Pleasure Way

I to have a 2006 PW Plateau TS on the Dodge Sprinter chassis. I get 20-24 MPG at 65-70 MPH. However, I drop to 15 mpg when towing my 12 foot enclosed trailer with the Harley inside.
My only complaint with the PW conversion is there is little to no insulation in the walls or doors. Makes for really cold nights unless the heater is blasting. I did add a second coach battery, under the passenger seat, to allow the heater to run thru the night.
Bob

I actually use my Sprinter as a second vehicle as I get 30 MPG regularly on a Canadian Gallon. It is useful for many hauling jobs or trips with the pooch to the shopping centre plus of course RV trips. It has saved my pricey BMW a lot of miles too as it sits in the garage more now with the SPrinter. WHen I upgrade, a journey not yet finalized, I hope for an equally economical RV. Pleasure way is pricey but outstanding quality all round.

The PW part of my Traverse has been fine except for peeling clearcoat on the fiberglass top and running boards. Even though the van is now in its 13th year, it sort of surprised me as the Ford paint has been fine. Just got back from an 1800 or so hundred mile loop through the Four Corners region and driving an average of 60-75 on the whole trip, I averaged about 16 MPG. Fill ups where I was driving more leisurely got me high 17 and the worst was a fill up after driving north on I-15 to I-84 in crazy high winds and driving a good part of it at 75 MPH (until the winds got too bad). That was about 12.5 MPG.

Thanks all for the info!! If anyone has any other info it would be a big help!!

KC

Very happy with our Plateau TS!

Sweetj38 wrote:
I get 13 mpg while others talk 15-16 driving 60-65 mph. What can I do to improve?

like any vehicle- mechanical condition needs to be tops...sparkplugs and wires...even oil grade.
older american cars spec'd 30, 40 or 50w ( progressively thicker) a thinner oil will allow more MPG IF the motor is built for it- some new cars spec a 0w-10...my pick up specs a 5w-20.

an recent emissions test will give indication as to condition of motor and the controls- my chev 3500 6.0 PW lexor was tested last week and returned great numbers...3 to 4 PPM - 1% of allowable hydrocarbons ( that means no unburned gas coming out the tailpipe)


wind...an unused roof top bike rack can affect passenger car MPG by 10%...all the stuff up there can slow you down...solar panels, vents, antennas, TV dish, ladder racks etc etc. open windows.
sleeker is faster.
a wide body ( excel, 210 series) needs to push a bigger hole through the air.

weight: more weight, more power- don't roll with full tanks- don't carry a bunch of heavy stuff you won;t need

tires: inflation and rolling resistance

fuel; some motors may spec 91 octane ( for instance)...the motor will seem to run fine on 89 octane or 87...however these fuels require the ECM to retard the spark timing.
This will give less MPG- a false economy.
check the manual- IF the manual says 89 octane- there is NO advantage to running 91 octane

ethanol in the gas is good for Iowa, but will reduce the users MPG by about 7% for 10% ethanol/ 90% gas mix

dirty injectors give less precise burn and will waste fuel- a brand name fuel will probably contain better cleaners- costco gas has 5 x the EPA mandated detergent levels. that's what I use for most of my vehicles when I can.

cleaner air filter and MAF/MAP sensor- cleaner air flowing freely into the motor- the MAF/MAP sensor gauges the density of the air ( o2 content) which will vary with barometric pressure ( altitude) and temperature. These are easy to clean- special cleaner at autoparts store.


right foot- leave room in front so that you can slow by lifting the right foot rather than braking. slower starts from a stop. stay in the lane that allows traffic to get by you, so that you don;t feel pushed by other traffic.

I drive a big dumb heavy stupid vehicle that takes longer to get to speed, longer to stop...get over with trucks, you are not driving a car


so far on the Lexor we are at 15/16 mpg usually cruising 65 or lower.

mike

Before we purchased our Plateau we looked at Road Tec, Airstream and Great Lakes vans. When you opened the water heater and TV cabinet the difference was astounding as to the quality of the installation and routing of wires and plumbing. Hands down the fit and finish, attention to detail was PW and RT. PW suited our need the best. Probably why the are priced above the others is that you get what you pay for.

The people that achieve 15-16 mpg are those that are following and drafting the 18 wheelers and are the ones holding traffic. Don't be one of those!

Right Nick, The Excel body is not the Express Van's Stock front end. Larger Front End to push through the air vs the Lexor.

Nice B though.

Bud

The best thing you can do is don't believe what you hear. I get 13 and that's all I got in any of the Excel's that I have owned be it a V-8 or V-10, I averaged 13 MPG in all of them, the old Dodge Lexor's did get 15. The mpg has nothing to do with Pleasure-Way, they didn't build the chassis or driveline.

Nick