)

It's all about weight and resistance. My 350/385 HP, full roller ZZ-4 Boss Hoss motorcycle gets 25-26 MPG on the highway. Of course, it only (only?!?!?) weighs 1100 lbs.
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Postby starleen2 » Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:54 pm

Mileage - the heck with mileage! I tow with a Jeep commander (the largest Jeep made to date!)
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Postby Mojave Bob » Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:44 am

CarlLaFong wrote:I'm really amazed by the folks that have managed to defeat an empirical scientific fact. They have managed to get something for nothing. They should invent a perpetual motion machine next.


I think it is more complex than that. It is true that more weight and more rolling resistance equates to more gas, assuming all other things are equal. However, adding a trailer also significantly changes the aerodynamic profile of a vehicle, and at highway speeds, aerodynamics plays a larger role than weight. So, if the trailer actually improves airflow around the vehicle, the gain in aerodynamic efficiency can actually increase gas mileage more than the weight decreases it, resulting in a net gain in observed mpg. Or, it can break even. However, as you can see from the posts, it usually works out to be a net loss. It will vary for every vehicle/trailer combination.
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Postby emiller » Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:29 pm

Bob I don't know where you came up with that hopefully your not driving that fast with a trailer that you are getting a arrow push. I know the best mileage I ever got was in California doing 55 on the freeway flat land and when I get into Arizona sometimes in a hurry to get home I have done 75 to 85 flat land and my mileage drops quite a bit.
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