2017 22 Ft. Class C Ford E-350 Super Duty Triton V10 flat towing Ford Fiesta (2600 lbs). About 10 MPG in Florida (flat elevation)I-95 to I-87 Eastern Seaboard Route is flat elevation but crowded and requires correct timing, especially if boon docking "overnight".1300 miles / 10 MPG = 130 Gal X $2.80 = $364 ($728 round trip)I-95 to I-77 to I-81 to I-88 to I-87 is the road less traveled, no timing required, easy boon docking "overnight". Less than 1 hr extra time difference one way. However, hilly (Mountainous?) terrain, Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, Endless Mountains in PA, Catskills in NY. Anybody have experience on these routes and how MPG is affected? For Example, If I lose 3 MPG going through the mountain valleys:1300 miles / 7 MPG = 186 Gal X $2.80 = $521 ($1042 round trip)That is a savings of $314 staying on the crowded seaboard. Am I thinking straight? Even at a $200 savings I would be inclined to save the moneyThanks

IMHO the big killer is the fact you're trying to push a large garden shed down the highway, the parasitic losses due to wind resistance is the big killer. Don't forget also, for every hill you have to climb, there's a downhill you get to coast too. It's only the difference in fuel to climb minus the fuel saved coasting down that hill that you have to account for. I'd be surprised if you'd notice much of a difference in mileage once you're towing a car already. I do the reverse of that route, Toronto to Florida, on a pretty regular basis. For the few times I need a car at the other end I just rent. I get a brand new car delivered to me for a few days for about the increased fuel cost just to hit the border!! ;-p

I wouldn't expect a 30% decrease in average fuel mileage, assuming your speed is about the same in either case. Don't forget to factor in tolls as well: none on the I-81 route, some on the other route depending on exactly how you go. (The little bit of NY thruway on I-90 between I-88 and I-87 is free if you go between those two exits specifically.)Personally, especially with a motorhome, I'd take the I-81 route pretty much every time--and indeed I have done so in a car several times as my dear mother now lives in Florida.

On the I 77 route the hiss are not that bad until you reach the NC Virginia border. Once there you have one long pull to the top. Then various size hills. On the 95 route hills will start on PA border but not as steep. You might get a better response if you ask the MOD to move this to roads and routes.

Farmboy666 wrote:2nd choice, nicer drive.X2. Much nicer, less stressful, I suspect "safer" boondocking. I would vote to arrive with your sanity intact and take 81. Unless we are stopping to see East coast friends that is how we do our annual run down and back anymore. But, if saving a couple hundred $$$ matters, I would expect you will do that shooting straight up 95.Dave

Florida to Upstate NY (Saratoga Springs) | Good Sam Community

JaxDad
Explorer III
Jun 25, 2018
IMHO the big killer is the fact you're trying to push a large garden shed down the highway, the parasitic losses due to wind resistance is the big killer.

Don't forget also, for every hill you have to climb, there's a downhill you get to coast too. It's only the difference in fuel to climb minus the fuel saved coasting down that hill that you have to account for. I'd be surprised if you'd notice much of a difference in mileage once you're towing a car already.

I do the reverse of that route, Toronto to Florida, on a pretty regular basis. For the few times I need a car at the other end I just rent. I get a brand new car delivered to me for a few days for about the increased fuel cost just to hit the border!! ;-p
DrewE
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2018
I wouldn't expect a 30% decrease in average fuel mileage, assuming your speed is about the same in either case. Don't forget to factor in tolls as well: none on the I-81 route, some on the other route depending on exactly how you go. (The little bit of NY thruway on I-90 between I-88 and I-87 is free if you go between those two exits specifically.)

Personally, especially with a motorhome, I'd take the I-81 route pretty much every time--and indeed I have done so in a car several times as my dear mother now lives in Florida.
dpgllg
Explorer
Jun 25, 2018
On the I 77 route the hiss are not that bad until you reach the NC Virginia border. Once there you have one long pull to the top. Then various size hills.

On the 95 route hills will start on PA border but not as steep.

You might get a better response if you ask the MOD to move this to roads and routes.
Farmboy666
Explorer
Jun 25, 2018
2nd choice, nicer drive.
magicbus
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2018
Farmboy666 wrote:
2nd choice, nicer drive.
X2. Much nicer, less stressful, I suspect "safer" boondocking. I would vote to arrive with your sanity intact and take 81. Unless we are stopping to see East coast friends that is how we do our annual run down and back anymore.

But, if saving a couple hundred $$$ matters, I would expect you will do that shooting straight up 95.

Dave
jplante4
Explorer II
Jun 25, 2018
JaxDad wrote:
Don't forget also, for every hill you have to climb, there's a downhill you get to coast too. It's only the difference in fuel to climb minus the fuel saved coasting down that hill that you have to account for.

You spend more time pulling uphill than you spend coasting downhill, so it's not a wash.
monkey44
Nomad II
Jun 25, 2018
I-95 = Traffic, construction, stop and go, not very scenic ...

I-81 = Much less traffic, scenic - no construction

We did this route from MA to FL for years and years - the first few, I-95, but then I-81, and after a few times "testing each", made the I-81 route the forever choice ...

For us, even if the savings are true, and personally, I doubt it but never actually cost-tested it, the drive up I-95 became something to dread ... and tolls eat some of the savings as well.
JaxDad
Explorer III
Jun 25, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
JaxDad wrote:
Don't forget also, for every hill you have to climb, there's a downhill you get to coast too. It's only the difference in fuel to climb minus the fuel saved coasting down that hill that you have to account for.

You spend more time pulling uphill than you spend coasting downhill, so it's not a wash.

Which is exactly why I DIDN’T say it was.

If you go (for ease of discussing) 5 miles of uphills at 5 mpg (1 gallon burned), and 5 miles of downhills at 15 mpg (0.33 gallon burned), you have burned 1.33 gallons to go 10 miles.

You have then averaged ~7.5 mpg over those 10 miles.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Jun 26, 2018
jplante4 wrote:
JaxDad wrote:
Don't forget also, for every hill you have to climb, there's a downhill you get to coast too. It's only the difference in fuel to climb minus the fuel saved coasting down that hill that you have to account for.

You spend more time pulling uphill than you spend coasting downhill, so it's not a wash.

Surprisingly, the difference in elevation between the I-95/I-26 split in SC and our upstate NY cottage is exactly the same no matter which route we take! The ups and downs must even out either way somewhere along the way to end up at the same elevation... ;)
jplante4
Explorer II
Jun 26, 2018
Dutch_12078 wrote:
Surprisingly, the difference in elevation between the I-95/I-26 split in SC and our upstate NY cottage is exactly the same no matter which route we take! The ups and downs must even out either way somewhere along the way to end up at the same elevation... ;)

Well of course. If you start at sea level and end up at sea level, you didn't climb at all :)

What I meant was the amount of time you spend going uphill at 35 mph is greater than the amount of time you spend coasting downhill at 55-65 mph. This is a classic problem I give to my flying students to get them to think about how a headwind effects a flight.