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Old 11-25-2015, 11:16 AM   #1
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A common criteria in selecting Tow Vehicles is MPG. One of the things I notice is when people are quoting their non-towing MPG they are quoting Highway MPG. Wouldn't Combined be a more accurate spec? In any event found this site which could be useful to those pondering which tow vehicle to purchase.

Fuel Economy one can use to do side-by-side comparisons. As an example I plugged in the following 4 vehicles: 2012 Highlander AWD, 2012 RAV4 AWD, 2013 GMC Yukon 2WD(5.3 V-8), and 2015 F-150 2WD FFV 3.5 V-6). The combined mileage was 19, 22, 17, 20 respectively. What was interesting to note for the GMC & Ford is that when using E85 it goes to 13 & 15.
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Old 11-25-2015, 01:22 PM   #2
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A common criteria in selecting Tow Vehicles is MPG. One of the things I notice is when people are quoting their non-towing MPG they are quoting Highway MPG. Wouldn't Combined be a more accurate spec? In any event found this site which could be useful to those pondering which tow vehicle to purchase.

Fuel Economy one can use to do side-by-side comparisons. As an example I plugged in the following 4 vehicles: 2012 Highlander AWD, 2012 RAV4 AWD, 2013 GMC Yukon 2WD(5.3 V-8), and 2015 F-150 2WD FFV 3.5 V-6). The combined mileage was 19, 22, 17, 20 respectively. What was interesting to note for the GMC & Ford is that when using E85 it goes to 13 & 15.
I don't know. For me 4,000 towing miles at 15.3 mpg combined with about 400 solo highway miles at about 23 mpg wouldn't tell me much. Most of my solo driving is in stop and go traffic so I'm lucky to get 14 mpg.
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Old 11-25-2015, 01:37 PM   #3
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Guess there's a good reason my 2012 F150 3.5 says not to use E85.
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Old 11-25-2015, 02:49 PM   #4
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I used to track my mileage, but there were too many variables. There's the terrain, stop and go traffic, having two pontoon boats or canoe on the RAV roof, percentage towing, so I gave up.
It's not like I could do anything about it anyway.
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Old 11-25-2015, 03:38 PM   #5
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With the 2012 Highlander I notice that a few things are "constant".
1 Towing mileage drops significantly when pushing the speed much past about 63 mph
2 Headwinds are mileage killers and tailwinds are mileage makers.
3. 10 percent ethanol blends drop mileage by about a mile and a half or two miles per gallon.
4 On extended trips, gasoline quality varies from pump to pump no matter what the octane rating says.
5. Some states and some stations ethanol is either all you can get or you can't get it at all.
6 In Iowa currently, straight regular 87 octane is 40 cents a gallon higher, so the mileage gain or drop in cents per mile is very nearly the same.
7. Iowa born and raised Chris Soules ( the bachelor) is currently on television telling us that ethanol is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that our tax dollars should support his Hollywood publicized butt.
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Old 11-25-2015, 03:42 PM   #6
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Dave - does Chris Soules drive your Highlander for you?
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Old 11-25-2015, 03:43 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Iowa Dave View Post
With the 2012 Highlander I notice that a few things are "constant".
1 Towing mileage drops significantly when pushing the speed much past about 63 mph
2 Headwinds are mileage killers and tailwinds are mileage makers.
3. 10 percent ethanol blends drop mileage by about a mile and a half or two miles per gallon.
4 On extended trips, gasoline quality varies from pump to pump no matter what the octane rating says.
5. Some states and some stations ethanol is either all you can get or you can't get it at all.
6 In Iowa currently, straight regular 87 octane is 40 cents a gallon higher, so the mileage gain or drop in cents per mile is very nearly the same.
7. Iowa born and raised Chris Soules ( the bachelor) is currently on television telling us that ethanol is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that our tax dollars should support his Hollywood publicized butt.
Happy Thanksgiving
Dave
Hi: Iowa Dave... Stuff the turkey with sliced bread!!! Alf
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Old 11-25-2015, 03:56 PM   #8
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Other than on the commercial, I don't think he even drives his own John Deere. They have several hired hands to farm their ground. My water softener guy went to high school with Chris and said the old man was a stand up guy but the boy was and is a silver spoon baby. Alf The turkey is ready for the brine and the Rolls are baked, we're at my daughter's place in Fort Wayne and I'm watching her dog sleep. I'm drinking a Scrimshaw Pilsner that I didn't pay for, not all bad. Traffic not bad, drove 425 miles today, went through Chi town at 65 mph. Think I'll swing up through South Bend for a look at touchdown Jesus on Sunday.
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Old 11-25-2015, 04:19 PM   #9
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I used to track my mileage, but there were too many variables. There's the terrain, stop and go traffic, having two pontoon boats or canoe on the RAV roof, percentage towing, so I gave up.
It's not like I could do anything about it anyway.
what is on the back of your trailer ? Pat
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Old 11-25-2015, 04:52 PM   #10
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It's a storage box. Aluminum. It contains water hoses, extension cord, latex gloves, spray lube, distilled water, can of gas, small axe and maul, hydrometer and half of one of those wax-impregnated fire logs.
It used to be in the company car for securely storing camera equipment, but it was a pain in the butt to use so I asked if I could remove it. Somehow it ended up on the back of my trailer.
Sits on a storage rack from etrailer.com
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Old 11-25-2015, 05:23 PM   #11
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Perfectly fits that rack as if they made it for it.
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Old 11-25-2015, 05:48 PM   #12
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In that pic, it was attached to the rack with u-bolts, with the nuts on the inside of the box.
Then I discovered that I couldn't turn my lug wrenches to get the spare off, unless I removed the box. That would require emptying the box and undoing eight nuts. So now, it's held on with a ratchet strap and steel cable.
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Old 11-25-2015, 06:07 PM   #13
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In that pic, it was attached to the rack with u-bolts, with the nuts on the inside of the box.
Then I discovered that I couldn't turn my lug wrenches to get the spare off, unless I removed the box. That would require emptying the box and undoing eight nuts. So now, it's held on with a ratchet strap and steel cable.
Very nice ! Pat
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Old 11-26-2015, 08:54 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Rossue View Post
A common criteria in selecting Tow Vehicles is MPG. One of the things I notice is when people are quoting their non-towing MPG they are quoting Highway MPG. Wouldn't Combined be a more accurate spec? In any event found this site which could be useful to those pondering which tow vehicle to purchase.
The mpg for my 2013 4WD Tacoma is pretty consistently 20 mpg. City, highway, truck bed cover on or off, nothing really seems to make a difference. I guess it's power/weight ratio is high. When towing it varies more, from 13-15 mpg.
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Old 11-26-2015, 10:41 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Rossue View Post
A common criteria in selecting Tow Vehicles is MPG. One of the things I notice is when people are quoting their non-towing MPG they are quoting Highway MPG. Wouldn't Combined be a more accurate spec? In any event found this site which could be useful to those pondering which tow vehicle to purchase.

Fuel Economy one can use to do side-by-side comparisons. As an example I plugged in the following 4 vehicles: 2012 Highlander AWD, 2012 RAV4 AWD, 2013 GMC Yukon 2WD(5.3 V-8), and 2015 F-150 2WD FFV 3.5 V-6). The combined mileage was 19, 22, 17, 20 respectively. What was interesting to note for the GMC & Ford is that when using E85 it goes to 13 & 15.
Good info Rossue, thank you. I lean towards the 2012 RAV4 V6, but darned if the dealers (at least here in Washington State) want almost as much for these ($22,000 to $26,000) as the MSRP for a brand new RAV4 (and I realize the newer RAV4's don't have the needed tow capacity), but still, there is a principle here.
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Old 11-26-2015, 10:41 AM   #16
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While I know(and it states it on that Dep't. of Energy site) that there are many variables that determines actual mileage, nevertheless am surprised at how close some in the Full-Size segment are to many Mid-Size vehicles. A Silverado/Yukon 2 WD model is identical to a Ridgeline, and not much different from a Tacoma 2WD or AWD Acura MDX.
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Old 11-26-2015, 02:20 PM   #17
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Good info Rossue, thank you. I lean towards the 2012 RAV4 V6, but darned if the dealers (at least here in Washington State) want almost as much for these ($22,000 to $26,000) as the MSRP for a brand new RAV4 (and I realize the newer RAV4's don't have the needed tow capacity), but still, there is a principle here.
Experienced exactly the same thing two years ago when searching for a Highlander SE for our 17B. The used ones with 35K miles were as much as a new one was. I ended up using Cars.com and expanded my search radius to find one with Class III hitch at a dealer in Bay area. If I were looking now knowing that demand is higher I would put a want ad in Cars.com and Carsforsale.com.
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