Towing economy

[Jerry]

For fuel economy: Is it better to tow a RIB without a cover but with the light board on an A-frame, or use the boat cover (and have lights under the engine on the trailer)?
I've gone to the south of France and back and the result was 22mpg. Single axle trailer, 6m RIB.

[jeffstevens763@g]

cover was not drastic on my 5.85 towing as it's in the slipstream of my shogan 32-33 mph 3.2 ltr diesel

[tom_20000]

Thats pretty good Jeff!, I get 21 behind my 5.75 Viper 3.0 Quattro Diesel

[two stroke mick]

I used to get 15 mpg on my old Mercedes E 200 (petrol 1999 w210) automatic pulling a 4.9 m valiant.

TSM

[Nos4r2]

Gotta have a decent cover to tow with one on-the DucksBack ones balloon right up. I tried it once. Never again.

Lights should be on the trailer for legal purposes, and they're probably more secure there too.

[Xk59D]

xc90 with 6.8 ribcraft, 4 wheel trailer and i get about 22mpg, no cover.

don't tow with covers anymore, started to wear tubes away!

[Maximus]

7m RIB 550M + tows on occasion ...no cover..= noticeable improvement in mileage and Performance..with no worries about the possibility of looseing it on the Motorway!..
Shorter trips not bothered,but then you don't need a cover anyway!

Light Tarp carried to cover up if staying over en-route.
I often go to a power wash when nearing Home now to give the Boat and Trailer a good wash off....Short Drive to Dry..Cover AND Tarp when stored works for me.
...Bugger for Flies in the Summer though!...but a decent Polish soon sorts that.

[Jerry]

How are you guys getting such good numbers on mpg? It's either super-not-aerodynamic (Bombard DB600 Explorer; it has large diameter tubes compared visually to other boats) or somethings wrong. But what else could be wrong - tyre pressure 4.50Bar (max that's written on a tyre) and the wheels spin without any brake friction.
Or maybe it's just what it is and I should stop worry? The most annoying thing on the trip to France was the amount of stops on petrol stations.

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

cover was not drastic on my 5.85 towing as it's in the slipstream of my shogan 32-33 mph 3.2 ltr diesel

Are you sure this is with the boat? ;-)
I thought Shoguns did that mileage by themselves, without needing any help from boat+trailer combo ;-)

[JimRib]

What you towing with ?

[Jerry]

Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI 180BHP. It does 40-45mpg solo depending if it's me or the wife driving it.

When towed behind Mondeo (also 2.0 TDCI) it did 25mpg with the boat, 50mpg solo.

[chipko]

Seems a bit on the low side but all cars different.
We get these figures with our A6 Avant 2.0D 190 (all same 200 mile motorway journeys);
Solo 50+mpg
Camping trailer 45mpg
Boat XS500 (no cover) 38mpg
Large Caravan 28mpg

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by tom_20000

Thats pretty good Jeff!, I get 21 behind my 5.75 Viper 3.0 Quattro Diesel

tom
got my maths wrong 22-23 mph towing 5.85 boat. combined non towing 34 mph with 140,000 on the clock.
just come back from oban towing sib with all the kit 420 miles full tank 69 ltrs cover on 27 mpg.
didn't see much difference with the other boat but it was a fitted cover and very tight a bugger to put on though

[Maximus]

You'll find the Bigger the engine/torque/towing capacity of the vehicle the less difference it makes between normal driving and towing.
V8 Twin Turbo RR takes (7m) it in its stride...(Comparitivley)...while somthing "on the limit " will Drink Like Alex Higgins on a Bender!

[lakelandterrier]

I'm getting 28.5mpg when towing RC585 with my 2l diesel X-trail.

c39.5mpg when not towing

[jonp]

As mentioned in another thread I'm over the moon with the economy I'm getting from the Hyundai. Before I bought this car I saw some long distance tow tests with this vehicle towing boats double the weight of mine which were very impressive. 46.31 mpg not towing 33.63 towing. http://www.rib.net/forum/f49/small-s...-74193-12.html

Having always used Toyota land cruisers the above figures are almost twice the economy. I never tow with covers as there's few on the market that can stand up to the continuous outback distances and 120km speed limits we travel with the boat, one of our last trips took us 14500 km.

My last tow vehicle the Toyota Land Cruiser prado had a 3lt 98 kw turbo 340 Nm torque. The smaller 2.2 lt 147 kw Hyundai turns out 440 Nm of torque, in other words it leaves the bigger engine for dead when towing.

Like any family, towing with 5 of us and the dog, 50lt freezer, dive gear, fishing gear, food and water etc etc we end up pretty loaded. Just to add the Toyota was 4 speed the Hyundai is 6 speed auto.

Jon

[jonp]

Originally Posted by Jerry

How are you guys getting such good numbers on mpg? It's either super-not-aerodynamic (Bombard DB600 Explorer; it has large diameter tubes compared visually to other boats) or somethings wrong. But what else could be wrong - tyre pressure 4.50Bar (max that's written on a tyre) and the wheels spin without any brake friction.
Or maybe it's just what it is and I should stop worry? The most annoying thing on the trip to France was the amount of stops on petrol stations.



Are you sure this is with the boat? ;-)
I thought Shoguns did that mileage by themselves, without needing any help from boat+trailer combo ;-)

have you had the vehicle dyno tested, i found my toyota had fuel pump, injectors and turbo issues that were only slight but enough to drop the performance considerably.

[jonp]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Ford Kuga 2.0TDCI 180BHP. It does 40-45mpg solo depending if it's me or the wife driving it.

When towed behind Mondeo (also 2.0 TDCI) it did 25mpg with the boat, 50mpg solo.

Ive got a ford focus with the 2.0 tdci engine which has fantastic power and economy solo but the few times I towed the boat it dropped drastically similar to your mondeo figures.

[paintman]

Which model Hyundai, can't seem to find the details in this or the lined thread.

[Iron Dials]

I removed my cover to tow, as with other posters it would balloon and get perilously close to ending up on a trucks windscreen.


I once owned a particularly powerful Saab. There was a "turbo boost" gauge and and you could read the instantaneous fuel consumption. You could eek 38 mpg at 100 km/h off the turbo but at 120 km/h it went below 30 mpg at which point the turbo was boosting.
So I reckon if you were cruising fast on motorway then mpg goes way down, but only noticeable on longer trips like you have just done. On shorter trips its only some of one tank of fuel so people don't notice as much.

Apart from the fuel economy how did you find the Kuga as a tow car?

[jonp]

Originally Posted by paintman

Which model Hyundai, can't seem to find the details in this or the lined thread.

It's this model with the 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Active diesel review | CarAdvice