Acceptable gas mileage

Syd

Sorry for the long post.

We went on our first trip with our (new to us) 2019 Tab 400 in July. It was fantastic, and I will be making a post in the appropriate forum later. This is the first time we have ever camped with a trailer.  EDIT - Here is the review!!

However, one thing I knew about, and was expecting, was less than stellar gas mileage. But not as bad as we experienced. I thought maybe cutting the highway consumption in half. Instead, we got even less.

Our tow vehicle is a 2016 KIA Sorento EX AWD V6. It has 500 pound tongue capacity, and 5000 pound towing capacity. We bought it specifically for the day we bought a trailer. It is rated for about 18 mpg city and 25 highway. On our previous road trips with the back packed to the roof with tenting things and everything for two weeks of adventure, we would get about 7.5 - 7.2 litres per 100 kilometres (31 - 33 mpg). I estimate we carried over 1000 pounds extra. City driving is about what is rated.

It towed without any issue, except for the gas. I understand the sail effect of any trailer, combined with weight, but this seemed excessive. We were getting about 17 - 19 l / 100km (14 - 12 mpg). Our tank is 70 litres, and we used 3/4 of it to travel less than 250 km to our camping destination. Our trip back, starting with just over 3/4 full, we had to stop and fill up or else we would not have made it home. We put in just over 68 litres. 

There are different engine settings, like most modern vehicles, and I was using 'Sport' mode. I had read about which mode to use on a couple of KIA forums, and it was suggested to use sport because it tightens the suspension and gives higher revs for towing. Some suggested 'Normal' mode, and using manual shifting for slightly better gas mileage. 'Eco' mode was out because it reduces the engine capacity too much. 

We are travelling this long weekend to stay with family and show them our Tab 400. I am a bit worried that we will have to gas up somewhere along the way as they live over 260 km away. I will try the 'Normal manual' idea and see if it helps.

So, my question is - is gas mileage like this normal? Have any of you experienced this? Any tips or suggestions? (not buying a new vehicle, can't afford it)

N7SHG_Ham

Not familiar with your particular vehicle, but doesn't sound out of the ordinary towing. I think you will find you are right in the average for 400 owners. unfortunately the 400 isn't very aerodynamic and it has way more wind resistance than the shape looks like it would.

Syd

@N7SHG_Ham - May I ask what your gas mileage is? And what do you tow with?

N7SHG_Ham

13-15 MPG, towing with full size Dodge Ram, 300k miles with Cummins 5.9l six cylinder diesel. On pure flat, no winds, the computer reads more like 16-17, but in real life the average is less. I weigh between 11-12k pounds depending on what I bring. I get about same in mountain driving too, the downhills about offset the uphills.

Biggest improvements to fuel economy come from driving slower, 60 MPH or less helps.

Sharon_is_SAM

Aside from the gas mileage, have you weighed your tongue weight?  The 2019 400s are tongue heavy and unless you are packing considerable gear in the rear of the TaB, you may be over the recommended 75% capacity (375#).  I know Sorentos are fine to tow a 320, but I did not think they were ideal for a 400.

qhumberd

I read on here that some get 15 mpg but with our truck and V8 we get 12-13 mpg. I agree that lower speeds will help some. Our road mileage without the trailer is 15 mpg so we are not dropping much from our baseline towing. I think we are fighting physics here, until we get a breakthrough in engineering.

Syd

@Sharon_is_SAM - Our 2016 is rated for 500 tongue weight. Interestingly, the newest Sorento (2021) is only rated at 350 lbs. Not sure why.

The tongue weighs about 210 kg (460 lbs), so we try to put more things in the back of the trailer to compensate. That makes it less by about 20 - 30 lbs. Also, we have a WDH, which helps alot. We are going to have water in the tank this trip, which should bring it down even more.

@N7SHG_Ham - Good to know that gas mileage just sucks (literally) regardless of what vehicle you are towing with. And I keep it around 100 k/ph when towing.

jgram2

@Syd perhaps on one leg of the journey you can use a different mode as you’ve suggested and on the return leg you could try reducing your speed to 88 k/ph in the same mode so you’d be comparing apples to apples so to speak. Speed has a significant impact on mileage.

Syd

@jgram2 - That's a good idea. But I am now afraid that keeping at 88 might involve time travel, and our flux capacitor has been malfunctioning lately...

jgram2

@Syd, it’s all relative, isn’t it? We’re gonna need a bigger phone booth doctor.

ChrisFix

@Syd
The Sorento AWD towing capacity remains at 5,000/500lbs. The front wheel drive variant is 3,500/350lbs.

pthomas745

First, the Kia forum is not handing out the best advice.  Sport mode won't do much other than increase the RPM for the shift points: higher RPM=less mileage. "Never use Eco mode?"  What does your Kia's owner's manual say?  Did you even try it?  On reasonably level terrain, I bet your Kia would work fine in Eco mode. 

Not to say all those modes have their place:  I will use sport mode to keep the rev's slightly up in hills to keep my Touareg in the proper RPM range.  I've used manual mode even more.  I get to hold the vehicle in the proper RPM range to keep it from "lugging" or bogging down.  When cruising on reasonably flat terrain, I get into 8th gear as quickly as possible, which is the gear where high gas mileage lives.

So....drive your own car.  Try the Eco mode on reasonably level terrain and see how it performs.   Use manual and sport when you need to for better performance in hills or traffic. 

Syd

@pthomas745 - that is some of the best advice I have read about this. Thank you.

@ChrisFix - I must have read something wrong then. I figured it would be the same, but when I saw 350 for tw I began to wonder if they changed something, or realized there was something not right with the way they built it and changed the specs for new models. Glad I was wrong on that. It takes a load off my mind!

Syd

If you are interested, as mentioned in my original post, I wrote about our first trip here - https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/11778/our-first-trip-july-2020. I also edited my OP to include the link.

pthomas745

@Syd The thing you need to find out about your "Eco" mode is if the vehicle "lugs" when driving flat.  If the RPM's drop below the power band, that would be the indication that the mode is not suitable for towing.  The various power bands should be listed in the owner's manual.  You would definitely need to be alert to change out of that mode if some change in traffic or need to accelerate happens.

bergger

With our 2018 Nissan Titan, 5.6 V8 we got 12-13 towing through Colorado mountains, Wyoming windy I-80 and up to Montana and back.  Roughly the same as my old truck that had a V6.  

Syd

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay getting back to this topic. Life n stuff...

After the long weekend, I did some calculations. I drove a couple of ways (manual, and allowing the transmission to do its own work), and used Regular and Sport modes (with a short try of Eco, but that lugged). The trip was about 266 km each way. When manually shifting, there was no difference between Regular and Sport modes, except for the tighter suspension in Sport.

Going to our destination, I got about 18 L/100 km (13 ish mpg). This was not as bad as I had thought it might be, and seems inline with what you guys have said. Being Southern Alberta, there are a few hills and some headwind going south. I mostly kept around 100 - 105 kph. 

Coming back home was a different story. There were major headwinds. I used a lot more gas - 22 L/100 km (10.6 ish mpg). Even not towing, we usually got less than stellar gas mileage in these conditions. It made me long for the days of my youth when you would have gas stations every couple of miles because you needed to fill up every 5 minutes (not really).

I am not going to worry too much about it anymore. But it was a shock to see the gas usage when our Sorento is usually so good for mileage. We will plan our trips accordingly in the future.

GatorEgg

It sounds crazy but make sure you read your vehicles owners manual towing chapter.  I seen so many people tow in the wrong gear or mode or complain about some facet of towing without reading theirs.  

Denny16

If you slow down to 85-90 kph, you will get better miles per gallon.  Two NG a TaB faster than. 90-95 kph, increases the Wind drag on the trailer significantly.
cheers

Syd

@Denny16 - Next year, when we head out again, I will try that. It might take longer, but we might be able to go further.

@GatorEgg - Yup. Read the manual and it is...a bit lacking in that regard. That is why I have asked questions and read forums about it. As mentioned above, the KIA forum is also a bit...lacking...in helpful advise.

JCALD

We just came back from a 800+ mile trip and averaged 14.7 mpg with our Ford Ranger and Tab400.  I set the Adaptive Cruise on 66 Mph.