Gas mileage ?

[Roly Nelson]

My 4 banger Camry gets 2 mpg less when I am towing my 500 lb 1/2 Nelson Woody. However, when I hooked up the 6 foot long 245 lb "Stacker", I filled the gas tank until it was overflowing, drove 300 miles to the Colorado River and filled it up again until it overflowed..........it took exactly 10 gallons, which is the same as if I had left the TD at home. It's kind of like just having an extra person in the car with me........and I love it.
Roly

[jhanlon]

So now take the 40 x 48 and build a foamie. Trailer weighs 98 pounds. add foam and you will have to take gas OUT at every fill up.

I expect to get same mileage with my 40 x 48 foamie chuck wagon/ external A/C unit for my van. "You pulling a trailer?"

John the Vanner.

[Deryk the Pirate]

Now with the pt cruiser I averaged 26mpg mixed city/highway with the lil vardo on I got about 19 mpg but its not aerodynamic, like bob's barn lol. Im hopein to do about the same with my rav4 since it gives me around 21mpg. Gonna lose some with the high flat sides but what are ya gonna do lol. But the engine is much more powerful and its twing is 3500lbs. Will be finding out in a few weeks lol once it gets built!

[Mojave Bob]

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.

A general rule of thumb is that 50% of an average car's energy is used for just pushing through the air at a rate of 55mph. The less energy it takes to push through the air (aerodynamic drag coefficient), the less gas will be consumed. With a FEW car/trailer combinations, the drag coefficient is better with the trailer than without. With a VERY FEW car/trailer combos, the coefficient is so much better that gas mileage actually increases minimally, in spite of the extra weight and drag of the trailer.

I'm not an aerodymanics engineer, but I would expect that the vehicles most likely to be affected in this way would be boxier ones with poor trailing-edge airflow. Just guessing.

Again, these are the exception rather than the rule, and I'm not saying "Tow a trailer to save gas". For nearly all of us, our gas mileage will go down when we tow.

[stevem50]

i totally agree with bob, i have studied aero and fluid dynamics, and found the overall shape of the object you are pushing through the air determines how much energy is required to do it.

the tear or waterdrop shape ( rounded at leading side tapering to the rear) is the most efficient shape, and if you are driving something squared at the rear, like a van or wagon, you can theoreticly get better mileage when towing... assuming your trailer is not too heavy.

in my case, with a small hatchback, with low power, i have no loss in mileage on flat ground, but i do lose 2-3 mpg when it get hilly.

overall 32-35 mpg towing is not bad

[stevem50]

the weight issue has been bouncing around in my head lately, more so as i read more about mike's giant foamy. i'm trying to shave lbs off my 4x10 woody to ease strain on my car climbing mountain roads. i'm only at 1100lbs fully loaded, but think how much better the mileage and performance if i could have another 2-300 lbs lighter...

[Constrictor]

the weight issue has been bouncing around in my head lately, more so as i read more about mike's giant foamy. i'm trying to shave lbs off my 4x10 woody to ease strain on my car climbing mountain roads. i'm only at 1100lbs fully loaded, but think how much better the mileage and performance if i could have another 2-300 lbs lighter...

In my opinion gas mileage while hauling a trailer is mostly the footprint it makes in the wind, resistance. my 6x12 box trailer gets the same mileage empty as with a load.

[stevem50]

i'm not really thinking i can boost the fuel consumption much, but if i put my woody on a diet, it will be easier on the car while towing it.. lighter can't hurt when the hills start coming

[Ron Dickey]

It all really is what are you driving. but Teardrops and Tinny Travel trailers do not add that much pull to a engine. So it is more is up hill, flat, sea level or at 5000 ft., paved or dirt, 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive, Are you a fast driver or do you drive by what the signs say to drive.

All in all you do not loose that much unless what you put in it for the camp is more then you should.

[StandUpGuy]

..milage as not pulling the teardrop.


the only real cure to worrys about gasoline is to get the dang goverment to lower the gas price to what there citizens and ecomomy can afford with out killing prudutivity and economic growth.

....

I think this sort of thinking has gotten us where we are now. I do not want the government to control the price of anything. That is socialism. I want the government to back off of regulations and allow for greatly increased drilling for oil in the USA.

[starleen2]

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. "

+1

[jss06]

Drag is the biggest problem while towing.

Example.

Dodge Cummins 3500 pulling 7K lbs of car trailer and Jeep CJ that sits down nicely behind the truck I would average 15 to 16 MPG. Taking the extra 3 minutes to lay the CJs windshield flat on the hood would result in a 1.5 MPG difference.

Same truck pulling a 2K lb Travel trailer through New Mexico head winds only managed 11 MPG. This was the standard 8 foot wide by 7 feet tall front wall that acts as a sail.

Same truck pulling a 6x12 Uhaul that really tucked in nice behind the tailgate. It was probalby close to its max weight of 3K lbs of cargo. Pulled it full down to Houston from Dallas. Then empty back to Dallas from Houston. There was no noticable change in fuel economy. It was my normal empty highway average for the truck. About 23 MPG.

Keeping the trailer low and in the slipstream of the tow vehicle will put less stress on the vehicle than just lowering the weight. And results in much better fuel economy.

[Constrictor]

only drop in milage I have seen is trowing something big and bulky full of wind resitance on the roof rack on the teardrop

like a jon boat.

other than that I get the same milage as not pulling the teardrop.


the only real cure to worrys about gasoline is to get the dang goverment to lower the gas price to what there citizens and ecomomy can afford with out killing prudutivity and economic growth.

and untill that happens. Teardrops will be in demand.

slowcowboy.

The government does not set the price of gasoline. taxes and regulation do somewhat affect the price.

[Gary and Cheri]

it may not be the goverment fixing the price of gas buts its sure funny how they time it right to make a political point.

By "they" are you referring to the government making a point or the industry trying to influence our decisions?

I don't know the answer, but if I could only get into Area 51 I'm sure I could explain everything.

Gary

[GuitarPhotog]

My 2005 Subaru Forester XT gets about 24-25 MPG with my normal mixed driving.

It gets 28-29 MPG on interstate, cruise-control long trip driving.

It gets 21-22 MPG on interstate, cruise-control long trip towing the teardrop.

It got 18 on my most recent trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park (elev 6000-8000 ft) with the car loaded to the roof and a 17 ft canoe on the roof.

The canoe and the large elevation gain (I live at sea level) seems to account for the difference.

<Chas>