Approximate fuel milage of these 2 motorhomes?l

[aswagerty14]

We are choosing between 2 motorhomes and it is coming down to fuel mileage, does anyone know about how many mpg these 2 would get and would the difference be significant enough to make it the decision maker? Holiday rambler diesel 5.9 L or Fleetwood pacearrow gas Ford 460 both on 37 ft class a's. I know the diesel will get better fuel mileage but by how much? Thank you!

[atsrmf]

All things being equal I would take the diesel.

[kedanie]

Basically, if your worried bout the fuel mileage you can’t afford it.

Keith

[et2]

Had a Fleetwood expedition with the 5.9 Cummins. 68 MPH always got 10 plus. Now 45’ tag Discovery with 450, 6.4 the best so far

[dodge_guy]

Having a 2012 F53 with the V-10 and getting 6mpg towing a 13 Explorer. The 460 F53 will not be much less in mileage, less HP yes, but not mileage. Not by much anyway!

[Mommalu]

We have the 5.9 in a 40' coach, always drive with full water of 80 gallons and always do the 70 mph speed limit on the interstate. Even with a good head wind the lowest we have ever gotten is 7.9 the most 8.9.
We had a 32' V10 we drove the same and mileage was between 5.5 to 7.5, it was all over the road, a rough ride and a screaming engine that put out so much heat we often had to drive with the genny and the roof A/C on. Once stopped the heat from the drive shaft would heat the floor from engine to the rear wheels, even with both A/C's on it was hard to cool the interior down.
Happiest day was trading in the 2014 and buying the 2007 diesel. Granted with an older coach there are things to update. However its a joy to drive, we talk now no more shouting, no more jarring bumps.
Just my 2 cents.

[wolfe10]

Tal/IL wrote:
Here is our experience with 3 class A m-homes. I keep a log of fuel usage, and fuel mileage is averaged over several thousand miles for each. Fuel usage does include some generator run time:

33' gasser with 454 engine @ 16,000 lbs max - 8 mpg
35' gasser with V10 engine @ 22,000 lbs max - 7+ mgg
40' diesel with 400 HP Cat C9 @ 31,000 lbs max - 6.4 mpg

We may be a long way from guidance for the OP.

Pretty hard to compare an older (much lighter)coach with 5.9 liter Cummins B with a heavy 40' with 9 liter meeting much stiffer EPA requirements.

I promise you, a reasonably driven reasonably light coach with Cummins B can get 10 MPG on level and 9 in hills. Want to drive 70 MPH? NO WAY to get 10 MPG.

[Tal_IL]

Here is our experience with 3 class A m-homes. I keep a log of fuel usage, and fuel mileage is averaged over several thousand miles for each. Fuel usage does include some generator run time:

33' gasser with 454 engine @ 16,000 lbs max - 8 mpg
35' gasser with V10 engine @ 22,000 lbs max - 7+ mgg
40' diesel with 400 HP Cat C9 @ 31,000 lbs max - 6.4 mpg

[Horsedoc]

If I could have found a handicap diesel coach that is what my gasser we have today would be. Diesel chassis just seem to ride and handle better to me.
Long distance traveling, give me a diesel any day.
We have crossed the country several times in a diesel and mileage varied. Had a 300 Cat engine and on one trip across, east to west, we got great mileage 12+ . Same coach, engine same towed we got just a bit better than 5. Difference? We drove into a strong headwind all day long.

[RLS7201]

That ol 460 is about as bad as it gets for fuel mileage. You can count on 7 MPG @ 62 MPH. On the other hand, I have read reports on the 5.9 getting 9-11 MPG.

Richard

[wolfe10]

aswagerty14 wrote:
We are choosing between 2 motorhomes and it is coming down to fuel mileage, does anyone know about how many mpg these 2 would get and would the difference be significant enough to make it the decision maker? Holiday rambler diesel 5.9 L or Fleetwood pacearrow gas Ford 460 both on 37 ft class a's. I know the diesel will get better fuel mileage but by how much? Thank you!

While I agree that MPG is not at the top of the "why to buy a coach" list, there WILL BE a significant difference in MPG between a Cummins B and the old Ford 460 in a heavy coach.

I would venture that the heavy gas coach (37') would use about 40% more fuel.

[Rick_Jay]

aswagerty14,

Welcome to the Forums! Is this your first RV you're looking to purchase?

As a few others have noted, I'd put floorplan above just about any other deciding factor, except condition, of course. Do both of the units you're looking at have the same floorplan? If so, then you can nit-pick at other things. If not, you need to carefully study each floorplan to see what will work best for you. Some examples: There are split-baths and all-in-one baths. If you have kids, I think the all-in-one baths are a better option. But if it's just a couple, some prefer the split-baths. Some rigs have bath and a half. Some have sofa(s) and a dinette. Some have free standing table and chairs in stead of the dinette. Some have a sofa and/or lounge chairs. Queen bed/kind bed/bunk beds/drop-down bed? Which cabinets and drawers are inaccessible when the slides are in? (Important if/when you're travelling on the road and can't extend the slides.) Lots of things to consider. These are things that IF they're not right for you, will wear at you much more so than a few mpg difference. georgelesley said it best above "If you or DW, especially DW, do not like the floorplan your fuel mileage will be unlimited since you will not use it for very long and it will just sit in your yard." And one other thing to remember is that in many parts of the country and at different periods in the recent past, diesel fuel costs more than gasoline. So the extra mpg diesel delivers may be offset somewhat by the added cost of the fuel.

Have you been able to drive each of them? It's usually the driving experience that sells folks on the diesel over the gasser. If you're just looking at papers & websites, you are doing yourself a disservice in trying to decide between gas & diesel.

There ARE substantial differences between a DP and a gasser Class A motorhome, but like many others have said, I wouldn't make the decision on mpg differences.

Good Luck in your decision, 🙂

~Rick

[LouLawrence]

Even if you got an extra 3 MPG choosing one over the other. Traveling 10,000 miles per year (highly unlikely you would travel that much) the year difference would be minimal. At 10 MPG you would use 1000 gallons or around $3500. If you only got 7 miles to the gallon you would use 1429 gallons or around $5000. That $1500 per year is not going to make any difference in the overall cost of ownership or make the RV any better or worse. Floor plan, floor plan, floor plan #1 and ride, handling comfort #2 (that means the improvements brought on by owning a diesel pusher.

[Ivylog]

MPG is not in the top 10 of decisions on which MH I’d buy. Agree the 5.9 winds hands down and will probably get 10 mph…educates guess without knowing the weight of the MH and the HP of the 5.9.

[RetiredRealtorR]

You will not find a better diesel engine than the 5.9 Cummins. Period. Case closed. End of story.

That being said, you might see the difference between 8 - 9 on a gas motorhome and 10 - 11 on the 5.9 diesel (speaking from first-hand experience with both), HOWEVER, factor in the higher price of the diesel fuel. Around here I've seen it anywhere from 20 cents a gallon to 80 cents a gallon higher than regular unleaded. Percentage-wise at best it's a wash, but I wouldn't let fuel economy be the sole deciding factor.