Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

I have an F-150 with essentially the exact same 3.5 liter twin turbo Ecoboost engine. I towed our Grand Design trailer with it. When not towing, I typically get 20 to 22 mpg. When towing I got 9 to 10 mpg. That tells me that it's more about the weight/mass you're moving than about just the engine.

If you load up a fairly large 10 ton box with the aerodynamics of a concrete block, your fuel efficiency will suck... there's just no way around that in today's world. Maybe in the future??

Of the two, I would focus more on motorhome aerodynamics than weight. Always have because we travel on highways more than cities.

Owners who drive short distances to camp won’t consume as much fuel anyway, so it’s not as important, but those who take long trips will likely spend much time on highways driving at higher speeds where aerodynamic drag kills fuel economy.

Weight makes vehicles accelerate and climb slower, but has much less adverse affect on highway fuel economy than poor aerodynamics.

Mercedes Sprinter and Ford Transit motorhomes have advantage of usually being much narrower, often a little lower, and when designed as a B+, significantly more aerodynamic than many Class Cs that can be up to a foot wider and taller. Combined these differences add up to improve fuel economy regardless of engine type.



P.S. — I was not saying EcoBoost is a bad engine, just that in my opinion not necessary for larger trucks and motorhomes where power requirements are usually high. There is a reason they don’t put EcoBoost in larger pickups and motorhomes.