What Mileage are you getting.

[A'van]

What mileage are you roughly getting, towing your van?

I thought it may be interesting and a help when buying a new van or tug.

You will have to tell us the size of your van and what tug you're towing it with.

I haven't towed our van with the new car for any distance, so i don't know my details.

Hans

[Old Techo]

Hans you will get a wide variety of responses. Most will be useful..... but some will be dreaming

Some general advice...

Firstly, don't be lazy and use your on-board computer as the source of your data. They are not accurate and tend to be optimistic, as one may expect from a manufacturer.

Secondly, please don't tell us how many kms you get out of a tank full. This is a common response. Unless you fill the tank and then drive until it is bone dry you will only have an approximation based upon a weekly top up.

There is only one layperson way to measure economy and that is to fill to the brim each time and record the details.... every time. Also a few fills are needed to avoid small fill errors.

Seven years ago I offered a comprehensive spreadsheet for this purpose. Have a squiz here... http://candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26787#p26787

Within that package there is a form for entering fuel fill details. There is another form for determining your towing ratio i.e. what percentage of driving is done with and without the caravan. This info is necessary for overall context. In my case non-towing I get around 10-11 Lt/100 km. Towing my 2400 kg loaded van it is typically around 16 Lt/100 km or 50% more fuel so towing really sucks it up.

Another towing factor is speed. I tend to be a lead foot and will tow up to 110 kph on freeways. On hills I put the boot in. At traffic lights I am generally fast away. So overall my towing economy will be worse than many others.

On towing ratio, our Cooktown trip of nearly 11,000 km had a towing ratio of 83% so that is only 17% of non-towing kilometres. The total trip economy was a bit high at 15.9 Lt/100 km. Our last trip to Rocky was nearly 6,000 km and towing ratio of 76% with overall economy at 14.5 Lt/100 km. On a Tassie trip with a very low tow ratio of 35% and low speed roads the 4,100 km trip averaged 12.4 Lt/100 km.

For the life of the 2007 Prado it has done just over 104,000 km and overall fuel economy from day one when it was brand new is 14.53 Lt/100 km. As mentioned though this is a very high towing ratio as when I'm home I use my 20 year old Hilux and the Prado sits in the shed most of the time so it doesn't rack up non-towing km. It is a poor example of overall fuel consumption for the average user where their tug is a multi-purpose vehicle.

Glancing at some of my worst-case figures for 100% towing, and we can do a lot of that by not unhooking at overnight stops and covering between 2,000 and 3,000 km range from 16 to 18 Lt/100 km. The highest ever recorded (my spreadsheet highlights min and max) was 18.9 Lt/100 km and that was towing constantly on the Hume freeway at 110 kph.

So Hans, economy figures are pretty useless without proper context.

A reminder if any active member wants a copy, send me a PM... http://candm.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?p=26787#p26787

[Archer63]

November 2016.

Tug: 2003 3.8 5 speed Auto Petrol Pajero.

Van: 2013 Jayco Swan Outback - 1337Kg Dry - loaded approx 1400kg ?

Bayside Brisbane to Rainbow Beach: 260klms - 35litres = 13.36 ltr's per 100km

Speed: stayed on speed limits whether that was 100 or 110.

30 - 35 degree heat.

Not bad for an old girl and better than expected.

Cheers
Rob

[Jeffie]

I have a 2007 Navara D40 with 137,000ks on the clock towing close to 2.8 tonne and when working out the amount of fuel I will need between any given point I use 4.5kpl or 22litres per 100ks.
Dont know what I get not towing as the truck mainly sits in the shed waiting patiently for us to go again.
The newer vehicles are getting much better mileages but I'm not prepared to spend around $50,000 to save a few $$ on fuel once a year.
Might look at upgrading after next years trip but we will see, as Ive spent a lot of $$ getting this one kitted out just as we like it.

Jeff

[Sean]

2014 Triton 2.5L Turbo Diesel towing a 16' 1970's Franklin at 100kph with the cruise control roughly 16L/100km on a lap from Adelaide to Canberra, Batemans Bay, Melbourne, and home

I was scrolling through the onboard computer in the Iveco the other day and it's claiming to have burnt 27,000L of diesel in 50,000km. It's also spent more time idling than driving.

[Jay&dee]

When we started our 6 month trip, I was very keen to track my fuel usage. Our 8 cylinder V 8 Cruiser is a thirsty bugger. Always wanting to do a left hand turn into the next servo.
The results were getting me stressed out. So I made a exec decision.
At the end of the day, I decided that no matter what the result was I had to fill up or we would not be going anywhere.
We are towing a Coromal Princeston 23 ft fully loaded with the Cruiser also fully loaded.
The last time I checked months ago we were averaging around 21 litre to the 100 klms.
However I like to always try and buy fuel at the best price.

I will give you one example of this saving.
Today I filled up the Cruiser and the reserve tank. Total litres was 95 L. at $1.18
When I paid the bill, I ask and received 4 tax receipts.
Now we then shop with the local IGA Super Store and for each $30 or more purchase I get 4 cents a litre off the grocery docket. Say I goes thru the check out twice for a 2 x $35 purchase. It returns me 2 x 95 L x 4 c. = $7.60 Now that only utilises 2 tax receipts. so double that and I have gained $15.20 of my petrol purchase. Equates to 16 cents discount a litre. or actual cost of $1.02 litre.
Not a bad scheme. Note I said scheme.... not scam.
I think I have the maths right.

Worth a try.

Jay&Dee

[loub]

Bt 50 towing 2.5 ton golf averages 17litres to the 100 ks.I tow at highway speeds. Yours Peter.

[muzz_on_line]

BT50 towing 24' Paramount Vogue up to 3.2 tonne averages 18l/100klm sitting on 95 kph.

[jessdogster]

Flat tow there and back last weekend resulted in 17.5 litres per 100 in the 200 series (V8) diesel.
Put on the boat and a bit more gear and water (weight) and head up the hills to the Tassie highlands and that figure will go up to around 21 litres per 100.
cheers
Jdog

[ALAN1963]

Hi,

2012 Current shape manual Dmax tows a 21 ft Windsor Genesis 2.3 to 2.5 tonnes (guesstimate) very occasionally....still work.....does about 13 to 14 ltr per 100kms at 90 to 100 kmph.

Cheers AL

Best wishes to all for the festive season.