We have a small 22' Class C with Ford V10 and getting between 8.5-10mpg. Buying a new Ford 28' V10. I would expect the new MH's mpg to be 7-9. I drive the current MH in the second to third lane at speed limit and what the traffic is doing. I would expect with the new one I would have to slow down to 55-60 mph and stay in the slower lanes. I have always used Chevron or Shell gas along with the Von's or Ralph's .10 or .20 discounts. Most stations now add a surcharge of .10 or .15 per gallon to use my debit or credit card. May have to pay with cash. Am I better off going to an Arco, Valero or Flying J for cheaper gas? I know they don't have the same engine cleaning additives that Chevron has.I did some math and a 600 mile round trip to Yosemite with gas at $3.50 per gallon could cost $27 for every MPG drop.My old Ford has the 4 speed transmission and the new one has the 5 speed. Any help there? And is the OD on the old one the same as the TOW feature on the new one?

Like Chevron, Shell and a number of others; Costco, Arco, and Valero are now Top Tier gas while Flying J, Von's and Ralph's are not.

I always use the top tier detergent fuels if at all possible. After seeing how quickly my generator was ruined by not using the ethanol treatment I have gained great respect for gasoline's ability to develop gunk in disastrous places. You get what you pay for; pay me now or pay me later with interest; yada, yada

We have a 31 footer with the V10 and get 6.5 - 8 depending on road conditions. I try to keep the speed to 62-65 MPH. Sweet spot seems to be 63-64 mph and gives best mileage. Last year we spent more time on the interstate over fairly level stretches and got 8.3 mpg while towing. All at 63-64 mph. Can be done. We also tend to use top tier fuels when we can get them, she seems to run better.Dave

I have used costco and other brands and have not really seen any great difference in performance from any. It all depends on what the right foot is doing. I use Fly J or TA for diesel when using the truck and TT since they have have high turnover and fresh fuel when compared to other places like grocery stores. Will use safeway or fry's when no truck stop around.Use an additive if you have concerns. You can get the chevron techron at costco for about $15 for 6 maybe less have not bought any lately.As to going slower with the larger, dont bet on it. We get the same at 65 as we do going slower. Ours is a 2012 Aspect 28ft, but is a B+ so dont have the big wind sail over the cab. Generally getting 8-10 depending on where we are , lower in mountains higher on flats. I do run Mikes 5 Star tune since the v10 is seeming always wanting to go to high rpms and has such poor throttle control. Does make a difference. As we gain mileage on the unit it appears to get better,

DAS26miles wrote:Most stations now add a surcharge of .10 or .15 per gallon to use my debit or credit card.That "adder" for credit card use on fuel purchases is ridiculous ... and that's one more reason I use a credit card that returns 5% per gallon in credit points on all fuel paid for with the card.5% per gallon just about offsets that adder, so at least fueling up with the convenience of a credit card is about a wash at the end of trip. :(

New Class C, change driving and fueling habits?

DAS26miles
Explorer II
Jun 22, 2015
scenicgreenr wrote
My wife and I have begun using gas gift cards from Chevron, etc. One, you receive a discount at the pump and second - its an information protection issue ... we've had our credit cards "hacked" several times while driving across the country ... with the gift cards, no such issue and never have to go back inside to the cashier to call in for permission or restart the pumps.

What a GREAT idea!! Then they won't be adding 10-15 cents for credit card use either. My debit and credit can only do $85-90 at a time.
scenicgreenrr
Explorer
Jun 22, 2015
My wife and I have begun using gas gift cards from Chevron, etc. One, you receive a discount at the pump and second - its an information protection issue ... we've had our credit cards "hacked" several times while driving across the country ... with the gift cards, no such issue and never have to go back inside to the cashier to call in for permission or restart the pumps.
j-d
Explorer II
Jun 22, 2015
"Y-I-E-L-D" spells "I Can Get Ahead"
cgmartine
Explorer
Jun 22, 2015
DAS26miles wrote:
The Chevron around the corner from me is $3.49 per gallon and I get .20 off with my Von's rebate. That's still $215 to go to Yosemite and back unless I they have the .10 to.15 credit card surcharge.
Checked the Motor Trend website at 10 pm today, and gas in Independence, Ca., a Chevron gas station at 130 S. Edwards St. is listed at $4.27 for premium and $4.07 for regular.
OFDPOS
Explorer
Jun 21, 2015
jeffengle wrote:
What is the top transmission gear ratio, is it more than 1-1? If you have to use a fuel additive, that changes your cost of mpg. If you put taller tires on , that changes your speedometer reading.

When different size tires are put on the speedo needs to be re calibrated. Most don't do that and then the true MPG is off so now they think they are getting worse/better mpg...

Taller tires speedo reads slower and miles add up less.
Smaller tires speedo reads faster and miles add up faster.
pnichols
Explorer II
Jun 21, 2015
DAS26miles wrote:
Problem with going 55-60 in the slow lane here in Ca is it's broken up so bad from the semi's ...

That's why I just had a set of Koni FSD shocks installed in the rear of our E450 Itasca. We want to travel at 55-58 MPH in the right lane on all state highways and I'm hoping that these shocks back there in the rear help make the right lane more palatable. I'll report later on how these shocks work out ... after some trips.
DAS26miles
Explorer II
Jun 21, 2015
Problem with going 55-60 in the slow lane here in Ca is it's broken up so bad from the semi's and merging onramp folks don't have a clue. They cut you off at the last second to avoid being behind you.
OFDPOS
Explorer
Jun 21, 2015
tatest wrote:

Don't understand the second-lane, third-lane stuff. Most of the time we have only one lane going in each direction, and if there are two, it is "keep right except to pass" so there are no issues about trying to keep up with traffic cruising in a higher speed lane.

If ONLY people would adhere to that.
I noticed heading East to DC as soon as we got passed Texas , most freeways we drove on most did adhere to "keep right except to pass"

Not here on the West coast IDIOTS merge (pull right out in front of the traffic doing 35-45 on posted 65 mph ) onto the freeways , head straight for the passing lane then park their butts there with the attitude they can go around me.
The slow right lane has now become the passing lane.
jeffengle
Explorer
Jun 21, 2015
What is the top transmission gear ratio, is it more than 1-1? If you have to use a fuel additive, that changes your cost of mpg. If you put taller tires on , that changes your speedometer reading.
OFDPOS
Explorer
Jun 21, 2015
Golden_HVAC wrote:
I used to fill my work truck up at Shell stations all the time, and got 10 MPG, so I figured that the 30 gallon fill was good for 300 miles and 33 gallons for 330. Once I was not near a Shell, and used Cheveron. I was getting 11 MPG on Cheveron gas, and Mobil. Shell and Arco only gave me 10 MPG. This was a E-250 van.

You might keep a log and start buying only Cheveron and Mobil.

As a side note, I bought 91 octane gas for my trip from San Diego to Oregon in 2013. I was getting 8.5 MPG while running 55 MPH. Normally I was only getting 7 mpg, while running 65 MPH. So the improved octane and slower speed really paid off in lower fuel costs! For a 1,100 mile drive, that is more than a few gallons. The extra 5% in fuel cost per gallon saved me about 10% in fuel used. Slowing down helped fuel use too.

I think that you will get about the same MPG with the slightly longer class C as the older one. It will be slightly heavier, but also have the new 5 speed automatic transmission, so it should get better mileage if all things (weight and height wise) where equal. Of course slowing to 55 MPH will push a lot less wind out of the way, improving mileage substantially!

Changing to 91 octane will help the MPG of any fuel injected vehicle. Try it and see! The anti-knock sensor will see that the fuel is better, and can run the car leaner, and advance the spark for better HP per gallon of fuel.

As for running Chevron fuel , I can agree ,my Harley FB pinged on all other Brands of fuel except Chevron.
Running 91 octane in a vehicle that is designed to run 87 octane is wasting a person's money.
My guess by your comment of Chevron/Mobil getting better MPG You filled up with Chevron for your trip up to Oregon .
You driving slower is what got you the better MPG Not bumping the octane.
But if it makes you feel better running a higher octane fuel, its your money. ;)
Just google running higher Octane effects !
Here is a good read on Octane... Of many...
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2014/04/11/tech-101-octane-the-facts-and-the-fiction-behind-those-higher-priced-fuels/

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New Class C, change driving and fueling habits?

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