Cr@p mpg

[ib516]

Towed a U-Haul 5x8 cargo trailer loaded full of furniture this weekend. Trip was about 3.5 hrs one way (~230 miles or so). Speed limit was 110 Km/h, or about 70 mph. I obeyed the limit. Weather was just below freezing. Wind was up pretty good, side wind both ways.



Trip there pulling the U-Haul trailer, 12 mpg (20L/100 Km).

Trip home without the U-Haul trailer, 17 mpg (16L/100 Km).

Not really impressed. This is for the truck in my sig pic, and it has about 150,000 miles on it (242,000 Km).

[4x4ord]

ib516 wrote:

4x4ord wrote:

So you got 16.8 mpg empty and you likely mean 16.8 miles per Imperial gallon.... Which is 14 miles per US gallon. Now what about towing was it 12 miles per Imperial gallon or US?

I looked it up on my banking app because it was bugging me. 🙂

I spent $52 on gas to fill up when I got home, not $62. Gas here is $1.049/L, so that is 54.54L. That over 378 Km is 14.43 L / 100 Km, or 16.3 mpg (US gallons) empty, so not quite 17 like I thought.

To summarize....
~ 19.9 L / 100 Km or 11.8 mpg (US mpg) towing the tiny U-Haul trailer
~ 14.4 L / 100 Km or 16.3 mpg (US mpg) not towing

I probably should drop it but ....$52 @ $1.049/L buys 49.6 L.

And if you used that 49.6 L over 378 km you got 13.1 L/100 km or 17.9 mpg (US) or 21.5 mpg (Imperial).

[ib516]

4x4ord wrote:

So you got 16.8 mpg empty and you likely mean 16.8 miles per Imperial gallon.... Which is 14 miles per US gallon. Now what about towing was it 12 miles per Imperial gallon or US?

I looked it up on my banking app because it was bugging me. 🙂

I spent $52 on gas to fill up when I got home, not $62. Gas here is $1.049/L, so that is 54.54L. That over 378 Km is 14.43 L / 100 Km, or 16.3 mpg (US gallons) empty, so not quite 17 like I thought.

To summarize....
~ 19.9 L / 100 Km or 11.8 mpg (US mpg) towing the tiny U-Haul trailer
~ 14.4 L / 100 Km or 16.3 mpg (US mpg) not towing

[dodge_guy]

People would be very upset if they knew what I was towing my trailer at!!!!

[Grit_dog]

CapeDave wrote:
I used to tow a 17' Boston Whaler with a 1994 21' Damon Hornet class c.
Think in the 7.5 miles to the gallon!!!

Put a load on anything and the mileage is going to suffer.

I used to tow a sailboat with an AMC Gremlin...... who cares?

[wilber1]

ib516 wrote:

wilber1 wrote:
Is that miles per US or Imperial gallon?
12 mpg US is 19.6L/100km
17 mpg Imp is 16.6 L/100km

US mpg. I did some rounding.

17 US mpg is 13.8 L/100km

[Groover]

I frequently tow a heavy trailer with mine and am used to loosing a lot of mileage while doing so but I recently towed an empty single axle box trailer several hundred miles. I was astounded at the increased fuel consumption with that trailer. While it had almost no weight it was like dragging a parachute! Even with a V-shaped nose it had lousy aerodynamics! I would love to know how using a camper shell would affect towing by helping to keep the wind away from the front of the camper.

[4x4ord]

ib516 wrote:

4x4ord wrote:
So towing you got 19.9 L/100 which is 11.8 miles per US gallon.

Non towing you got 16.4 L/100 km which is 14.3 miles per US gallon.

OK, so my memory is flawed :B
I did get 16.8x mpg hand calculated empty for the trip home, which I rounded to 17mpg. I can't remember the fuel fill amount off the top of my head.

Either way (towing or not), I used more fuel that I thought I would have/should have. The Hemi likes gas!

I think my 2014 2500 with the 6.4L Hemi and 4.10 gears was better on gas when empty! But then it had 7 years newer tech, was a new truck, and had cylinder deactivation.

So you got 16.8 mpg empty and you likely mean 16.8 miles per Imperial gallon.... Which is 14 miles per US gallon. Now what about towing was it 12 miles per Imperial gallon or US?

[Chris_Bryant]

There’s a huge difference between someone with a full size pickup and experience towing and Joe Schmoe who just had a hitch put on his 10 year old Camry.

Back in my towing days it was 7.5 mpg up until ~65, when the back two barrels opened up and mileage dropped to 4.

[ib516]

Old-Biscuit wrote:


Might have something to do with the Tires they use and their speed rating?

Knew the U-Haul 55 would throw a bunch of folks panties in a wad

Roll on......

Haha, ya, that could be. I did a visual inspection pf the tires on the U-Haul before leaving and noticed they appeared to me to be bias ply tires.

[ib516]

4x4ord wrote:
So towing you got 19.9 L/100 which is 11.8 miles per US gallon.

Non towing you got 16.4 L/100 km which is 14.3 miles per US gallon.

OK, so my memory is flawed :B
I did get 16.8x mpg hand calculated empty for the trip home, which I rounded to 17mpg. I can't remember the fuel fill amount off the top of my head.

Either way (towing or not), I used more fuel that I thought I would have/should have. The Hemi likes gas!

I think my 2014 2500 with the 6.4L Hemi and 4.10 gears was better on gas when empty! But then it had 7 years newer tech, was a new truck, and had cylinder deactivation.

[CapeDave]

I used to tow a 17' Boston Whaler with a 1994 21' Damon Hornet class c.
Think in the 7.5 miles to the gallon!!!

Put a load on anything and the mileage is going to suffer.

[Old-Biscuit]

ib516 wrote:
LOL, to everyone who is concerned over my speed....

1. The speed limit on the divided highway I was on is 110 km/h, most people do 120 - 125.

2. U-Haul says 55 mph (IMO) as a legal disclaimer so they can snake their way out of any accident as soon as someone does the speed limit of 100 Km/h (62 mph) anywhere in Canada on 2 lane highways; and 110 Km/h (70 mph) or more on divided highways. What makes a U-Haul trailer any different than any other trailer that theirs are magically limited to 55 mph? 55 mph on a roadway with a speed limit of 70 mph and an average speed of traffic of 75-78 mph is not going to happen when I'm driving. It's a 1000# trailer behind a full sized truck! Gimmie a break! 🙂

Might have something to do with the Tires they use and their speed rating?

Knew the U-Haul 55 would throw a bunch of folks panties in a wad

Roll on......

[4x4ord]

So towing you got 19.9 L/100 which is 11.8 miles per US gallon.

Non towing you got 16.4 L/100 km which is 14.3 miles per US gallon.

[ib516]

4x4ord wrote:


12 mpg towing and 17 empty.... You got 42% better fuel economy non towing vs towing.

20 L/100 km vs 16 L/100 km...
So you used 20% less fuel non towing vs towing.

Something doesn't add up??????

I think it's your math! :B

Yes I used less fuel when not towing. That's what one would expect right?:?

I'm confused about your statement...

IIRC (going by memory here), I used ~83L to go ~417 Km on the tank while towing there, then 378 Km on the way home before I filled up to check mpg where it took ~62L to refill.

[ib516]

LOL, to everyone who is concerned over my speed....

1. The speed limit on the divided highway I was on is 110 km/h, most people do 120 - 125.

2. U-Haul says 55 mph (IMO) as a legal disclaimer so they can snake their way out of any accident as soon as someone does the speed limit of 100 Km/h (62 mph) anywhere in Canada on 2 lane highways; and 110 Km/h (70 mph) or more on divided highways. What makes a U-Haul trailer any different than any other trailer that theirs are magically limited to 55 mph? 55 mph on a roadway with a speed limit of 70 mph and an average speed of traffic of 75-78 mph is not going to happen when I'm driving. It's a 1000# trailer behind a full sized truck! Gimmie a break! 🙂