Greetings. This is my first post here. I am about to buy an '85 Dolphin from a neighbor. 2RE Engine with 5 Speed Manual transmission. Seller claims 17 MPG. I know back in those days a manual gave a few more MPG than the automatics. Any thoughts on this?
Last year I purchased an ancient 1700 pound 14 ft Shasta Lo Flyte trailer. It is not nicely streamlined. Using an OBDI scanner and phone app, I got instantaneous gas mileage readout. Below 45 MPH, It seemed like the trailer was not even there. Once I got past 45 MPH, mileage dropped down to 12 and 14 MPG. Am not sure if putting that kind of load is good for the engine especially for long trips. It normally averages 22 to 24 MPG unloaded. I thought it would be OK for back road travel at 45 MPH because I am retired. It seems like aerodynamics creates a limit to getting anything better than mid teens for highway speeds.
I am not sure how practical 45 MPH cross country travel is but how is mileage on the Dolphin on slower speeds?