Is there a MPG rule of thumb when towing?
Hi
We are looking for a car to tow a caravan with an MTPLM of 1414. If we have a car with a suggested MPG of say 50, is there a rough guide to what it would do with a caravan attached?
Is an SUV any different to a estate or saloon in terms of the loss of MPG when towing?
I realise this is never going to be an exact science due to weather and how we load the car but at the moment I have no idea at all.
Many thanks
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Really, AD has said it all and I’d not be willing to guess at any figures with so many variables in the mix.
Just fill your tank and see how it goes.
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From my experience I would suggest that the towing MPG will equate to around the "around town figure" suggested by manufacturers. I am not sure you can tow a caravan and expect decent MPG figures? What you have to ask yourself is how many miles will you tow in a year and will the increase in fuel used really impact on your decision to tow a caravan? Personally I would be inclined to go for a car that is capable of towing the caravan competently rather than worry about the economy.
David
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With my last tow car, a 1.8ltr diesel Ford Focus. The caravan increased the total volume by 3 and the total weight by 2. I was therefore happy to get half the mpg of solo driving. Around 30 mpg. My present tow car, a 2.0ltr diesel Ford Kuga gives me between 28 mpg and 32 mpg when towing depending on how fast I'm driving. 50 mph roads are noticeably more economic than 60 mph motorways. I now have a much better weight ratio with the Kuga, but it is at the expense of much poorer mpg when solo.
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Land Rover Freelander 2 towing a Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3. Average towing mpg is around 25 or maybe a little more. The Freelander is not the most economical at the best of times but is an excellent tugger!
Much will depend on the type of roads. A long motorway drive will probably be more economical than A roads when you will be in traffic and up and down through the gearbox.
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Too many variables to give an answer. However I would echo David's comments. Identify a car that tows well and that you like driving solo, which is what you will do most of the time, and just accept that you will probably get only high 20's low 30's mpg when towing.
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Likewise with my Touareg towing a 2000kg van. You can also expect increased tyre and brake pad wear, but it's all part of the cost of owning a caravan.
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It's been a little while since we towed, though we did it for many years, but if pressed for a "rule of thumb" as asked for by the OP, I would suggest to expect an mpg of slightly more than half what you would normally expect on a long run without a caravan. Therefore your quoted 50 mpg vehicle in the original post may return around 28 - 30 mpg when towing.
Dragging a heavy aluminium non aerodynamic box around the country will reduce mpg significantly. I used to find I sometimes needed to select a gear at least one lower than normal just to maintain a decent speed on even the slightest incline, and in the hills a much lower gear. If there is also a head wind that can have an impact on maintaining the required speed, the gear to choose, and ultimately fuel consumption.
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As others have mentioned it will depend very much on the type of driving. Our 2014 XTrail towing our Bailey Unicorn Cadiz, returned about 28 when towing on standard roads with a 50 mph speed limit, closer to 25 mpg on the motorway at 60 mph. Weather also has a big impact, towing to Baltic Wharf into a strong south westerly, I was surprised to see I had only got 22 mpg. Coincidentally the following weekend was also windy and we managed 32 mpg on the way back.
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I have a Swift Conqueror towing with a Toyota Land Cruiser LC4 when towing to Cornwall a few weeks ago got 18.9 average towing at 60 mph on the motorway that was into a headwind. On the homeward journey got 21.3 no wind. It is what it is. Anybody who moans about fuel economy should give up towing a caravan.
Brian.
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Over many years of towing with a variety of cars I have found that as a very rough rule of thumb my average towing consumption is very approximately 60% of the average solo driving.
There are so many variables that a precise figure can never be assumed, even doing the same journey.
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As others have indicated, it depends a lot on the car. Most of the towers that I had until a few years ago used about 50% more petrol or diesel, as the case may be, but then they were often borderline regarding their towing ability. Then I changed to a hybrid which used almost double the amount of fuel towing than when solo in town traffic. This was because both the electric motors AND the IC engine were working pretty much full time when towing but in town it was on electric only quite a lot. My current relatively powerful diesel uses only about 20% more, so it's difficult to quote a rule of thumb.
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Unless you are into believing fairy tales then the rule of thumb for towing fuel consumptions is going to be, it will be “sick”.
The more so with the modern vehicles where taxation, rather than other performance criteria, drives them to be optimised to achieve the lowest possible carbon figure whilst being tested to the specific EU test routine. Then towing we approach near doubling their mass and wrecking the aerodynamic drag.
Where, the vehicle is heavy relative to the caravan, where is frontal area is bulky and profiled similar to the caravan's and where it is furnished with an engine and gear set chosen for load lugging, then reasonably the towing impact on its fuel consumption will be felt less as a percentage than with using a sleek minimalist drag profile ultra light weight vehicle. Tow with a Transit van and I expect you will not notice as big a difference as to say a Golf.For the last thirteen years we have towed a 1900 kg van with a Disco 3 and now a 4, 2.7 litres and 3 litres respectively and the latter giving about 1 mpg better overall. The actual value reflecting the terrain, very much the nature of the roads be that rolling auto route, or umpteen roundabouts, and head or tail wind.
On a good free running long journey I can see 35 MPG solo, and touching 24 towing, overall thought on a multicplicty of journeys that changes to an average of 28 and 21.6.0 -
In a previous life, Ford Kuga 130BHP towing 1350Kg. Solo around 40-45 depending on type of journey. Towing 32-34.
I would venture to suggest that any car that realistically returns 50mpg is unlikely to tow over 1400Kg happily. Without going OTT, a vehicle with plenty of grunt will be less impacted by towing than if one was struggling with some Eco Ford Focus or similar. For optimum results I would think a vehicle with 150-165BHP should be aimed for. I am assuming a diesel, of course.
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I wish there was a rule of thumb🤔 we tow a Swift Conquerer 560 with a Jaguar F-Pace 3.0 ltr Supercharged V6 petrol and I try not to think to much about the consumption 😂😂 but I think when towing it’s returning about (and I say that very loosely) 20mpg .
Brian &Jo
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When I first start towing I was interested to find out mpg as I was slightly worried about running out of fuel, I did it the old fashioned way, watching the gauge and mileage. I soon found out that even with my longest day tow there was more than enough fuel and I just filled up each evening, and I still do. Now of course the car does it for me - 40+ solo, 28 towing. It was, and still is interesting to see how it varied.
But, and this is just my personal thoughts, the figure is largely meaningless? I know that 20 mpg is poor, while 50 mpg is very good, but one might as well just give a grade, A = 50+? It is meaningless as fuel is sold in litres
What do people do with it? Work out range? Yes Ok, or more likely work out possible costs of a trip. And that's where it get funny (to me) as fuel is sold in litres so any calculation involves a conversion, or ask google to do it for you.
Also I've never bought 30 litres of fuel, my dad used to buy 4 gallons on a Sunday morning, but with me it's always been £10 or 20... or now I just fill up each time when there's 30 miles left. Of course that brings a worse mpg
.Just my thoughts.
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Not sure why the fact that fuel is sold in litres makes mpg figures meaningless .... If you want litres per 100km as they do in Euroland then you still need to do some sums as our odometers & speedos are obviously read in miles. Metrication in the UK has, so far, been a very very slow process .... will we ever get there.
Some people like to build spread sheets recording each & every mile driven & every gallon/4.546 litres used .... others just fill their tank when empty. I know my Smart does around 300 miles per tank ..... I try not to look at how many miles my ML does per tank.
And I'm not sure where the buying of 30 litres of fuel comment is referring to ..... 😞 Unless you miss-read Brian's comment 're his 3.0 Jaaag 😉
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well what I meant was, my car does 20 mpg, mine does 30 mpg... all that is telling you is that one is more fuel efficient than the other.
Does that person giving his mpg have any idea what that actually means for them apart from I can get 30 miles to one gallon, but if they don't buy their fuel in gallons what is the point? what is it really telling them other than my car is more efficient than yours?
Yes some can do what they like with their fuel figures and calculations and as I said I did the same but once I knew what the range was on a full tank it didn't matter what my mpg was anymore
What I meant about the 30 litres is that while fuel is sold in litres I have never gone into a petrol station and asked for 30 litres, or 20, or 10 or whatever, why would I, if it was sold in gallons and I knew my mpg then perhaps I would?
Many students of mine when they getting cars used to spout the mpg and I used to ask what that meant, and they would state the obvious so I'd ask how much fuel they would need in one week and they would usually shrug their shoulders, or say I've found I need £10, or I fill up when I need to. The mpg just didn't come into it.
As to changing over all our road signs and speedos I can't see it happening, or anytime soon. We had some Americans teachers visiting once and they expected everything to be metric and were amazed how metric and imperial were all jumbled up.
As I said, just just random thoughts.
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Mpg is just used as a comparison between cars. Some people have a budget when they're running a car .... others not quite the same. Imagine buying a Jensen Interceptor for work expecting 35/40 mpg .... you'd be very disappointed at single figure fuel consumption.
Manufactures have quoted mpg for years.
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Metrication. For my car which generally does 45mpg its even easier in litres as that's 10 mpl. But the only time I need to calculate is when fuel prices are sky high such as on the motorway and I'm trying to buy just enough to get home or to my favourite sensibly priced fuel station.
I record 28 mpg towing according to my cars computer which is 60% of solo figure but if I drove solo at 50/60 mph as if towing I find the car solo would easily exceed 50 mpg so I only get barely 50% towing compared with solo at the same speed.
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My last car 2 litre petrol did 210 miles to the tank full my latest car 2 litre diesel does 350 miles to the tank full when towing this helps me to stop worrying about looking for petrol stations when on longer journeys
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