Speed kills

[BrwBier]

Speed kills, the milage that is. On my vacation to South Dakota, driving mostly on interstate highways (yuck) at 75mph we got a trip average of 15.5 mpg. This past weekend going to the Camp-Inn Camp-Outt I averaged 19.2 mpg on mostly 2 lane state highways at 55 to 60 mph. I was supprised at the differance but happy with the results. Most of our trips avoid interstate highways. I never thought 15 to 20 mph would make that much differance.
Brwbier

[Cary Winch]

Bob,

That is no surprise. We see a drop of about 2mpg typically above about 63 mph. Seems to be all aero. It breaks into turbulant lift at that speed. Keep in mind teardrops shaped like yours or ours are a wing with a really thick section. You will find it also affects tire wear. Going above that speed the weight of the trailer is on the tires fully and they will wear normally. At about 60 mph there is very little load and the tires wear forever. Craig is very religous about doing 60-62 and no more when he tows his and with about 70K miles on it the tires look like brand new yet. Otherwise one would be looking to replace them at about 35K. I am doing that right now on a rental of ours with 35K that the tires are well worn on.

Cary

[TLC]

Yo Brwbier:
Not only do you save gas on the lesser traveled roads, but you avoid that white knuckle grip on the steering wheel while blasting down the interstate and not actually being able to see anything. I use the red line roads in the atlas. Get's you where you're going at a little slower pace, you're able to enjoy the scenery, and back road America is where it's at. Remember you're on "teardrop time"
Tom

[bobhenry]

We attempted to take Chubby to Florida last week behind the new Scion xb. We aborted the attempt and left him in my mothers care and custody in central Kentucky. The interstate speeds were just to hard on the car and the tear wanted to dance at anything over 64 mpg. The mileage on the remainder of the trip was 34 - 35 but during the tow it had dropped to 24+/-. The little tear tows wonderfully at state highway speeds to 55 - 60 but anything above that becomes difficult to handle. Aerodynamics or geometry I don't know but we got him home and the 800 miles we did clock were uneventful.

[mb82]

Yep I learned that lesson. After my last ticket I decided maybe I was driving too fast and should slow down. Well that slowdown of only 10mph gave me an extra 4MPG in my car. That 4MPG adds up to in the week one extra trip to work without having to refill the tank.

[sledge]

I;m sure all you folks are right, I hate driving Interstate roads,I ride motor cycles some, used to ride a lot , I like the 2 lanes roads, with lots of curves and hills, and being in North East Tennessee there are plenty of them around here. on my next long camping trip I'm gonna keep good records of mileage and I'll let you guys know how it went. I think my Teardrop weighs more than most..... I had it weighed fully loaded and ready to go camping. 1,320 lb.

[Bill P]

I have Little Guy 5 wide that weighs in at about 800 empty and I pull it with a 4. Litre Jeep. I am currently down at LCG and drove down on US 71 which is a 4 lane highway for about 250 miles and my mpg was about 16 mpg at 70mph. However, after it turned into 2 lane highway, and the my average speed dropped to 55, it went up to about 18. Through the Ouchita Mtns, not so good, about 13 mpg. My best mileage/mph combo appears to be, as Cary described, between 60 and 65 mph. Thanks for the science behind it Cary.

Bill