motor home mpg
what brand of mh gets the best mpg? we are considering a vegas 24.1
Forum Discussion
It depends more on size and chassis or platform than brand.
Best MPG will be a Type B, a camping van conversion. MPG might range from 19-22 for diesel motorhomes on Sprinter, RAM Promaster or Transit down to 12-15 MPG for B motorhomes on Chevy Express or (no longer made) Ford E-Series. Promaster and Transit vans with gas V-6 engines will be somewhere in between, as will campers built into the VW T4.
Small Type C motorhomes on diesel Sprinter or Transit platforms might give you 12 MPG or better. Winnebago builds a Type A motorhome (Via) on the Sprinter platform that might get MPG in the same range.
The Vegas is built on the E-450 with V-10. Pushing a motorhome size box, this combination might average 7 to 9 MPG depending on wind conditions and driving speeds. My 29-foot C on E-450 with V-10 has averaged 8.3 MPG over 30,000 miles. My worst fill-up was 4.2 MPG, the best 12.0 MPG (must have been a tailwind day).
Larger motorhomes on F-53 chassis tend to do only slightly worse, 6 to 8 MPG. Small (under 26,000 pound) diesel Type A motorhomes do about the same as gas motorhomes in the 20,000 pound to 24,000 pound range. As diesel motorhomes get bigger, they do worse, mostly because the owners tend to use the extra power available to maintain higher speeds. A 60,000 pound motorcoach with 600 HP diesel might get 4-5 MPG on the highway, but folks spending in excess of $2,000,000 for their motorcoach don't worry so much about fuel costs, it is like dealing with the cost of operating a large motor yacht or a private plane.
If you are concerned with fuel costs for something in the size of the Vegas, consider the Winnebago Via as an alternative. But for the extra $50,000 initial cost of a Via, it will take a lot of miles for the fuel cost savings to pay you back, e.g. 500,000 miles if it saves you ten cents a mile.
Best MPG will be a Type B, a camping van conversion. MPG might range from 19-22 for diesel motorhomes on Sprinter, RAM Promaster or Transit down to 12-15 MPG for B motorhomes on Chevy Express or (no longer made) Ford E-Series. Promaster and Transit vans with gas V-6 engines will be somewhere in between, as will campers built into the VW T4.
Small Type C motorhomes on diesel Sprinter or Transit platforms might give you 12 MPG or better. Winnebago builds a Type A motorhome (Via) on the Sprinter platform that might get MPG in the same range.
The Vegas is built on the E-450 with V-10. Pushing a motorhome size box, this combination might average 7 to 9 MPG depending on wind conditions and driving speeds. My 29-foot C on E-450 with V-10 has averaged 8.3 MPG over 30,000 miles. My worst fill-up was 4.2 MPG, the best 12.0 MPG (must have been a tailwind day).
Larger motorhomes on F-53 chassis tend to do only slightly worse, 6 to 8 MPG. Small (under 26,000 pound) diesel Type A motorhomes do about the same as gas motorhomes in the 20,000 pound to 24,000 pound range. As diesel motorhomes get bigger, they do worse, mostly because the owners tend to use the extra power available to maintain higher speeds. A 60,000 pound motorcoach with 600 HP diesel might get 4-5 MPG on the highway, but folks spending in excess of $2,000,000 for their motorcoach don't worry so much about fuel costs, it is like dealing with the cost of operating a large motor yacht or a private plane.
If you are concerned with fuel costs for something in the size of the Vegas, consider the Winnebago Via as an alternative. But for the extra $50,000 initial cost of a Via, it will take a lot of miles for the fuel cost savings to pay you back, e.g. 500,000 miles if it saves you ten cents a mile.
