Fuel mileage

I have the CDL in the family, I do most/all of the driving. We had a 04 32' v10 with the 4 speed, never towed anything, its our weekend get out of town vehicle.
It depends on the conditions, the F53 chassis is often all over the road with a good wind, with hills the v10 is screaming as it drops gears for more power, even in the tow haul mode. After adding $4000 in "handling improvements" we were able to do the speed limit most of the time, though it was still a white knuckle experience. We saw low of 4.5 mpg with a 25 mph head wind to 8 mpg on a near perfect day with few hills. If we ran the genny for A/C on those 85 degree days our mpg dropped .5 miles per gallon so from 7 to 6.5.
The upside was the v10 always started, got us to where we needed, and was cheap to maintain, absolutely no issues.
However, for work I drive diesels, so we traded the 2014 V10 in for a 2007 40' with the small but mighty 5.9 Cummins diesel, no more white knuckle driving, and we see 8 to 10 mpg.
There's no perfect motorhome out there, just figure out what you and family need to be happy, and then enjoy it.
My truck only gets 13 mpg, it has no queen bed, shower, bath, refrigerator, stove, tv, recliners or couch. Put it in perspective, basically you're driving a house. You want mpg's you drive a tiny little car, that is only for driving not living in.
Have fun in your search for your home on wheels.

So if you collect all this data and don’t compute your mileage, why collect it? My DW always gets a receipt at each fill up and stuffs it in the glove box but never does anything with them.

I do agree with your sentiment.

And now to answer the OP’s post, after some 29k miles towing/not towing, my average is high sixes to mid sevens. (2016, Newmar BSS, 31ft, Ford V10)

mowermech wrote:
I drive the Ford V-10 motorhome shown in my sig, towing the Jeep shown in my sig.
I keep a log book where I enter every gallon of gas that is put in the tank, what date I bought it, how much it cost, and the odometer reading.
I have never computed the MPG, because I just don't care! I know it is terrible, and I know it is to be expected. Worrying about fuel economy in a motorhome is an exercise in futility. It is terrible, and there is very little that can be done to improve it!

If you worry about your mpg with any RV you should have done your research before your bought it. Now, that I flamed you. MPG really sucks with gassers towing anything or not. Our 2016 Journey DP averages about 8 mpg dragging anything or not behind it. Slow down especially with headwinds. You have to find your unit's sweet spot. It might not be fast enough for your schedule but it does help the mpg. In our 2016 Winnebago Journey the spot is about 68 mph. In the mountains all bets are off. Sometimes I'm happy to see 7 mpg on a tank.

2006 F53 V-10 33' MH with the 5 speed towing a 4600lb Acadia.....about 7-8 mpg.

Al

I drive the Ford V-10 motorhome shown in my sig, towing the Jeep shown in my sig.
I keep a log book where I enter every gallon of gas that is put in the tank, what date I bought it, how much it cost, and the odometer reading.
I have never computed the MPG, because I just don't care! I know it is terrible, and I know it is to be expected. Worrying about fuel economy in a motorhome is an exercise in futility. It is terrible, and there is very little that can be done to improve it!

43’ DP with Lincoln on the tow bar . . . 7.4 average

wjschill wrote:
OK friends.

I've read fuel mileage for a 35' gasser with the v-10 Ford engine pulling a 3500 lbs toad will be anywhere from 4 to 9 mpg. This is average traveling, not all level and not all hills.

Please share your experiences.

Thanks,

Skip

40' class A gasser pulling a Jeep SUV. gross combined weight roughly 13-tons. historical average gas mileage 5.6-mpg. but I drive 65-68 or the speed limit, whichever is less.

The faster you travel the faster the gas disappears!
Keeping speed 55 to 60 will help!
We have big block Chev chassis and get 8+. Fords do not get good mileage.

My average for our 12 with the 5 speed auto towing a 4500lb Explorer and running the generator is 5.8. I don’t figure mountain mileage as it’s only for short times.