MPG - Page 2

Topic: MPG (Read 3198 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: MPG

Reply #25 – July 21, 2010, 11:31:47 pm

RPM's - today towed the Matrix down to meet the Sattler's who bought her from us in Cleveland, TX a 95 mile run - I watched the RPM's at varing speed of 64 to 72 and the RPM's only wavered from 1250 to 1400 and the 1400 was when passing - Mainly was just a touch below the 1300 line - Returning and not towing the RPM's were more 1200 and was mainly rolling at 74 -

Note on a tow vehicle with distance/speed limitation - yes there are several popular ones but there are quiet a few without this huge restriction - IMHO I just can't understand why someone would buy a tow with these restriction - I've enjoyed being able to run long hauls and pass without this - Now I'm going to my truck and thou I've not looked up to see if I'm going into any restrictions, my love of my truck blinds me to this so I may be joining the club of those controlled by distance/speed limitations, until I find out tomorrow I'm ambivalently happy to know I've got my truck - Jim just shakes his head at having a crazy broad for a wife: his quote: "he is just along for the ride"

BTW - tomorrow we will see Camp FOT FINALLY in the rear view monitor as we head north to Athens, Tx to pick up truck then head over to central TX for DR Appts -

Please know the last 3 + weeks at camp FOT were needed to work us in for several tiny things I found and to make ready to tow truck, but they have been a struggle to as we're so past it being at a concrete lot - Results of it all though we are thinking of coming back and look for a piece of land to buy this is kinda a neat place and folks are really nice.

Re: MPG

Reply #26 – July 21, 2010, 11:40:19 pm

2003 Honda Element Towed generally run at 75 MPH behind the U-320. No Problems in three years and 40,000 miles towing. I pretty much figured it might be a liability disclaimer from their lawyers.

I guess I am just the guy who pushes it a bit.

Tim Fiedler 200 U-320 4010

Re: MPG

Reply #27 – July 22, 2010, 03:18:03 am

My Wrangler has been pulled behind the various coaches I have had for almost 300K miles. No issues with speed or distance, just way too many sets of tires for a vehicle with 37K miles on the clock....

Re: MPG

Reply #28 – July 22, 2010, 09:55:53 am

We also tow the Element 04, no problem as long as you follow the directions to the T.
Been towing the Ford F150, 5 speed, Ford claims that is not possible, Remco says unlimited with the Mazda 5 speed.
So far the F150 been toad 5 K miles and still a happy shadow.
I find Remco is the source of answers that work, clearly Ford has no idea and hiding behind the legal fence.
FWIW
Dave

Re: MPG

Reply #29 – July 22, 2010, 01:25:36 pm

I agree that due to filling habits getting a tankfull's MPG is iffy. Here are my stats since I've owned the coach (May 2003):
Miles, 32,921
Gals, 3,974.817
Cost, $8,333.23
Hours, 204
MPG, 8.282

This is inclusive of genset usage, towing & not towing.

Re: MPG

Reply #30 – August 06, 2010, 11:10:04 am

We have logged just over 10,000 miles on our 93' U300/36/Detroit this last year including a trip across the U.S. and a trip to Yellowstone. We live in the California Sierra Nevada foothills with nothing but hills and curves everywhere we go so our trips are usually with minimum water, empty holding tanks and 10-15 gal. propane. The fuel mileage varies greatly with the speed, terrain and amount of city driving with 6 mpg common along the twisty California coast highways and San Francisco city driving to 12 mpg driving across the states on flat highways at 55-58 mph. Driving against the governor at 82 mph on flat road dropped the mileage down to just over 7.5 mpg. With our RAV4 behind us, the mileage is down just a little on flat road but over 1 mpg in the mountains on our trip to Yellowstone. We met a U300/40 owner in the park who in 5 years of ownership, averaged right around 8 mpg. We run 110 psi cold in the tires. This is a bit of a trade off for ride comfort with all the terrible highways here in California but the coach handles well, stops well, gets good mileage at this pressure. After all this, we look for the cheapest fuel, either on the net or going down the road, buy it and just have a good time with a great coach.

Pierce & Gaylie Stewart
93' U300/36

Re: MPG

Reply #31 – August 06, 2010, 12:19:28 pm

Don't have a computer to help me figure it out, but got 11.5 mpg when we brought the '94 U225 home. That was coming up I-75, I-77, I-71 from Knoxville, Tn. Was pulling the Focus. Tryed to stay between 60 and 65 mph. Not taking any long trips until early March, so will not have any better ideas of what is what until then.

Re: MPG

Reply #32 – August 06, 2010, 12:27:29 pm

Pat, does your U225 have the Cummins 5.9 engine? If it does, you should get good fuel economy.

Re: MPG

Reply #33 – August 06, 2010, 05:31:48 pm

Peter,

Yes, the U225 has the Cummins B engine (230 HP and 4 speed hydraulic Allison).

Both it and the U240 (Caterpillar 3116 (250 HP and Allison 6 speed MD3060 transmission) get 10+ MPG.

We have averaged 11.3 MPG for the 120,000 miles we have driven our coach.

Brett Wolfe

Re: MPG

Reply #34 – August 06, 2010, 06:58:52 pm

Quote

We have averaged 11.3 MPG for the 120,000 miles we have driven our coach.

Brett,
Suddenly I feel ill & jealous

Re: MPG

Reply #35 – August 06, 2010, 07:08:15 pm

Quote from: Barry Beam – August 06, 2010, 06:58:52 pm

Quote
We have averaged 11.3 MPG for the 120,000 miles we have driven our coach.

Brett,
Suddenly I feel ill & jealous

And us "van" owners sometimes feel jealous of you big, high HP rigs.

Brett

Re: MPG

Reply #36 – August 06, 2010, 10:01:12 pm

Quote from: Peter B. Martin – August 06, 2010, 12:27:29 pm

Pat, does your U225 have the Cummins 5.9 engine? If it does, you should get good fuel economy.

Yes, but had no fresh water, no black or grey water, nothing in storage. Just us and a little luggage, and a tank full of fuel!

Re: MPG

Reply #37 – August 06, 2010, 10:22:36 pm

Hey Pat...bottom line...you can get from point A to point B a lot cheaper than most of us...

Re: MPG

Reply #38 – August 07, 2010, 11:01:03 am

I added up all the diesel I have purchased; deducted .4 gal for each hour of generator run time, and came up with 8.5 mpg. This is what a previous owner said he averaged. Prior to my last trip, I had not been paying much attention about using the econ mode (mode on) with the transmission. For that trip of 3005 miles, I was in econ mode almost all the time. It was also a lot of up and down, secondary roads, over Monarch pass at 11,000 ft, and average mpg was 8.46. I will definitely be using the econ mode from now on. Cummins 8.3 mechanical engine with 3060R transmisision and towing a 3000 lb Subaru Forester from day one.

Jerry Whiteaker
96 U270 36'

Re: MPG

Reply #39 – August 07, 2010, 12:37:08 pm

I guess I need to learn to drive different.

Just done a 2000 mile trip to Colorado from Texas.

Average 7.1 Generator running when traveling, average speed 65 to 68 Mph on interstate.

1900 RPM.

Larry Bradley
98 u270
Jeep Toad

Re: MPG

Reply #40 – August 07, 2010, 02:08:34 pm

For a better understanding of the factors affecting coach performance and MPG, this Caterpillar Corporation document makes excellent reading (and applies equally to other diesel engines): https://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/287140/7/LEGT5364.pdf

Brett Wolfe

Re: MPG

Reply #41 – August 07, 2010, 02:25:20 pm

On my recent cross country trip I only checked it for a few tank fulls. When driving 70 mph I am getting around 9.5 but if I keep it down to around 60ish I get about 10.5. I don't think I'd get to 11.5 unless I was driving a very religious 55 or under. But let me say that running the LP generator all the time offsets any fuel savings. I was buying about a half to three quarters of a tank of propane every other day when staying at the Flying J or Crackle Barrel overnight.

Re: MPG

Reply #42 – August 07, 2010, 02:50:07 pm

We have put about 5,000 miles on our 1997 U295 36'. Mileage was about 61,000 when we bought the coach in April. We have run the generator a large part of the time while driving. We have pretty consistently shown 7 mpg based on odometer differential/gallons to the tank. I don't adjust for the generator. We drive 60-65 mph, and tow a Grand Cherokee. Gross weight of the combination was measured at 32,280#. The engine is C8.3 325 (mechanical) with a Banks stinger (I think). The exhaust blows a puff of smoke on initial acceleration, but is otherwise clear. The boost and pyrometer show "normal" readings for conditions. All gauges values show nominal values.

I was expecting about 8-8.5 mpg, and surprised that we only measure 7 mpg. Our previous coach was 21,000# with a C5.9. We got 9-10 mpg with that coach.

Re: MPG

Reply #43 – August 08, 2010, 10:47:09 pm

Larry,

1. You were going uphill (most of Colorado is higher than most of Texas).
2. Slowing down 5 mph would help.
John Cooper
'91 GV 36'

---

Quote

On Sat, 8/7/10, Larry Bradley Wrote:
I guess I need to learn to drive different.

Just done a 2000 mile trip to Colorado from Texas.

Average 7.1 Generator running when traveling, average speed 65 to 68 Mph on interstate.

1900 RPM.

Larry Bradley 98 u270
Jeep Toad

Re: MPG

Reply #44 – November 28, 2010, 06:15:02 pm

Just to put my oar in the water, my coach (a '98 40 ft, U320) came with a fuel consumption chart (bsfc chart) for the M11 engine. It showed minimum fuel consumption between 1300 and 1400 RPM. This translates to about 62 or 63 mph in 6th gear. This is just above the shift point of the transmission. Generally, I seem to run about 8 mpg at that speed. I would be surprised to get better mileage at 70mph. I don't think the aerodynamics of the coach would allow it, unless you are running down a very long hill or have a very good tailwind.

Re: MPG

Reply #45 – November 28, 2010, 07:13:45 pm

When we first took our '89 GV on a trip we were so enamored with the fact that at 55MPH it felt like we were sitting still! We seemed to have time to almost "stop and smell the roses" so we have continued the 55MPH with occasional deviations. These deviations occured when I didn't pay attention to the speedometer.

Because our fuel gage didn't work accurately I monitored the consumption rate and did a comparison to our gas 31' class C with both rigs towing our toad. We went from 4.5MPG to 8.87MPG. I dumped a gallon of Lucas Injector cleaner in the fuel tank and power went up significantly, so much so that I had to watch my speed closer. We also increased MPG by .5MPG.

Still, the only reasons we watch the MPG is because we do not trust the fuel gage, changes in MPG may be indicative of problems, and we don't want to run out!!

Re: MPG

Reply #46 – November 28, 2010, 08:48:51 pm

On Sun, Nov 28, 2010 at 5:15 PM, Dick Kinsler

Quote

Just to put my oar in the water, my coach (a '98 40 ft, U320) came with a fuel consumption chart (bsfc chart) for the M11 engine. It showed minimum fuel consumption between 1300 and 1400 RPM. This translates to about 62 or 63 mph in 6th gear. This is just above the shift point of the transmission. Generally, I seem to run about 8 mpg at that speed. I would be surprised to get better mileage at 70mph. I don't think the aerodynamics of the coach would allow it, unless you are running down a very long hill or have a very good tailwind.

Re: MPG

Reply #47 – November 29, 2010, 01:30:57 am

Another oar in the water, Since the coach is in the Xtreme shop this past month, I have been driving my toad/frog, Nac to Va 1210 miles each way. Now returning, currently in a Motel 6 Chattanooga, Tn.
I find it interesting, driving the F150 Ford instead of towing it, how maneuvering it so simply on the highway after the coach. Find traveling at 75-80 mph seems to be the norm these days. What is truly interesting every time I refuel it, I laugh, I fill it all I can get in the tank every time, right to the over fill level. Fuel mileage has been steady at 22.5 to 23.59 mpg. I say WOW

Admit it is a light duty pickup, 4.2 V-6 with the 5 speed Mazda gear box and empty.
Have been totally amazed because I expected to blow it up running like that, the only thing that happened, it now runs so much better, even perfect, smoother, burns zero oil, perfect frog. Reminds me of a Chevy 283 power wise, very spunky

Re: MPG

Reply #48 – November 29, 2010, 11:42:16 am

Quote from: wolfe10 – August 07, 2010, 02:08:34 pm

For a better understanding of the factors affecting coach performance and MPG, this Caterpillar Corporation document makes excellent reading (and applies equally to other diesel engines): https://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/287140/7/LEGT5364.pdf

Brett Wolfe

I am not able to access the referenced article. Can others access it?

Thank you.

Re: MPG

Reply #49 – November 29, 2010, 12:39:22 pm

Quote from: ncaabbfan – November 29, 2010, 11:42:16 am

Quote from: wolfe10 – August 07, 2010, 02:08:34 pm
For a better understanding of the factors affecting coach performance and MPG, this Caterpillar Corporation document makes excellent reading (and applies equally to other diesel engines): https://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/287140/7/LEGT5364.pdf

I am not able to access the referenced article. Can others access it?

Thank you.

Yes, Caterpillar Corp has redone their website since August.

Try this one from the Caterpillar RV Engine Owners Club-- same document:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/ENzzTKLhVJ6YlEHx00b2bR6_cukrzTdNpjjvwR0Iihg2BwJdroJYywJCOsZk_al8crafzrXO1MyTrCIYFMT7gw/Understanding_Coach_RV_Performance.pdf

Brett Wolfe

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