Fuel Mileage on 8.1 Workhorse

[burgess001]

I drove DP's for years. Thinking about a 30 ft Workhorse. What kind of gas mileage can I expect

[LouLawrence]

Why do we keep getting MPG questions? If you do even the most simple search you will find something like 1000 posts on MPG. None of them mean a dang thing since everyone has a different way of calculating this number (with generator, without generator, traveling East, Traveling West, Headwind, Tailwind and on and on ad nauseam). MPG is, by far, the least of all of any RVers concerns when it comes to cost of ownership.

[wa8yxm]

I drove a 2005 Damon Intruder 377W (Workhorse 8.1L) for 15 years
Millage. Lowest I ever got was 6 (Major headwind)
Highest 13.8 (I kid you not the tumble weeds were going down the road passing me at nearly 100 MPH Straight down the very straight (I-10) road.. Was ... Fun (not) when I exited for the night)

Normal depended on my towed. 7-8 towing a 2001 Dodge neon using a transmission lube pump (2500 pound towed)
8-9 towing a 1992 Chevy Lumina APV (4000 pounds) with a Axle lock. I do not knwo if this was because the larger APV "Spoiled" the air flow or the added drag of the automatic transmission on the Neon.
Bobtail (no towed car) about the same as with the Lumina (Argument for spoiled air flow)

Fresh Wax Job 10-11MPG
Anyone care to guess why I waxed spring and fall before my semi-annual migration hike?

[burgess001]

Thanks everyone. We did go with a V10 Class C. The Workhorses we found were pretty much used up.

[egh33]

burgess001 wrote:
I drove DP's for years. Thinking about a 30 ft Workhorse. What kind of gas mileage can I expect

All depends on the tail wind, down hill is great gas mileage

[fyrflie]

I have a 60 gallon tank and use 6 mpg as my baseline mileage.
Looking for fuel and beer around 300 miles.

[dodge_guy]

Rick Jay wrote:
dodge guy and ArchHoagland,

I agree with your math and refueling policies. The only thing I'd add is that the height for the pick-up tube for the generator is usually set at about the 1/4 full mark on the gas tank. So if you are using the generator, you definitely want to be looking for fuel well before the 1/4 full point on the tank. And up and down hills might even cause it to start sucking air before that point is reached. In our rig we usually travel with the generator running to keep the family comfortable, so I used to fill up around the 325-350 mile point which seemed to work well for us.

~Rick

Yes, I forgot to add that. Although I have ran the tank down to 1/8 and the generator still ran. But I was coming into Denver and filled right off I70 before I got into the mountains.
So yes, you have to know where the cutoff is for the generator fuel pickup.

[Rick_Jay]

dodge guy and ArchHoagland,

I agree with your math and refueling policies. The only thing I'd add is that the height for the pick-up tube for the generator is usually set at about the 1/4 full mark on the gas tank. So if you are using the generator, you definitely want to be looking for fuel well before the 1/4 full point on the tank. And up and down hills might even cause it to start sucking air before that point is reached. In our rig we usually travel with the generator running to keep the family comfortable, so I used to fill up around the 325-350 mile point which seemed to work well for us.

~Rick

[ArchHoagland]

I logged every gallon of gas I've bought over the past 95,000 miles and have averaged 7.1 mpg on my 2004 W22 36 foot coach pulling a 4,000lb toad.

Those miles almost always included going over mountains in the west.

I drive at 55 MPH to 62 MPH.

My tank holds 75 gallons and I calculate 420 miles at the most on a tank of gas although I always start looking for a gas station when I get down to a half tank or, especially when crossing a desert.

[dodge_guy]

Most class A gas tank are 80 gallons. So at 6 mpg you can go 120 miles to a 1/4 tank. I start looking for a station at 1/4 tank. Out west I’ll start looking at 1/2 tank because it can be pretty far between stations out there.

Realistically you can easily go 400 miles before you need to fill up. But you will have to stop before you ever need gas!

[Mike_W]

Curious and kind of related. What criteria do you all use to calculate fuel stops? Yeah, gas gauge is a pretty good indicator. But for those who don't dwell or calculate MPG a lot...?

[ReneeG]

MitchF150 wrote:
Single digits..

I had to chuckle at this answer due to our past situation. We HAD a gas truck to tow our 35' FW, got 7mpg!! 7 . . . switched to diesel and in the double digits now.

[Sandia_Man]

It depends, 7-8 mpg is the average, 5-6mpg in the mountains at elevation, 9-11mpg on the flatlands near sea level. Been using gassers for 3 decades of RVing and have never cared to actually calculate mpg, our current Class A has the 8.1L with Allison 2100 on W24 chassis, it has no problem traversing the many inclines we have here in the mountain west region. Both DIC on our Monaco and our Scangauge2 report MPG tallies which I have very little interest in, we love RVing and don't fret the costs to partake in this beloved endeavor.

[Rick_Jay]

Hi,

As others have said, I'd expect anywhere between high 6's to low 9's, depending upon terrain, wind, speed, towing/not towing, running the generator and whether or not you put "real gas" into it or the 10% ethanol junk many of us are forced to use.

While it probably doesn't matter too much to the answer of your question, out of curiosity, are you looking at a W-series Workhorse or a P-series Workhorse?

~Rick

[fyrflie]

2001 Fleetwood Flair 32 foot with 2000 Jeep Wrangler tow vehicle.
June 2021 trip from California to Tennessee and back. 5700 miles.

6.8 - 8.5 mpg @ 70 mph most of the time