Interstate vs. secoundary roads?

Old-Biscuit wrote:
We traveled FT for 7 yrs. and took secondary/back roads as much as possible.

Hate traveling Interstates. Boring, idiots that don't know how to merge, road surface beat up, heavier traffic etc.

MPG difference.....never really noticed any. When pulling a 14K 13'4" wind sail we got 10.5--11.0 mpg regardless

X2 - Agree with Old Biscuit.
Back or secondary country road are our 1st. choice and are more scenic. We never considered the MPG difference as we just enjoy what the secondary (country) roads have to offer over the interstates which are definitely boring.

Went to Atlanta yesterday to pick up our new fiver. Traveled interstates abbout 90% of the time with cruise set at 62. We averaged 12.1 mpg per DIC, that's pulling a 40' 12600 lb fiver and 143 miles each way. Would have been better but sat in 20 miles of stop and go traffic.

When traveling to the lake we use 2 and 4 lane roads with several long grades and average 10-10.5 mpg.

I drive the interstates to get out west,1800 miles one way, to family. We used some secondary roads this year and I found some were really rough. The 1800 mile trip usually takes me 5 1/2 days. We used more than usual secondary roads this year on our 50 day 7k mile excursion. I didn't follow mpg between the two but got about 11mpg for the trip.

Hi,

I prefer the "red" roads. Interstates are definitely not my cup of tea.

Never worked to figure it out. I tow mostly on secondary roads due to my location and preferred destination of the Oregon Coast. We did hit I5 north for a trip to Mt. Rainer this year. I needed to down shift far less often as there is no 45mph, or 35mph curves you need to slow down for.
I have also been caught in traffic backups on 101! Stop and go and lots of hills. That will make for some bad fuel mileage.

I am curious why I am the odd one out. I am quite certain on my mpg findings, the computer in the car even confirms them. I would say that it is likely that there is no one answer as it probably depends on the TT/TV combo. In my case I have a small TT being towed by a gas SUV and am well under weight, however the TT is not very aerodynamic, and when driving at 60mph I am at about 2200rpm, when I get to 65mph I am at 3000rpm and I lock out overdrive to keep it from constantly hunting. My guess is that the biggest factor is gear ratio/rpm's. Regardless in my case because the sweet spot is 60 and there is a huge hit on mpg when I go up from there, secondary highways, even with occasional stop and go is hands down the winner for mpg.

Drbolasky wrote:


On edit: Is the scenery on the interstates more boring? Yes, no question. I try to plan trips to be a mix of interstate and secondary roads to keep things interesting.

if a road goes thru a section of real estate, it looks exactly the same regardless of what you are driving on. now if you like creeping thru small towns and speed traps, then the side roads excel.
bumpy

Your best mpg would be constant throttle, bleeding speed on the up hills, recovering it on the down hills. Ok constant throttle everywhere but the down hills, less throttle there to keep from speeding.

I get better mileage on the interstate, and use CC if it's reasonably flat.

X2 to Ductape's comments. CC will really dump the fuel to the engine to keep up the selected speed when going up a rise/hill/mountain.