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Bill-GA View Drop Down
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Posts: 214 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Mileage Per Gallon
    Posted: 22 Jun 2013 at 10:41pm
I remember watching Myth Busters last year and they took the concept of recessed circles on a golf ball and applied it to the back, front,top & sides of a car (5-6 ? inch concave circles) and they got a 10% improvement on MPG.  It would make a strange looking trailer ... but hey, 10% savings on gas.
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Jun 2013 at 11:45pm
I usually get 10.5 Mpg towing with a 2008 pathfinder. I drive about 60, occasionally bumping up to ~72mph if the traffic is moving fast. What is strange is that 72mph seems easier than 65 mph, like the wind starts to break.

My impressions is that travel trailers are not wind tested and not much attempt is made to make them aerodynamic. Its expensive and difficult to manufacture large things that have curves in three dimensions. I believe they should push the air around the sides and round the back a bit. My parents get better gas mileage in their 35' Winnebago. If you look at it all the corners are rounded by about 3 inches.

One other thought was that vehicles are all wind tunnel tested these days. So I bet you are better off with a larger TW, just to have a larger but more aerodynamic thing moving the air, rather then the pod. This may mean more than engine displacement. However a transmission that can't lock up can be devastating to mpg.
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Burt View Drop Down
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 10:08am
Kickstart:

Thank You for your statistics!  It confirms many of the comments and data others have presented in this forum.  Thank your Mother for teaching you to do that!

Generally, I believe that most of us purchase a smaller trailer for ease of towing lighter vehicles with the smaller engines now in trucks and SUV's.  We combined that thought with the unrealistic anti-gravity thought in mind that a POD will magically get good mileage when towing.  Not so!

While I am very pleased with our POD, I am also like most who thought it would be a bit like a teardrop, burro, casita type mileage.  Not so!

Most likely, as long as the tow vehicle is capable, the only real answers for better mileage are to use a lower speed as proven, or buy a bigger TV.   Other than that, another solution is to find a way to reduce wind turbulence with flared canopy on the TV or invent a  front cowling on the POD.  The latter is not going to be done by a manufacturer as they are happy once these are out on the road and the money transfer is made.

Not to mention that unlike car and truck manufacturers, there are not government mandates forced upon trailer manufacturers to achieve better mileage.

Personally, I did achieve 1 to 2 MPG better by putting a performance chip in our truck, and I installed a K&N air filter.  Also, I use Non-Ethanol gas when towing and usually get more MPG out of a gallon than the corn fuel.

The chip improved the non towing by 3 to 4 MPG.

Physics and fantasy don't really do well together.
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 10:46am
Burt - What performance chip did you buy? 
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Keith-N-Dar View Drop Down
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Posts: 1447 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 11:51am
Originally posted by Anthony Valenzano

Burt - What performance chip did you buy? 


And what is the TV?
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Kickstart View Drop Down
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Posts: 267 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 3:45pm
Here's a little more stuff, some from a previous post, that will back up what Tidalwave found with his study. Adding the wing to my Pod did only slightly increase my mileage when towing--less than a 1 mpg, but it was a consistent improvement. What I'm now finding most interesting is that 4 of my first 5 tanks after having the A/C installed there has been a further improvement of over a mile per gallon. I'm eager to see if this improvement will be consistent. 
 
Also, while towing with my Tacoma I towed with an empty bed, with a tonneau cover, and with a cab high cap. There was no difference in towing mileage during any common trips. I think that was exactly what Tidalwave, or maybe it was what the other study found. Hey, the Pod is no different from any other T/T I've towed--they all push wind.
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Burt View Drop Down
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 6:13pm
The performance chip we purchased is an X3.

There are a lot of them out there.  Research the one FOR your TV (Tow Vehicle).

Burt
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 6:15pm
The performance chip we bought is an X3.  Do your research for your own TV (Tow Vehicle).  Performance chips are different and many just dump fuel into your engine.

Some are made just for manufacturers.

Bottom line is that they almost bring a vehicle up to what it was supposed to do without all the green constraints.

Burt
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 7:00pm
 
Originally posted by Burt

...

Most likely, as long as the tow vehicle is capable, the only real answers for better mileage are to use a lower speed as proven, or buy a bigger TV.   ...

As shown in my last post, our mpg went down when we bought a larger TV.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Burt View Drop Down
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Posts: 62 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jun 2013 at 9:24pm
Right, I agree.  However, our chip and the filter helped.  Most of these MPG type questions arise, I believe, from the faulty thinking right from the get go when we buy a "lighter" trailer.  Most believe that the mileage won't be as bad as it truly is.  The perceptions don't match the reality and we seek ways to make the original thought/perception more of a reality.

The original post I responded to was highly accurate.  The bottom line is that 10 to 14 MPG is the reality unless you are towing downhill for about 50 miles.

I agree with the lower speed concept and use it to our advantage.

Best MPG to you and all,

Burt
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