Gas Mileage While Towing Your Boat

surfinjoe

surfinjoe

New Member
Feb 23, 2007
946
Michigan
Boat Info
220 Sundeck 2007
Engines
350 MAG w/Bravo III
Just curious what everyone gets for gas mileage while towing their boat to their favorite destination. Tell us what you tow with, what kind of boat you have and what kind of mileage you are getting. I know this thread will get some comments from the DA guy's, but us sport boat people rely on our trailers to get us where we are going!

I have an 2007 Chevy Trailblazer with the inline 6 and I tow a 2007 220 Sundeck. I get anywhere from 10.5-12.5 MPG. I tend to get a little better mileage if I follow a semi truck (must be the drafting effect). With my 180 sport I was getting ~14 MPG. 1/2 the weight and less tall.
 
1996 Chevy Blazer 4x4, 4.3 L Vortech V6.
I tow a 1983 Sea Ray SRV 197.

The Blazer gets crappy MPG to begin with but while towing it gets noticablly worse.
 
2007 Tahoe 5.3 V8 3.73 gears I also have the K+N Cold Air intake. Live in central Florida. I use the tow mode when towing the boat. I get about 9MPG when towing for an avg. At 60MPH I am showing about 12 mpg when it is flat and stable. In Florida we are using 10% Ethanol and that is killing the milage a little bit. I also have the tower up, and about 1000 pounds of people and gear in the Tahoe with me.
 
Glad to be the first of the dreaded DA crowd to chime in.... I tow with a 1999 F350 7.4L diesel and I tow about 11.5k lbs. I tow about 700 miles each year and I get around 9 to 10 mpg:grin:
 
I tow with a 1/2 ton Dodge RAM with the 5.7L MDS Hemi (not that MDS does anything when towing :smt001 ) and last week on a 150 mile trip I was averaging 9.5 MPG on the highway doing between 65-70 MPH. 3.73 gears and 20" tires.

This was with a fully loaded boat and truck.

-Ryan
 
About 8-9 MPG towing on a hilly section of interstate at about 70 MPH. 17 MPG average normally. That's why I pay for storage 5 minutes from the water.
 
SR 250 DA

9 MPG with:

1997 Ford Expedition V-8 (5.3L, or something like that)
1992 Chevy Pickup with 305, and then with 350 (put new engine in it - unrelated)
2001 GMC Sierra 6.0L

4 different engines, 3 different trucks - same result.
 
Nothing against the DA guy's at all. It's just that some people (my own father included) who have bigger boat's don't understand why we trailer our boats. My opintion is that it's nice to have the option to trailer if you can. That opens up a whole new world of water here in Michigan!

dpvandy01 said:
Glad to be the first of the dreaded DA crowd to chime in.... I tow with a 1999 F350 7.4L diesel and I tow about 11.5k lbs. I tow about 700 miles each year and I get around 9 to 10 mpg:grin:
Click to expand...
 
2006 Nissan Titan LE V8 5.7L with Tow Package.
2007 SeaRay Sundeck 240

Get about 10mpg towing about 15-18 when not towing.
 
2500 Chevy Duramax/Allison towing 290da on triple axle trailer. Checked it on my recent 200mile + trip to Norris lake and got 12mpg.
 
surfinjoe said:
Nothing against the DA guy's at all. It's just that some people (my own father included) who have bigger boat's don't understand why we trailer our boats. My opintion is that it's nice to have the option to trailer if you can. That opens up a whole new world of water here in Michigan!
Click to expand...

My truck drinks about 4 gph towing the beast at 60 mph, the boat guzzles twice as much at about half the speed - I prefer towing the boat to destinations instead of slogging through seas and no wake zones. I am guessing the boat and trailer weigh in around 9K.

If want to take the boat up to Lake Tahoe the truck averages 8.8 mpg for the 70 mile run going up with a 7000' elevation gain, several 2-4 mile 8-10% grades and an average speed of 55-60 mph. Coming back there are still an number of grades with an overall average of about 11.2 mpg.

Bringing the beast home from Lake Mead I averaged around 14-15 mpg at about 65 mph. Short hauls to the Delta or SF Bay I get about 15 mpg at 60-62 mph.

Non-towing I get 13 in pure-city driving, 21-22 at 62 mph on the level, and 19 at 70 mph. The ultra low sulpher diesel fuel knocked about 1-2 mpg off my daily driving, not sure about towing averages.
 
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surfinjoe said:
Nothing against the DA guy's at all. It's just that some people (my own father included) who have bigger boat's don't understand why we trailer our boats. My opintion is that it's nice to have the option to trailer if you can. That opens up a whole new world of water here in Michigan!
Click to expand...

I have a 260DA and that's the reason we trailer. I can go 8 miles and be at the local lake, 10 miles and head out into the Central Puget Sound Area, 40 miles to the North Puget Sound and San Juans.

The other benefit is fuel saving at the street pump to fill the boat, saving $.50-.75/gal than on the water.

The tow rig gets maybe 12/MPG and I have an '04 Chevy Ext Cab Silverado
 
195 Sport here, pullign it with a 2000 F-250 with 7.3L Powerstoke. Average around 16mpg holding a constant speed of 60mph. This is not the trip computer, but with actual hand calculation, but I have an upgraded charge cooler, exhaust, and chip.
 
I'm a DA guy and I tow? I get 9 mpg towing the 300 DA behind the Duramax crew cab dually! Cheaper gas for the boat and a bunch of places to go! Bigger doesn't necessarily mean we don't tow! :grin: Looking at some of the other mileage posts, I'm not doing too bad!
 
GMC 2500 4x4 Duramax/Allison (chipped). If I pull using my head and not my foot I can get 16+ mpg @ 70/75 mph. But its really fun to pull away from a stop light and literally smoke just about everything on the road.
 
2000 Toyota Tundra 4.7L 4WD Access Cab (15.5-17 mpg not towing), towing a 210 Select, I get about 10-12 mpg @55-60 mph. >60, it drops to about 9 mpg.

I got 12-14 towing my 185 BR prior.

If it's hilly, I take it out of Overdrive which keeps it in the lower gear set, (less shifting and less abuse to the transmission), otherwise, if it's flat, I leave it in Drive, which locks it up in Overdrive if it can. Toyota recommends taking it out of Overdrive whenever towing.

-VtSeaRay
 
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2006 MegaCab with the 5.9 Cummins. At 68 mph I get 14.4 mpg. The biggest scaled load I have pulled is 18k at 11 mpg. Now if I can just find that bigger boat....
 
'04 Excursion, 6.0 PSD. Towing I'll get 14-15 depending on conditions. Without towing I'll get 17-20, but again, depending on conditions. Wind kills my MPG. 2 weeks ago trip to Houston on semi-back roads so I have some small town stop and go. About 17 down in wind at 65-70 MPH and about 18 back without wind for about half the trip and with for the last half, and running 70-75.

Around town varies greatly as anyone that drives a diesel "around town" knows. Anywhere from 13 when making short unhealthy trips (<5 miles each way) or 15-16 when I can drive a little further and not 0-40 constantly.

It's not bad for an 8000 lb brick.
 
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