Report: 1st Road Trip With Boat.

VMax2007 · August 17, 2007

Well, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted here in a week. I was on vacation. Not a long roadtrip, but a roadtrip nonetheless. Here is my MPG report:

340 miles round trip

28 gallons of 91 octane gas = 12.1 MPG

90% freeway.

Boat and gear: approx 3500 lbs

4 people and cargo, approx 1000 lbs.

I was surprised/impressed since I usually only get about 10 MPG while towing my boat around town and on country highways with hills and stop signs. I am thinking the 91/92 octane helped some since I usually run 87.

tobias · August 18, 2007

Well, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't posted here in a week. I was on vacation. Not a long roadtrip, but a roadtrip nonetheless. Here is my MPG report:

340 miles round trip

28 gallons of 91 octane gas = 12.1 MPG

90% freeway.

Boat and gear: approx 3500 lbs

4 people and cargo, approx 1000 lbs.

I was surprised/impressed since I usually only get about 10 MPG while towing my boat around town and on country highways with hills and stop signs. I am thinking the 91/92 octane helped some since I usually run 87.

Now that you mention it, it was a good week around here!

Kidding. That's pretty impressive. I towed a pontoon (I'd guess around about 2400 - 2600 lbs loaded down) plus the woman and the two mutts and our stuff last weekend about 150 miles each way and averaged about 9.6 MPG. I suspect it would have been better were I not running 75 most of the way and with a boat that acted a little less like a parachute but I was still okay with the numbers overall. I forgot to menion that I am in central Indiana and while we don't have any mountains we have many many undulating hills.

Glad to have you back.

Daddy

ILL · August 18, 2007

Not bad at all. What speeds were you doing on the freeway?

scottmoyer · August 18, 2007

Why is the mileage so low on the 6.0? I have a 5.3 4x4 with 3.42s and when I towed my Camaro (3550#) on a trailer weighing 1990#, I averaged over 14mpg at 75. I drove through south Georgia going to Atlanta with their rolling hills and all. A friend with a 6.0 also went and his mileage was around 9-10mpg. Why is the 6.0 so bad with gas when loaded?

solarjustin · August 18, 2007

Why is the mileage so low on the 6.0? I have a 5.3 4x4 with 3.42s and when I towed my Camaro (3550#) on a trailer weighing 1990#, I averaged over 14mpg at 75. I drove through south Georgia going to Atlanta with their rolling hills and all. A friend with a 6.0 also went and his mileage was around 9-10mpg. Why is the 6.0 so bad with gas when loaded?

Because it is a gas motor. If you want good mailage while towing you are going to have to go with a diesel. As soon as I have $45K to spend that is what I'm going to do

asilverblazer · August 18, 2007

I averaged over 14mpg at 75.

You should be very happy, because this is not at all the norm for these trucks.

spartus · August 18, 2007

I averaged over 14mpg at 75.

You should be very happy, because this is not at all the norm for these trucks.

I used to get 14-16 mpg towing my 4340 lb car, 1980 lb trailer = 6,320lbs with my Duramax. My 2500 with the 6.0 would get 12 mpg towing the same load. My 2007 CC with 5.3 get 8 mpg.. Go figure. And the 2007 5.3 makes more power and the same torque as my 2000 6.0 did.

asilverblazer · August 18, 2007

"these trucks" was referring to 1/2 ton gas engines when towing.

VMax2007 · August 18, 2007

Not bad at all. What speeds were you doing on the freeway?

65-70 Most of the time. Used C/C most of the time (about 80% of the miles).

Also, A/C was on the entire trip.

2004GMC1500CC · August 18, 2007

I averaged over 14mpg at 75.

You should be very happy, because this is not at all the norm for these trucks.

When towing my very heavy pop-up (queen and king bed, shower, toilet, kitchen, air, you name it) stuffed with gear, and my bed stuffed with gear, I average 18 with the cruise set 65-75.

cmoore74 · August 20, 2007

I have a boat of about the same weight and I average about 12 MPG at 65-70 MPH. Its Boston Whaler 180 Dauntless (very heavy boat for it's size: 2000 lb dry weight + ~600 lb motor + 300-400 lb gas + 600 lb trailer + gear).

I've noticed towing boats can give pretty bad mileage relative to other types of trailers. Maybe the drag at highway speeds is a lot higher.

What kind of boat?

VMax2007 · August 20, 2007

I have a boat of about the same weight and I average about 12 MPG at 65-70 MPH. Its Boston Whaler 180 Dauntless (very heavy boat for it's size: 2000 lb dry weight + ~600 lb motor + 300-400 lb gas + 600 lb trailer + gear).

I've noticed towing boats can give pretty bad mileage relative to other types of trailers. Maybe the drag at highway speeds is a lot higher.

What kind of boat?

Larson LXI190 with the EFI 4.3V6 - 225HP, 4 blade 22" pitch SSTL prop. Top speed: 58mph.