SunCruiser Shakedown

JackHammr' · 08-12-2009, 02:16 PM

Just completed a 750 mile round trip .. Running the genset the entire road portion and running 60-70 mph , got 7.25 mpg with the genset running .. with a toad ..

Hey this is the south , the genset running is a must ..

If I back off to 60 will I get a

on the fuel mileage or is it enuff to be concerned over ..

Everyone in the know , that I know told me to xpect 6-9 mpg , so being sorta in the middle of those numbers I am very happy ..

Rocket Heart · 08-12-2009, 03:42 PM

That's pretty good! Do you have the Ford or the Workhorse chassis? Last weekend while driving all by myself at 68 mph with a cross wind I got 9.0 mpg! Best before that was 8.3 mpg - suprising how weight plays into the mileage game.

zippo · 08-12-2009, 04:57 PM

We have a 2000 35U on a Ford and get between 7 & 8 towing and fully loaded. I've found with ours speed has little to do with mileage. Head winds and hills seem to play a bigger roll.

Norm3206 · 08-12-2009, 05:24 PM

We have a 2001 Suncruiser on the 8.1 Workhorse chassis. Kept track all last winter and we averaged 9.37 Imp mpg or 7.5 US mpg for the whole winter travelling thru 11 western states. I agree that wind and hills make a large difference but my experience is that keeping it around 60 also helps.

JackHammr' · 08-12-2009, 05:33 PM

I have the Chebby .. I didnt get it for the fuel economy , so isnt really an issue as long as I'm in the ballpark , and not doing 4-5 mpg .. we went from Central Bama , NE into Tenn via Birmingham , Choo Choo , and Knoxville .. First half is fairly flat , lotsa hills and winds from Ga into Tennessee ..

Izza great ride except for Choo Choo , go thru there a lot , and it is always a pain in the rear ..

Fakrwee · 08-12-2009, 05:53 PM

That's great mileage. Over here on the West coast I might get a tank at 8.0 mpg but I always average out the trip between 6.5 to 7.0 mpg towing or not. Speeds may vary between 60 and 70 mph on the fast side mostly bucking a head wind and between 35 and 45 mph on the slow side uphill. I've been averaging out since last year when I got the new engine.

Tom

mrschwarz · 08-13-2009, 04:35 AM

My 01 33V with a 454 engine averaged about 5.75.

Doug Sage · 08-13-2009, 07:59 AM

I have averaged 6.75 mpg while towing a 3,500 pound toad. The best that I have ever gotten is 8.25 while driving at a steady 50 mph on flat ground which is a 24% improvement in mileage. That was on the Natchez Trace. Being over 8 feet wide and about 12 feet high means that I am pushing the equivalent of 3 sheets of plywood stacked on edge down the road. That is a huge frontal load so speed makes a lot of difference. I am nearly 39 feet long and weigh 23,500 pounds on my Workhorse W24 chassis.

WhenIm64 · 08-14-2009, 09:22 PM

Has anyone put an air ride on the Ford chassis Suncruiser? I have a new and the ride is baaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!

bobpie · 08-15-2009, 09:22 AM

No air ride, but Koni shocks did improve an already good ride that we have in our 01

dirko · 08-16-2009, 12:31 PM

Hi Ho: Your mileage seems to be about the same as ours. I usually try to drive just a little over 60 mph. While this does help the gas mileage, the real reason is that it is less stressful. Hey, we're on vacation. Besides we're retired. Enjoy the ride.

Dirk

stearn · 08-17-2009, 06:08 AM

I average 7mpg traveling at 60mph towing . Haven't gone any distance without the toad. 8.1 workhorse.

Lindsay Richards · 08-17-2009, 06:29 AM

We live in Florida, but drive all over the US and I have never found it necessary to rung the coach air while driving. We are talking two people with nobody in back beyond the drivers seats. You might want to check out your dash air. Shouldn't need coach air in my opinion. It will take about 3/4 gallons an hour to run the genset with the air on and one of the two compressors running. We love our Suncruiser.

dirko · 08-18-2009, 10:32 AM

Hi Ho: We also like to run the dash air because it blows cold air right at you. However, if the outside temperature is 110 deg F., the inside temperature will be close to 100 deg. with just the dash air. It will take forever to drop this temperature to around 80 deg. when you stop and plug in. With the coach air and the dash air both in operation we were still about 85 deg. with the outside air temperature at 112 deg. F.

Lindsay, you sound like an easy person to please.

Dirk

JackHammr' · 08-18-2009, 11:11 AM

Only issue with dash air is , if you are stop n go , its moving hot air pretty quick , cools down once the coach is moving ..

Sweetie is too restless to sit up front ( or anywhere else for that matter )for more than thirty seconds at a time ..

I just am taking it as a given that the genset will be running the AC's if we're traveling .. A rough guess with some quick math is the genset cost us about .9 mpg .. We might have hit high 7's to low 8's instead of 7.25 mpg ..

I can live with those numbers ..

Gotta_P · 08-18-2009, 04:51 PM

An interesting observation, and a simple question...

I noticed the other day that as I was sitting still with my engine idling (the 8.1L V8) the dash guage said it was consuming .8GPH. My Honda Fit, with a 1.5L 4 cyl and my ScanGuage says it pulls about .6GPH traveling at 45 mph. Not sure the actual size of the Genset engine, but how in the world is that little generator pulling .9GPH while traveling down the road? Seems it should be pulling less that my 4 cly, 2500 lb car does traveling at 45 mph, or an 8.1L V8 at idle!

JackHammr' · 08-18-2009, 06:49 PM

I have a 5k Onan genset , and I also have a 5k portable here at the stick house .. The manual from Onan says between .6 gph -.9 gph IIRC , is pretty close to that , its running a steady speed , above an idle speed , even without a load , tho' I dont recall the rpm right off ..

CurbCrusher · 08-19-2009, 03:07 PM

We've been traveling an Itasca Sunova on a Workhorse chassis for a couple of years now. Our average has been 6.61mpg, with a low of 5.39 and a high of 7.5. Interestingly enough the 7.5 was on a trip from Florida to SC, and we ran the generator with air from the FL/GA border to Charleston. On the way home I don't think we ran the generator except at the rest stop for lunch and we got 7.0. I usually set the cruise between 60 and 62 and just ride along in the right lane. I keep the history of our gas mileage here.

kcaravelli · 09-20-2009, 10:28 PM

This discussion reminds me of a car trip I took when I was about 21 and living over in Lake Tahoe with a buddy. We decided to take a trip down to Las Vegas and ended up stopping to see his folks on the way down. His dad was an engineer on the "fly-by-wire" plane they were working on at the base. My friend (Bo) and I ran out of money and only had about $30 for gas and food to get back to Tahoe...not quite enough

Bo's dad said NO but he did not leave us hanging out to dry. He gave us a lesson in aerodynamics. He said boys, when you drive at 30 mph you are pushing about 1/2 the wind force as apposed to 60 mph. If you would just slow way down you might make it there on what you have. Of course that was $30 at 1975 prices but you see the point. The engineers here please feel free to correct me on the 1/2 speed, I think it was about that much of a difference if I recall correctly.

So, true story! Bo and I drove from the Air Force base near Las Vegas, I think it was Edwards, all the way to Tahoe doing 30 mph. We made it and I have never forgotten that lesson and in fact have had to rely on it several times in my life in different ways. A little knowledge goes a long ways. Can you imagine how much we would have learned had his dad just given us the money (nothing that's how much).