rv gas mileage

My classic answer when asked about gas mileage, I tell them "I didn't buy
it for gas mileage. Have been full-timing for 11 years!

10forty2 wrote:
Just get the coach you want and don't concern yourself with the mpgs. They are all going to get anywhere from 4-8mpg. If you can average 6mpg, you'll be doing very well, IMHO! But honestly, if fuel mileage is going to worry you, a Class A Motorhome is probably not for you.

X2 If you are going to sweat mileage, you wont have very much fun.

I have had both a gasser and a Diesel. My Gassers were Itascas with the Ford V10. The last one was a 2008 Sunova, we towed a Jeep Liberty about half the time, over 8 years of ownership and about 40,000 miles we averaged 6.5 mpg. We recorded every fill. We now own a 2016 Tiffin RED with a 360Hp Cummins and an Allison 3000. We are getting around 8.5 but have gotten more. Still too new to tell for sure. Short trips seem to get lower mileage, too high a percentage of the trip is the approach and landing at both ends. Longer trips get better mileage as the Hills and the town and back road portions are less of a percentage. You will likely get better mileage with a diesel, it will cost you more, but you also get more in the rig itself. Going up hill we are not challenged unless we get stuck behind someone and can't get around early enough, then we can wind up in the lower gears with the flashers on, just like the trucks. Here is the good news. we have double the towing capacity we had and we have more cargo carrying capacity than we can use with the Diesel. The gasser was MUCH noisier and that was even worse on a hill.

I would be seriously skeptical of any claims of double digit mileage from any large MH, Yes, my brother has a Class B and gets 16-17, of course we could literally fit two of them inside my Class A! So make sure you compare apples and apples, Weight and frontal area are MAJOR contributing factors to mpg.

donkeydew wrote:
if you have to worry about gas mileage you probably need a different hobby.
neither one will win a economy race. it is more about how the driver uses the pedal and wind/terrain. at the end of a trip will $10.or $20. really make a difference? get the one you like and enjoy it.

didn't see where he said he was worried about it.

Special For JPlante:

I am a member of a tightly knit community of classic coaches.

They were all delivered with a 3.07 final drive (rear end). They were all delivered with either a 455 or 403 engine. Their weight in use varies between 9500 and ~12000#. We all get between 8 and 10 MPG almost without exception.

Those that do better are those that have changed out the final drive to higher numerical. Those are available at 3.42, 3.55 and 3.70. Owner that regularly logs the best fuel rate has a 403 and 3.70.

Just to add to the data field, there are more than a few that now have 500cuin engines and some of those are port fuel. Few that have 8.2 mills, do about the same but man are they quick. The very few diesel conversions only do about 15.

The amount of alcohol in the fuel makes the most difference. Mileage decreases in almost exact proportion to the amount in the fuel.

Matt (edited for spelling corrections)

Goldencrazy wrote:
If fuel efficiecy is important you will have the greatest impact looking at your toad. The Ford V-10 will get in the area of 7 mpg depending on conditions. When i tow my Jeep mt toad get's 18 but when I tow my Smart Car i get 45. When i total my fuel for a month of travel my toad is the variable i can control. Sure wish i could tow my Prius 4 down. I did use dolly for awhile but a real pita.

I think this point is often overlooked when people talk gas mileage. My experience is I put at least as many miles on with my tow car as the MH and most times twice the mileage as my MH. My MH has averaged 8.7 mpg over 90k miles of travel. My tow car gets 40 MPG on the highway. So if I make a 1000 trip with the MH and put 2000 miles on my tow car, the MH uses 115 gals and the tow car 50 gals of fuel. So in 3000 miles of travel I would use 165 gals and get on average 18 mpg which isn't bad considering back in the 60's some of my cars would not get 18 mpg or Jeeps or trucks of today. At least that is how I justify RV travel to my wife.

RVER wrote:
I like the Vortec engine because 1) quieter and 2) in my experience gets better milage. My Ford got about 6.9 and this Vortec is getting better than 8 but unusual to get 9 mpg. Smooth shifts too. I drove a Ford V10 and could not hear myself think!! REVS really high in my opinion.

Surprising with Ford controlling the gas chassis market, they haven't came out with a pusher and much like Workhorse did with the UFO, especially since they already have a diesel engine that might be adaptable, as well. With these, the noise would be insignificant with either gas or diesel.
The UFO's weren't around long enough before the demise of WH RV chassis's and don't think that a diesel was ever installed in one of these UFO's.

ArchHoagland wrote:

I'm thinking about towing two toads and getting it up to 21 MPG......

Why stop at 2? Convoy@75MPG

I like the Vortec engine because 1) quieter and 2) in my experience gets better milage. My Ford got about 6.9 and this Vortec is getting better than 8 but unusual to get 9 mpg. Smooth shifts too. I drove a Ford V10 and could not hear myself think!! REVS really high in my opinion.

Didn't read all the posts but there are new A's in the 34-36' range with the ISB motor "diesel" that get over 10MPG but you pay upfront for the diesel motor. And climbing a pass You will feel under powered, but it will make it to the top.

LEN