Gas mileage

tlbramel · July 2015

i am towing my t@b with a Toyoya Highlander and my gas mileage drops from 24-25 mpg to 11 when I tow the t@b. I do have to go over a mountain, but it seems even in the flats it's not better than 12 mpg. I don't carry much extra weight in it. Is this normal? Would some sort of wind deflector help?

Nomad · July 2015

I normally get 20-22 with my Jeep Wrangler but only 14 or less pulling the T@B.
There's been 2-3 mileage discussion threads recently you might search for - one mentions deflectors and one has a bunch of responses as to what people are getting with various tow vehicles.

Cyclonic · July 2015

It is very normal, my Escape runs at about 27 MPG normally, 13-14 towing. I have not found really much of a way to improve upon it

Normfun · July 2015

Speed and wind resistance is everything when towing. The less you have the higher your mileage. With our Pilot we get 24 not towing and 15-17 towing. Actually got 20 towing a few times.

ChanW · July 2015

Yep, we got 18 or so, on the long down-hill from Albuquerque to Kansas, with a tailwind... Tacoma 4cyl. Normally while towing @ 60 mph it's 15mpg average.

There's been a study about wind deflectors, it's somewhere on the web. The study's results made me think it wouldn't be worth the effort. The Tab itself is shaped well for wind flow, I think.

USWildflowers · July 2015

Toyota Sienna, 22-26 not towing; anywhere from 11 to 15 towing. Headwind makes a huge difference. I think I seem to get better mileage if I'm amongst a bunch of semis - surfing the draft, I guess.

Rad · July 2015

My f150 only gets 17 or 18 normal driving and about 12 pulling the T@B. I think the big V8 does not have to work as hard as the smaller motors when pulling so my drop in mileage is not as extreme. However, I still end up down in the 12 range.

Sometimes I start to think about another tow vehicle with better mpg, then I check what one would cost me. I could just about buy gas for life if I did not buy a new one considering how much I would have to spend to get a new tv.

I also like like the fact I can pull almost anything with the f150, in case I moved up to a bigger rig. I'm also lucky that the truck is an extra vehicle, I need it for nothing more than to haul things.

mash2 · July 2015

Ford Escape. 24-26 without t@B, about 18 with T@B

source3 · July 2015

1997 Toyota Land Cruiser (slightly modified) - 15 mpg w/o trailer. 10.5 mpg with. Flats - 63 mph. Hills - 45 mph and locked in 2nd gear.

FYI: Engine is a low horsepower, high torque inline 6 cylinder. Completely different than what most people here on the forum are driving. V8 Engine swap is in the future.

Verna · July 2015

mash2 said:

Ford Escape. 24-26 without t@B, about 18 with T@B

I only miss my '12 Escape for that gas mileage.

Deltaboy59 · July 2015

2011 Honda CRV...4 cylinder...29mpg...14mpg towing...

Spruce1 · July 2015

Hi tlbramel: Our tow vehicle is a 2013 V6 Toyota Highlander. The first 3 or so 100 mile long trips we got 11-12mpg. Our most recent trips (traveling the same route) have yielded between 14 and 17 mpg. So, yes mileage does take a hit as I get 24/25 without the T@B.

sabel · July 2015

2011 Toyota 4Runner... 15 mpg towing

SweetlyHome · July 2015

2012 Toyota RAV4...6 Cyl...20-22 Avg...10-14 Towing depending on speed, terrain, and wind direction.

JandJ92010 · July 2015

2014 Ram C/V ( commercial version of the Dodge Grand Caravan),25 solo, and about 16 towing.

DennisHemingway · July 2015

2015 Jeep Cherokee V-6 auto trans, 25 Solo 18 Towing 2013 T@B S, 2012 Jeep Wrangler V-6 auto trans, 20 Sole, 18 Towing T@B S.

vito · July 2015

Haven't taken my new T@b out yet with my 2011 Subaru Outback 3.6R. I normally get about 26 mpg on the highway so if I drop to 13 it will mean fill-ups at more than 200 mile rides. I'll post after my first trip. Anyone else using an Outback as a TV?

vito · July 2015

I meant "at no more than 200 mile".

larrygon · July 2015

vito said: Anyone else using an Outback as a TV?

We are using our 2014 Outback 3.6R to tow the T@B. We live in Northern Arizona with a lot of mountains and hills. We will be taking the T@B on a trip to New Mexico soon and should get a good idea on what gas mileage is like on smooth terrain. Right now it is not what I would say is optimum!

tabasco · July 2015

Have done a few long distance hauls this year, our Forester has done well on back roads because of lower speeds, averaging 50 mph and up to 20mpg but if we end up on the freeway
one tends to go with the flow ,anything over 60 can lower cons. to 17 or 18 and headwinds make it much worse, down to 15 was our worst ever !

BBchBum · July 2015

tabasco - you get 20mpg at 50mph while towing the T@B? I have a 2011 Forester (last year with the higher tow rating I understand). That's good. What year is it and have you traversed western mountain areas? Any problems? Thanks!

tabasco · July 2015

Hi BBchBum, our Forester is 2005 LL bean auto, and yeah our tow rating is also 2400#. We live in Victoria B.C. but every time we go on a trip we end up mountain pass driving or on back roads.

Hot and high can certainly affect fuel consumption as can high speed, but the car has adequate power for most of our towing. The only thing the car needs is a trans cooler witch we fitted when we

got the T@B. So far we have had no mechanical problems at all, 4 years of towing and total mileage of 225000 K ( only 20000K towing) Sometimes more power would be nice, but theres no hurry

By the way thats kilometres not miles! The highest climb was 6000ft. the hight is not a problem, just take things slow and steady. Have fun towing, cheers ,TABasco.

wizard1880 · July 2015

With our Jetta TDI we see about 25-27 mpg towing between 60-65 mph, but on flat with gentle inclines. We will see how it goes later this month when we take it up a mountain pass. I suspect it will drop somewhat.

[Deleted User] · September 2015

At the end of July, 1st week of August, we took our maiden voyage with our new Outback towed by a 2011 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner (4cyl automatic, 3,500 # towing / 350# tongue weight), from AR to CO & back, 2,300 miles total. Our mileage ranged from a little over 12mpg to right at 20, averaging 14.7 mpg overall. The truck handled towing the trailer fine, although it was obvious you were pulling it as we gained altitude across OK and eastern NM and over the more mountainous roads in NM & CO. Our 1st mountain pass, 9,800', between Eagle Nest and Red River in NM was tough, down to 30 mph by the time we got to the top, with rev's close to 5K.

That got me thinking about upgrading to a 6cyl Tacoma, as we see ourselves heading to the mountains a lot. I've never been satisfied with the normal mileage the truck gets not towing, 16 to 18 mpg in the city and approaching 20 on the hwy. and have wondered if a 6cyl Tacoma would do any worse? I know that there are a number of forum members with Tacoma's and was hoping some would chime in and let me know what kind of mileage they were getting and whether their trucks were 4 or 6cyl, 2 wheel or 4WD, and how happy they are overall with their truck's performance. Thanks!

mash2 · September 2015

I've switched tow vehicles since, but I took a 10K+ trip across country with significant time in Colorado, Utah and Nevada and my Forester 2012 got mileage of 19 mpg over the entire trip (about half in western rockies and high desert), including several trips over colorado 10,000+ passes. The characterization of more power would be nice is true (I switched to a bit more power last year), but it performed well.

DurangoTaB · September 2015

20-23mpg with our 2012 Tacoma TRD Off Road normal...13-15mpg towing the T@B, pulling her up our CO passes makes a big difference. I'm sure any diesel would help...

jcfaber1 · September 2015

If you could find a used diesel Jeep Grand Cherokee would be fantastic. We have the 6 cyl gas and does well but I am confident the diesel would be much better.

source3 · September 2015

source3 said:

1997 Toyota Land Cruiser (slightly modified) - 15 mpg w/o trailer. 10.5 mpg with. Flats - 63 mph. Hills - 45 mph and locked in 2nd gear.

Just switched to an Lexus GX470. With a V8 and driving through the mountains of Colorado for a week averaged 13.5 MPG. W/O towing 19 MPG.

CanuckTabber · September 2015

Right around 18 mpg pulling at 65mph with our VW Touraeg TDI. Small hole in the ozone later however.

[Deleted User] · September 2015

DurangoT@B, thanks for the feedback. Your normal mileage beats what I'm getting and the towing mileage is similar, all good to hear. Doesn't sound like I'd miss much, if anything, in overall efficiency. Still not as good as some diesel setups, but I do like my truck.

jschemel · October 2015

We just got back from a 3 week trip. We went form the SF Bay area thru Northern Calif, Central Oregon, Southeast Washington with a final destination of camping in a NFS campground near Superior, Montana and back home. Total of 2,532 miles and 15 mpg. We went over several high passes and had a couple of days with a good wind. Our speed varried with whatever state we were in between 55-65mph.

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