Forum Discussion

burgess001's avatar
burgess001
Explorer
Jul 22, 2021

Fuel Mileage on 8.1 Workhorse

I drove DP's for years. Thinking about a 30 ft Workhorse. What kind of gas mileage can I expect
  • MitchF150 wrote:
    Single digits..

    I had to chuckle at this answer due to our past situation. We HAD a gas truck to tow our 35' FW, got 7mpg!! 7 . . . switched to diesel and in the double digits now.
  • It depends, 7-8 mpg is the average, 5-6mpg in the mountains at elevation, 9-11mpg on the flatlands near sea level. Been using gassers for 3 decades of RVing and have never cared to actually calculate mpg, our current Class A has the 8.1L with Allison 2100 on W24 chassis, it has no problem traversing the many inclines we have here in the mountain west region. Both DIC on our Monaco and our Scangauge2 report MPG tallies which I have very little interest in, we love RVing and don't fret the costs to partake in this beloved endeavor.
  • Hi,

    As others have said, I'd expect anywhere between high 6's to low 9's, depending upon terrain, wind, speed, towing/not towing, running the generator and whether or not you put "real gas" into it or the 10% ethanol junk many of us are forced to use.

    While it probably doesn't matter too much to the answer of your question, out of curiosity, are you looking at a W-series Workhorse or a P-series Workhorse?

    ~Rick
  • 2001 Fleetwood Flair 32 foot with 2000 Jeep Wrangler tow vehicle.
    June 2021 trip from California to Tennessee and back. 5700 miles.

    6.8 - 8.5 mpg @ 70 mph most of the time
  • 8MPG is a good average to use. In the Western mountains, and with a toad, I sometimes got as low as 5. To tell the truth, I never really worried about fuel mileage. The 8.1L and Allison transmission got me through every mountain pass and never missed a beat. Plenty of power to climb and keep up with traffic.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    MPG varies depending on several factors. The RIG below is a Damon Intruder 377W they call it 37' I call it 38, 8.1L workhorse
    I"ve seen 6 or less (headwind) and I've seen 13.8 (Ok so the tumble weeds were passing me doing about 100 MPH, I'm not kidding that was one 7734 of tail wind)

    Normally about 8 Fresh wax job and no towed I hit 11

    The freshness of the wax job seems to make a big difference.
  • It will get better mileage than a Ford V10. But MitchF150 has an accurate and concise answer. When I had a Workhorse on a 30ft depending on conditions got low 8’s to mid 9’s.
  • We usually get 7.x mpg with our 8.1 Workhorse. Don't know if a newer motorhome than ours would be any better.