Motorhome Fuel Economy

[RobertRyan]

Noticed this on a Local Class C
FB Forum

Shocked and stunned.. 2020 Iveco Winne Kirra( 25ft 11 inches, Class C)… 8 speed auto… at 100/110 kph(60-70mph).. picked it up dead empty.. put in 80L…. Drove home.. then onto Childers.. filled up.. 52L… that’s 132L all up .. and now it’s full… 100L… we have travelled 350klms…for 32L… (it sits on 100kph @ 1600rpm)…that’s a smidge under 11klms per litre..for the old blokes in us that’s over 30 mpg!!!(24.98US)… I am gobsmacked to say the least..

Interesting to see others experiences on this forum. More on this has a GVWR of 5200kg or 11464.038lbs

[RobertRyan]

Grit dog wrote:
So, what are the current light duty vehicle diesel emissions systems in Australia?
This appears to be the basis for the seemingly unobtainable fuel mileage?

Pretty simple answer, Diesels are not being" strangled" by emissions regulations like in the US. Different emissions regulations, allow them to get pretty good mileage.
Irony is you cannot run a US compliant Diesel in Europe or here. So you are getting the worst of both worlds. What happens to diesels in the future is a good question

[RobertRyan]

Yes, I understand that these motorhomes getting this alleged mpg are diesel. I know you hate gas engines, and that's ok. I like diesels. I own a diesel pickup. It weighs about 7000 lbs., and at 60 mpg on flat terrain it gets 20 mpg all day. It's older but is in excellent mechanical shape and has no emission controls. My buddy has a Mercedes Sprinter diesel class B motorhome, and he doesn't get anywhere near 26 mpg. Maybe Australian math is different?

Several things you did not get, the diesel regulations outside NA are very different to the US, so diesels are not being " strangled" by regulations. It is like comparing Apples to Iranges. You could not get 26mpg US using a US Diesel under your regulations, in that Australian Motorhome. People do not " hate" Gas engines here, bulk of vehicles running are Petrol powered, but a Petrol powered Motorhome? No way.
20mpg for a Diesel Pickup is a bit subpar, think we are on a different page

[rjstractor]

RobertRyan wrote:

No several others have similar fuel economies, so overall not that unusual. Remember their Diesel not Gas Motorhomes., the diesels get vastly better fuel economies and much greater reliability than in the US, under non NA regulations, bit like comparing Oranges to Apples.See the other posts on the FB website, similar fuel economies. None in their right mind here would run a gas powered motorhome, possibly a LPG conversion but not a Petrol one.

Yes, I understand that these motorhomes getting this alleged mpg are diesel. I know you hate gas engines, and that's ok. I like diesels. I own a diesel pickup. It weighs about 7000 lbs., and at 60 mpg on flat terrain it gets 20 mpg all day. It's older but is in excellent mechanical shape and has no emission controls. My buddy has a Mercedes Sprinter diesel class B motorhome, and he doesn't get anywhere near 26 mpg. Maybe Australian math is different?

[Grit_dog]

So, what are the current light duty vehicle diesel emissions systems in Australia?
This appears to be the basis for the seemingly unobtainable fuel mileage?

[RobertRyan]

Thing that comes up here is the word " diesel". In the US you have regulations that make many Commercial operations non viable , so operators go back to Petrol ( Gas) trucks. As I said, that is not even considered as an option outside the US. So we are talking about two very different scenarios when we are talking Motorhome Fuel Economy. It is interesting to see your posts compared to the FB site I posted. Yes many it seems here are getting poor fuel economy with Diesel, but the Gas options you refer to, are non- existent outside NA, although there have been LPG conversions of Ford V10 engines

[RobertRyan]

bobndot wrote:
I chat with a lot of diesel owners at a friends truck repair shop and they are not happy. Medium duty diesel drivers that i talk to these days are fed up with new diesel regulations . They complain about losing business bc of repair down time.

The owners driving routes like Snap- On , bread and soda routes are switching back to gas trucks.
It must be pretty bad to unload $100,000 plus trucks prematurely.
If someone ‘claims’ mpg figures by using simple math counting used gallons and miles driven ,
the results are of doubtful validity.

Different diesel regulations apply outside NA, so fuel economy is considerably better, in this case amazingly better. Diesel regulations in the US are chocking the life out of Diesels in the US, poorer reliability and not very good fuel economy
As I said in my post above none would even consider running a Gas Motorhome,or Gas Commercial Vehicle, their all diesels. Irony is you cannot run a US compliant diesel in a Euro 5 or higher regulation country. So you get the worst of both worlds, Diesels regs in the US are choking diesel commercial operations in the US

[RobertRyan]

rjstractor wrote:

RobertRyan wrote:

mleekamp wrote:
Ah, if only I could get double digits in my C....10 would be great. But I live between 7 and 8 depending on if i'm pulling a dinghy or not, and speed, and wind, and....

I've never gotten above 8.3. 33 foot C. Loaded.

I expected more like yours, anyway nice to see 25.8US mpg for a nearly 26ft,11,000lb GVWR Motorhome
This is also pretty stunning 16.8USMpg towing a Suzuki Jimmy

We average 14/100(16.8 US mpg) 2020 iveco avida Esperance upgraded weight 5200 towing a Suzuki Jimny

I think the 16.8 mpg towing a Suzuki Jimny is much more realistic. A small, light towed vehicle should hardly affect fuel mileage. When I had an E450 based class C, of course it got much worse mileage, but towing a 3200 pound vehicle cost me less than 1 mpg. As far as getting almost 26 mpg in an 11000 lb motorhome? I think they adopted in Australia the time-tested American method of increase fuel economy- make up numbers to impress the internet! :W

No several others have similar fuel economies, so overall not that unusual. Remember their Diesel not Gas Motorhomes., the diesels get vastly better fuel economies and much greater reliability than in the US, under non NA regulations, bit like comparing Oranges to Apples.See the other posts on the FB website, similar fuel economies. None in their right mind here would run a gas powered motorhome, possibly a LPG conversion but not a Petrol one.

[pnichols]

rjstractor wrote:

I think the 16.8 mpg towing a Suzuki Jimny is much more realistic. A small, light towed vehicle should hardly affect fuel mileage. When I had an E450 based class C, of course it got much worse mileage, but towing a 3200 pound vehicle cost me less than 1 mpg. As far as getting almost 26 mpg in an 11000 lb motorhome? I think they adopted in Australia the time-tested American method of increase fuel economy- make up numbers to impress the internet!

I hesitate using the word "impossible" with respect to the 26 mpg claim ... but maybe that word fits here?

[bobndot]

I chat with a lot of diesel owners at a friends truck repair shop and they are not happy. Medium duty diesel drivers that i talk to these days are fed up with new diesel regulations . They complain about losing business bc of repair down time.

The owners driving routes like Snap- On , bread and soda routes are switching back to gas trucks.
It must be pretty bad to unload $100,000 plus trucks prematurely.
If someone ‘claims’ mpg figures by using simple math counting used gallons and miles driven ,
the results are of doubtful validity.

[rjstractor]

RobertRyan wrote:

mleekamp wrote:
Ah, if only I could get double digits in my C....10 would be great. But I live between 7 and 8 depending on if i'm pulling a dinghy or not, and speed, and wind, and....

I've never gotten above 8.3. 33 foot C. Loaded.

I expected more like yours, anyway nice to see 25.8US mpg for a nearly 26ft,11,000lb GVWR Motorhome
This is also pretty stunning 16.8USMpg towing a Suzuki Jimmy

We average 14/100(16.8 US mpg) 2020 iveco avida Esperance upgraded weight 5200 towing a Suzuki Jimny

I think the 16.8 mpg towing a Suzuki Jimny is much more realistic. A small, light towed vehicle should hardly affect fuel mileage. When I had an E450 based class C, of course it got much worse mileage, but towing a 3200 pound vehicle cost me less than 1 mpg. As far as getting almost 26 mpg in an 11000 lb motorhome? I think they adopted in Australia the time-tested American method of increase fuel economy- make up numbers to impress the internet! :W

[RobertRyan]

The 1/2 ton pickups with small diesel are pushing upwards of 30mpg, so not surprising at moderate speeds a small MH getting 25mpg

Well certainly would be pretty not surprising, they do not have GVWR's of 11,000lb, more in the 7000lb range, and are not towing a small SUV dinghy like a Motorhome. A 11,000lb GVWR is more 3/4 to 1 ton Pickup Truck
" moderate speeds" 70mph or 110kph?????

A half-ton or 150/1500 model typically falls under an 8,500-pound GVWR. A three-quarter-ton or 250/2500 model ranges between 8,500 and 9,990 pounds. A one-ton or 350/3500 truck is likely to be 9,900

[valhalla360]

PartyOf Five wrote:
My minivan gets 18mpg with nothing in it, I'm ok with 7mpg carrying a week's worth of everything I might need.

At the end of the day, I'm still paying less for annual fuel costs than most of the world.

The 1/2 ton pickups with small diesel are pushing upwards of 30mpg, so not surprising at moderate speeds a small MH getting 25mpg.

[RobertRyan]

mleekamp wrote:
Ah, if only I could get double digits in my C....10 would be great. But I live between 7 and 8 depending on if i'm pulling a dinghy or not, and speed, and wind, and....

I've never gotten above 8.3. 33 foot C. Loaded.

I expected more like yours, anyway nice to see 25.8US mpg for a nearly 26ft,11,000lb GVWR Motorhome
This is also pretty stunning 16.8USMpg towing a Suzuki Jimmy

We average 14/100(16.8 US mpg) 2020 iveco avida Esperance upgraded weight 5200 towing a Suzuki Jimny

[RobertRyan]

wolfe10 wrote:

bgum wrote:
Even at 25 that is terrific.

I agree-- terrific economy.

11 KM/liter= 25.87 MPG. Note, this is to the U.S. gallon.


To the Imperial gallon it works out to a little over 30 MPG.

Yes pretty amazing, if you read the other posts on the FB page, seems quite a few getting very good economies with their diesels for such large vehicles