How Much Does Weight of Towed Vehicle Affect Gas Mileage in Motorhome

Updated 12/10/2014 | Published 12/09/2014

Question:

Looking for chart or answer to tow vehicle weight. How much would you expect weight of towed a Geo Tracker 2900 lbs. differ from Jeep Wrangler 3800 lbs. Tow vehicle is ford 450 with v10 Winnie 31foot. Question affect on gas milage and overall Motorhome preformance. I have towed both with same Motorhome. Yes, can tell little difference but seems to be very little. Anything is print to compare how the additional 900 lbs. would make?

asked by: Wayne M

Expert Reply:

You ask an interesting question.

I do not know of any formalized chart or table that can capture all of the variables in play in your flat towing comparison. Apart from the vehicles' weight difference there are many other factors in play, such as wind resistance due to differing profiles (although they are pretty close to one another in this respect) and tire tread pattern, tread wear and inflation level.

In the simplest terms, if you ignore all of the other factors that could make a difference and just focus on the weight difference, if one vehicle weighs 25% more than the other then you might expect up to that amount of difference in mileage. This is something of an oversimplification however.

expert reply by: Adam R