Hard numbers on MPG.

[rbpru]

One of the show stoppers for the new RV owner is the fact that they get half the gas mileage when towing. In my case it drops from 19 mpg with no TT to 10 mpg when towing.:(

Our TV is typical; we have an F-150, 4x4 with E-Boost and averaged 10 mpg over 8,000 miles of towing last year. I suspect this is more towing mileage than most RV owners do in a year and less than a few others.

I read where some folk add modification to their TV to improve their mpg. So I decided to do the math to see what would happen if I got 12 mpg, a 20 % improvement.

Starting with $3.25 a gallon for gas seemed reasonable, so at 10 mpg it cost us 32.5 cent a mile to pull our TT. At 12 mpg it would cost only 27.1 cents per mile. This is a savings of 5.4 cents per mile. So, last year a 20 % improvement in mpg would have saved us $432.00.

The problems as I see it are,
1. 8,000 miles was for us an exceptional towing year for us.
2. I doubt that there is anything they can do to my F-150 to gain 20% on my mpg.
3. Cheaper gas would make the saving even less.
4. Even doubling the price of gas to $6.50/gal. :E or the towing miles to 16,000; there would still be less than $1000.00 worth of saving; not enough to justify a different TV or any extensive motor mods.

So for the DW and me 10 mpg it is. My TV and TT combination tows well, has good low end torque and a comfortable ride. Admittedly, If I was younger and in my gear head days or some other person who enjoys the challenge of improved mpg, the cost would be secondary. 😉

[93Cobra2771]

GaryWT wrote:
The best way to get better gas mileage is to slow down. Luckily for us we have not seen gas prices over $3.00 for awhile.

I get about 14 mpg without towing and guessing about 10-12 while towing but have never checked it. I also to not track how many miles we travel in a year. We just fill the tank and go and if needed we fill the tank before we head home then we do.

Speaking the truth here. If you average around 65mph normally, drop it down to the 55-60mph range and you will gain an easy 10% mpg.

Best part - costs you nothing but time.

I generally pull in the 58-60mph range. Best I have gotten on a 75mile trip I pull regularly is 12.2. Worst is 9.8.

We go to myrtle beach once a year over the mountains and best I've ever done was 11.8mpg, believe it or not. That's a 540 mile trip, give or take. 11.2 on the return trip.

[Timtation]

I have a cruiser and get <1mpg above 12mph. I have a camper and get <10mpg above 63mph. I only know these numbers so I can forecast fuel stops. Considering mpg and fretting over that number distracts from the enjoyment of using the toys.
Ownership and use lets me have slightly more control of my recreational options and lifestyle. No one said this was an inexpensive or cost saving hobby. Without intentionally lapsing into cliches but I have, it is a lifestyle or possibly better, a recreational style choice. Take more of your stuff with you and unpack less each day and repack less each day. Minor cost, mileage.

[GaryWT]

The best way to get better gas mileage is to slow down. Luckily for us we have not seen gas prices over $3.00 for awhile.

I get about 14 mpg without towing and guessing about 10-12 while towing but have never checked it. I also to not track how many miles we travel in a year. We just fill the tank and go and if needed we fill the tank before we head home then we do.

[naturist]

I think most of us would agree: the very best way to really stretch the fuel economy requires heavy use of your thumb. (Think about that for a minute.)

[Passin_Thru]

I get 55 mpg downhill in Colorado. My average over 10 years of towing with various diesel pickups has been 9-10. Right now I have Duramax with a Edge, turned up about 60 hp and I get around 10.3 in cool weather and with AC and hot weather 9.6 last trip to OK and back to Va but pushed going west due to a death. I think it depends on fuel also because some I get good and some bad. My pickup will avg 17 1 mo, the next 13. Anyone who brags he can get better than 10 can hook on my Arctic Fox 31W and tow it to Pittsburgh and back and if he does I'll buy the fuel. No one ever came to take me up on it yet.

[rbpru]

We looked at A-liner, Trailmanor and even a few Hi-Lo's but the floor plan and cost window we wanted dictated a standard stick and tin.

That was when I first ran the mileage cost estimates.

I must admit I really liked the collapsible trailers but a standard TT was a better fit for us.

[funpilot]

rexlion wrote:
You're right, it really isn't that much of a difference.

There are some trailers that could allow you to get 14 or 15 mpg. A hardside popup like my Aliner (I get 16-17 mpg) or a Trailmanor or HiLo, a molded fiberglass 'egg' trailer like Scamp or Casita, or possibly an Airstream would fit the bill. However, even raising fuel economy from 10 to 15 mpg would be less than a grand per year.

I am pulling a 2015 3124KD Trailmanor with a 2005 Avalanche 1500 on the east coast. My normal MPG is around 20 and towing I get 16+. Unexpectedly, I get my best MPG in the "mountain" areas. However to do that I have to be willing to open and close the Trailmanor, open and close the inside bathroom, have a smaller bathroom, a half size refrigerator, etc. It is all about compromises. My Trailmanor tows quite nicely and I do not mind the setup, but others do...

[BubbaChris]

Great points all around. I still hand calculate MPG after almost every trip, and keep some of the stats in a tab on my spreadsheet where I track towed miles and nights camped.

The MPG and fuel costs tracking are mostly to keep an eye out for changes that would indicate and unscheduled visit for a check-up.

Although our food costs are almost identical to if we stayed home, I observe the other things that are not economical about RV camping (e.g. how many more paper towels we use because we wipe our plates down to minimize gunk in our gray tank).

But separate from purchase costs, I'm pretty sure our operating expenses are less than if we took 1 or 2 traditional vacations a year. Way worth it to get away virtually every other weekend for 8 months a year.

[Slowmover]

The OP runs the numbers the right way. For a given rig. But one can start with a clean sheet of paper to come up with a rig that will last a lifetime (such as an Airstream, new or used; ten years is sort of broken in) and match it to a tow vehicle (again, new or used) that is economical to operate over the longest period of time. Say, a decade. The result is a low cents-per-mile fuel cost on a vacation as well as year round.

This approach more than pays for itself. Depreciation is minimized or avoided altogether. And one isn't trading the badly made conventional RV at the average six years. I have less in both my vehicles than most have in either. Even used, in many instances.

At just over fifteen-mpg with a 35' TT behind a 3/4 ton, the particulars speak for themselves. Right inside of other owners with the same basic truck and size/weight/design of trailer 14-16/mpg.

As well, one can learn to exert some discipline in solo use where the TV is also the DD. Given ones annual fuel cost, savings there which do not lose any of the convenience of the DD, but accomplish the same ends with a little foresight and improved driving habits can underwrite vacation travel. I was already doing well in my DD fuel costs, but took this challenge and reduced annual miles to do the same errands, etc, and improved driving skill. Extrapolated out over a year it was a 20% savings. In my case that would mean 5,000-miles FREE VACATION TRAVEL.

Depreciation is the real killer. On both vehicles. Being smart here practically means a free combined vehicle compared to the buying habits of some over just a couple of decades.

And then lack of control over TV use. Lack of awareness over the high price paid for indiscriminate use.

As an RV is also a port in a storm when things go wrong at home -- man-made or natural problems -- I think the subject deserves more than just some emotional wrangling. It's not quite an "asset", but it's worth looking at it as if it were. Long term plans on care and maintenance for both. Treating them better than many do. Etc.

[TacoPuller]

The comments here are good. Last summer we took a 2 week trip, motel camping at $95-$195 per night in the UP. Next week I start a similar trip with our TT at $13-$30 per night for lodging. Who cares about gas!

[jerem0621]

Lots of people fix the gasser MPG by spending 10's of thousands on a diesel that gets 2-3 MPG more.

That being said.. I would have LOVED for my v10 to get 10 MPG EMPTY.. LOL.. It consistantly got 9.5 empty and 7-7.5 MPG towing our 32 ft TT.

Now, I get 15-18 MPG towing the PUP 🙂 Happy Camper!

Thanks!

Jeremiah

[ezrydrs]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
RVng and MPG.......oxymoron

Use to have a boat.
Cost me minimum $200 just to drop the hitch on ball.

As they say 'It is what it is'

Same here. Have yet to find a cheap hobby, but we sure do enjoy the ones we have!

[westend]

About the only thing worse is if you have an additional hobby....like golf. :B

[GrandpaKip]

We get between 9 and 12 mpg. Don't care. Just spent 2 weeks on Hartwell Lake for $13 a night. On the lake. With my whaler 50' away. Kids and grandkids 100' away in their own camper. Skiing, tubing, lazing in the water on a floatie. Hah! Don't get much better than that, does it?

[rexlion]

You're right, it really isn't that much of a difference.

There are some trailers that could allow you to get 14 or 15 mpg. A hardside popup like my Aliner (I get 16-17 mpg) or a Trailmanor or HiLo, a molded fiberglass 'egg' trailer like Scamp or Casita, or possibly an Airstream would fit the bill. However, even raising fuel economy from 10 to 15 mpg would be less than a grand per year.