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I'm gradually getting enough data to make some estimates of the mileage I can expect in my 1992 Winnebago Warrior WT321RL (3.0 l. V-6) with under 30k miles. Worst is about 12 (70 - 75 mph on the freeway with a lot of truck traffic, some hills) and best is about 15 (55 mph on secondary highways with light traffic and some hills). I much prefer staying off the freeways - and so does my Toy. I expect to get around 14 mpg on longer trips - we'll see how accurate that is after the Toy-In on Vancouver Island next month!

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I'm sitting in Deadhorse Alaska, Just put 5200 miles on this house. Averaged between 14.5 and 15.0. for the entire trip The best I got was 17.2 That was with a very strong tail wind. The worst was 10.2, that was a strong headwind in very hilly country.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

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These are Statements on fuel mileage from the Toyota Motorhomes Handbook

Thorntonnetsales.com

Speed is one of the largest factors that affect your mileage.

In 1985 the national speed limit was 55 mph. Like most vehicles

of that era, my Dolphin is geared to travel in the 50 to 60 mph

range. It is possible to maintain close to 70 mph on level ground.

The faster I drive, the more gas I will consume. The Dolphin is

equipped with the 22RE fuel injected four cylinder engine. I find

that on level ground, with good weather and little head wind,

maintaining a speed of 50 to 55 mph will yield around 15 to 16

mpg. When I drive between 55 and 60 mph my mileage will seem

to drop to 13 to 14 mpg. If I spend much time over 60 mph, I can

expect to be in the 11 to 12 mpg range. The speed you drive

seems to be one of the biggest factors in the gas mileage

equation.

The type of terrain will affect your mileage.

A fully loaded Toyota Motor home will climb just about any paved

road you can find. It will not climb the hill very fast however. My 4

cylinder coach with automatic will shift into 2nd gear at about 45

mph and climb steadily until the speed drops to about 25 mph. On

the really steep hills, I find myself in 1st gear climbing at about 20

to 25 mph. This type of travel wreaks havoc on the gas mileage

results. Traveling across the western states, it is not uncommon

to encounter long uphill stretches of road followed by more long

uphill stretches of road until the divide is crested. Much of the

uphill climb will be in 2nd gear. I have found that traveling through

country with long uphill climbs will result in a 1 to 2 mpg decrease

in mileage results.

May all your winds be tail winds

An external factor that affects gas mileage even more than hills is

a steady head wind. A ten mph head wind will cut your forward

speed down until you are soon shifting between 2nd and 3rd gear

just to maintain 50 mph. This type of driving inevitably results in

gas mileage figures of 10 to 12 mpg. One consoling thought while

you watch the 35 foot big block V8 motor home pull around you

on the interstate is you are still getting at least twice the mileage

the big rig is archiving. When the head winds get much stronger

than 20mph is time to rethink your travel plans for the day. I have

stopped traveling at noon on those type of days and just waited it

out, hoping that tomorrow would be better. It wasn't by the way,

the wind always blows in Kansas. I feel much safer when having

to travel into a fierce headwind on a four lane divided highway.

This removes the problem of oncoming large 18 wheelers and the

corresponding bow wave. The passing of a large truck going the

same direction can cause a bit of turbulence when you are

momentarily caught in the dirty air trailing behind the truck but is

not nearly as terrifying as meeting a large truck in windy

conditions on a narrow two lane road. ( Another lesson learned

traveling across Kansas). Side winds are almost as bad if the

wind is slightly from the front. In fairness to the little Motor home,

the Dolphin handles wind gusts with aplomb, and has no bad

tendencies to get blown off the road or turn turtle in the ditch.

These two trips were under very windy conditions for a good

portion of the trip

4 cylinder versus 6 cylinder models

It seems that the mileage results between the older 4 cylinder

models and the newer 6 cylinder Toyota motor homes are quite

similar. The v6 models may be able to travel a bit faster and top

the hills at a higher speed but the over all mileage results are still

in the 14 to 16 mpg range for most drivers. Polls taken on the

Yahoo Toyota-campers group have reported these results and

discussion threads also will reveal the same information.

As the old saying goes, "Your mileage will vary". I have attempted

to explain some of my findings and findings that were uncovered

on the 'net. Speed seems to be the biggest contributing factor to

poor gas mileage. Driving habits can also play a part. When I first

began driving the Dolphin, I floored the accelerator every time I

pulled away from a stop light. This caused much commotion from

the engine room but not a great deal of acceleration. I discovered

that by just letting Dolly find her own pace we were up to speed

almost as quickly and with much better results in gas mileage.

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John Mc, I am happy you are on the road, good for you. I am about 5000 some mile behind you already but hope to get started rolling next week so I can wrack up my own (S)mileage figures... Brookings Oregon to Hood River or Bust (hope not), but the bike will be tagging along on the back just in case... I have the 20th annual Black Dog Dual Sport Motorcycle Trail ride to go to for the "shake down" trip. Hopefully this will beat sleeping in the back of my 86 toyota truck like the last 19 years I have gone there.

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