Question Mileage When Towing-DS 4081

[Tip&Tina]

We are looking at a DS 4081 for our FT home.

Not sure if the model matters, however, DH is working on his budgeting of the FT lifestyle and really wants to get it down to the Nth degree. He estimated 8 MPG on the 4081 towing a Jeep Wrangler, 2-door. Can anyone give me some numbers that might be more real world? We would keep it at 65 MPH and below on the highway. We anticipate loading it up about 75% of full weight. We are determined not to be crushed with stuff we don’t use etc. (Not sure if the weight affects the MPG..)

Really appreciate all the advice and help you all have put out here. TY! Hope to meet you all on the road in the next year!!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

IME, the 8 mpg estimate is not too far off; probably slightly on the high end. With our 2018 Mountain Aire 4047 with 500 HP (the DSDP is 450 HP) and towing a 3,500# Honda CR-V, we average about 7.5 mpg. Most of our travel is in the Mountain West, so pulling long grades is part of the equation. It will depend, somewhat, on where you will be using the coach. Lots of mountain driving (like we do) will cut into the mpg a bit. Long flat stretches will improve it just a little.

TJ

 

[Tip&Tina]

Thank you TJ! I'll pass that along! We will make our way out west and will eventually be on those grades. Very helpful as always!

 

[RandyB]

This is a small data set, but data nonetheless.
2017 40 feet 4037 Ventana LE
12,434 miles of ownership
Flat towing always. 4,000 pounds
Fuel used for driving and generator calculates to 7.7 MPG.

Calculating the estimated fuel use for the generator, I used half load (0.5 gallons per hour) and the actual hours on the generator meter.

Then, adding back the generator fuel for driving MPG I get 8.3 MPG.

 

[Tip&Tina]

Thank you, Randy!! Another set of data for him to put into his spreadsheet...he loves data crunching! The generator info is something we didn't even think of!

 

[VTPete]

7.0-8.0 is a good planning figure, many of us would probably agree that we don’t see a noticeable difference in mileage based on whether we’re towing or not. RandyB and I are both 360HP ISB Cummins, your future coach is 450HP ISL and will be a bit lower. So I think 7.0 is reliable.

 

[Ken C]

We are looking at a DS 4081 for our FT home.

Not sure if the model matters, however, DH is working on his budgeting of the FT lifestyle and really wants to get it down to the Nth degree. He estimated 8 MPG on the 4081 towing a Jeep Wrangler, 2-door. Can anyone give me some numbers that might be more real world? We would keep it at 65 MPH and below on the highway. We anticipate loading it up about 75% of full weight. We are determined not to be crushed with stuff we don’t use etc. (Not sure if the weight affects the MPG..)

Really appreciate all the advice and help you all have put out here. TY! Hope to meet you all on the road in the next year!!

Our 18 DS 4052 has averaged 7 mpg after 20K mi towing a 4500 lb Jeep and deducting for gen and oasis usage. Most of our driving is in Western states which has lots of grades to climb.

 

[J&JD]

2017 DS4018 pulling a 2 door jk wrangler Sahara, lots of West Coast hills, 37k miles, running 62-65 consistently, almost never over 7.5. Usually closer to 7.2.

 

[CTI2000]

2017 DS 4018 east coast driving, VA, WV, NC mountains and rolling hills we would get 6.5-7.5 mpg towing a CRY. Midwest driving flat roads mileage would increase to 8.5-9 mpg. Towing or not, the mileage is about the same. I always used 75 gal. x 7 mpg for 550 miles. Would have been nice if Newmar used a 150 gal. fuel tank in the 40' models. By contrast our 2020 MA 4018 gets one mpg better.

 

[J&JD]

nice if Newmar used a 150 gal. fuel tank

Amen to that. My biggest complaint about the DS

 

[NWIP]

We did 30,000 miles In our DS 4018 towing our Colorado and I used 7.0 for mileage calculations. We were slightly over that but not enough of a difference to calculate, I like whole numbers.

 

[J&JD]

We did 30,000 miles In our DS 4018 towing our Colorado and I used 7.0 for mileage calculations. We were slightly over that but not enough of a difference to calculate, I like whole numbers.

I’m with you. When we stop for fuel, I look at the miles driven from last fill and divide by 7. This always gives me pretty accurate # of gallons I will need to fill so that I can slow the flow down and listen thus avoiding splash back from overfill. Sorry to jump off the topic a bit....just reiterating the 7mpg #.

 

[Tip&Tina]

Thank you all for the feedback! We will use 7 MPG as the number to be safe. We were getting about that in the Canyon Star driving around GA, FL NC, and all around the Midwest. He was hoping for a better number in a DP. You all are the best!!

 

[Webz]

We get high sevens to eight if the cruise is set on 65. Seventy MPH sucks the fuel. Just remember the days you are not traveling you will have the cost of camping. They offset each other somewhat depending on how much you drive every day.

 

[Dutch]

We have a 2021 DS 4081 with 3k miles now and tow a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited 4 door and get around 7 mpg

 

[Ken C]

We are looking at a DS 4081 for our FT home.

Not sure if the model matters, however, DH is working on his budgeting of the FT lifestyle and really wants to get it down to the Nth degree. He estimated 8 MPG on the 4081 towing a Jeep Wrangler, 2-door. Can anyone give me some numbers that might be more real world? We would keep it at 65 MPH and below on the highway. We anticipate loading it up about 75% of full weight. We are determined not to be crushed with stuff we don’t use etc. (Not sure if the weight affects the MPG..)

Really appreciate all the advice and help you all have put out here. TY! Hope to meet you all on the road in the next year!!

We have a 2018 4052 DS so wright should be similar to a 4081. I have tracked mileage and fuel usage since new and accounting for generator usage we have averaged 6.6 after 20K miles.

 

[MiKaLo]

I am researching which Newmar will be best for us. We are currently in a 5th wheel. The mileage of the Newmar will not affect our decision.

I am surprised at the numbers though.

Our current rig is a Mobile Suite, 41ft. Tow vehicle is a Ford F450.
The MS is a heavy rig and 13.5 ft tall. We keep our speed around 65.

Last years trip was from Michigan to Southwest, up to Northwest and home.

9.6mpg for total trip. That does include solo driving of the 450 though.
A typical day of towing is about 9mpg.

Not starting a debate of MH vs. 5th wheel.

I am glad to know what to expect.

Mike

 

[DKRITTER]

We average a little over 7. We have a 4318 and a F150.