Final evaluation: We put just a tad over 4300 miles on during this trip. Mileage was from an indicated low of 7.3 pulling the last hills home on Hwy 77 to a high of 9.3 going across the plains. We drove some at 70 mph as wife does not like to dawdle and mileage was calculated out at 8.3. At 65 it was up to about 8.5 on average. There were times without climbs or winds that the avg indicated 10+ on the scan gauge and when hand calculating the avg was +- .2 tenth of hand calculated overall.
At climb and freeway speeds in Denver as I noted earlier it struggled to accell and keep up with flow of traffic, but later playing with the shifter made some improvements. Tow Haul was not effective in these situations in D. Manual shifting was the answer. Across south Colo at 8000+ we had no issues performance wise on the plains. Small climbs were not really an issue either. @ long pulls at Le Veta and Wolf Creek as noted previously were hard but we never had to stop. Water temps got up to 210-15 a couple of times and you could hear the fan engage. the 2 pulls out of durango (550) and farmington bypass were also fun as both start from a dead stop, but again we climbed out at about 40 mph on both.
I think the 5 star tuner did add to the overall mileage to some degree and it did make the engine more civilized in response to rpm needs climbing hils by holding it to 1000-1500 rpm spikes. Most travel rpms were in the 24-2600 range at 62-70 mph, so the spikes were not that bad. Did have a couple up to around 5000 but those were rare. The vehicle did well and pulled the Hyundai with no real issues. There are things I do want to improve upon prior to next year but they will come piecemeal over the next couple of months. 1 Is to upgrade the sway bars, shocks and steering stabilizer. 2 Is to install a free flow muffler, 3 may be to try and find a free flow air intake system. 4 and this may come ahead of the others, but there is a lack of insulation on the overhead cap. Winnebago said they install a "minimal" amount to the area and it was heating the rest of the coach and items in the overhead cabinets, so the task will be to remove the cabinets and install insulation.
Tomorrow the rig goes in for an oil change at the dealer, and I will fill the propane tank on the way. We had the driver and passenger windows tinted already and a strip applied along the top of the windshield. Guy at local truck stop CB shop just recommended that I install a Wilson 1000 mag mount to the left front fender/hood area. I wish many more folks had these! We were behind a flatbed 18 wheeler and the rear wheel appeared as if it was trying to come off. All I had was a small hand held Cb, got the drivers attention and she pulled off to check. Did not hear any others trying to warn her of the problem, but it was not a good place to be to try and possibly pass or stay. We also used it when going thru Memphis and getting stuck in traffic (road closure/construction).
So hope all had a fine summer so far and maybe we will see ya in a couple of months. BTW very few B+'s were encountered on the trip! Down through the south very few RV's were encountered! There were more in the mid states and across the midwest then anyplace else.
