Horrible Fuel mileage update
Awhile back I posted a thread about horrible gas mileage. TV is a 2011 GMC Sierra 1500,5.7L, 3.42 gears, tow package (not HD). Trailer is Tracer 2640 RLS that weight is just under 6K. I mentioned...
Forum Discussion
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I got right at about 10 one time with my Excursion V-10 pulling about a 30" travel trailer. We had no wind, and only drove 50-55. Besides driving granny-style, the idea of no-wind makes a big difference. Even a slight side tail wind will slow you down. A perfect tail wind might help, but the only folks that get that consistantly, are folks going the other way. My buddy apparently got about 10.5 one time with his Ford V-10 powered mini-home, since he took the same gallons as I did with our diesel. But I squeezed it in and I well imagine he didn't, just for arguments sake to irritate me.
We usually get about 8 to 8.5 with the Excursion gasser driving about 60. And about 10.5 to 11.5 with the F-250 diesel at 65. I had a chance to get a newer 6.0L Ford F-250 diesel for near the same money, but I chickened out because of engine notoriety. The smaller 6.0L displacement, like that of Cummins 5.9L, seems to net some brave guys better fuel economy than the larger 7.3L like ours.
Over 100 miles, our diesel got about 19 empty to pick up my buddy, and then continue on pulling his shorter camper (24'?) to Rollag, Minn for a steam show. With no wind, the truck then got a little over 13 towing at 60-65, the best it's ever done.
My wife has an older 2007 Prius. She liked it because her friend had one with a back-up camera and they are both short people. At the time, the car had the best drag coefficient (Cd) of any car in the world. There is no doubt that this is the major factor in the cars remarkable fuel economy since the hybrid part has very little effect at highway speed. So I kind of wonder how well an RV could do Cd-wise, if it had at least 7.5 feet of width and maybe 7.5 foot of overall height and was shaped just right? I note that the car has done about 51 in no wind at 65, but drops to low 40's when there is wind. In comparison, the shape isn't worth a darn if the wind is slightly sideways. Basically, a sidewind is like driving dog-tracked, broad-side into the wind.
Wes
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I got right at about 10 one time with my Excursion V-10 pulling about a 30" travel trailer. We had no wind, and only drove 50-55. Besides driving granny-style, the idea of no-wind makes a big difference. Even a slight side tail wind will slow you down. A perfect tail wind might help, but the only folks that get that consistantly, are folks going the other way. My buddy apparently got about 10.5 one time with his Ford V-10 powered mini-home, since he took the same gallons as I did with our diesel. But I squeezed it in and I well imagine he didn't, just for arguments sake to irritate me.
We usually get about 8 to 8.5 with the Excursion gasser driving about 60. And about 10.5 to 11.5 with the F-250 diesel at 65. I had a chance to get a newer 6.0L Ford F-250 diesel for near the same money, but I chickened out because of engine notoriety. The smaller 6.0L displacement, like that of Cummins 5.9L, seems to net some brave guys better fuel economy than the larger 7.3L like ours.
Over 100 miles, our diesel got about 19 empty to pick up my buddy, and then continue on pulling his shorter camper (24'?) to Rollag, Minn for a steam show. With no wind, the truck then got a little over 13 towing at 60-65, the best it's ever done.
My wife has an older 2007 Prius. She liked it because her friend had one with a back-up camera and they are both short people. At the time, the car had the best drag coefficient (Cd) of any car in the world. There is no doubt that this is the major factor in the cars remarkable fuel economy since the hybrid part has very little effect at highway speed. So I kind of wonder how well an RV could do Cd-wise, if it had at least 7.5 feet of width and maybe 7.5 foot of overall height and was shaped just right? I note that the car has done about 51 in no wind at 65, but drops to low 40's when there is wind. In comparison, the shape isn't worth a darn if the wind is slightly sideways. Basically, a sidewind is like driving dog-tracked, broad-side into the wind.
Wes
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