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Thanks guys, I shall ask the hubby to see what kind of figures we get on our next trip out -

Kevin - I shall find out for you what the mpg of our grand vitara was with the County Dorset - It was a fabulous 1st caravan for us, and we are sad to see her go.

our vitara is a diesal 1.9l.

Quote: Originally posted by tykey on 13/7/2009

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It really doesn't make sense that you tow a lighter van and get a "dramatic" increase, does it. My fuel consumption increased by 10/15% when I used the air-con, is this the explanation, perhaps?

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You do get some increase though in fuel consumption with weight, Shell claim that for every extra 45kg of weight you carry you reduce your consumption by 1-2%. That must be true also when towing a caravan, so a heavier caravan will increase consumption. It also makes sense to leave the MIL at home. Shell also claim air con can increase consumption by 8%.

http://www.shell.com/home/content/products_services/on_the_road/fuels/get_the_most/

Legsdownkettleon is right, wind resistance makes quite a difference. With our pop-up, it can make up to 6mpg difference between a strong following wind and a strong head wind. I have yet to work out how the wind direction always seems to change to ensure we have a head wind. Logically therefore, there must be others that always have a following wind.

I have seen no mention on this forum for some time about slipstreaming. You can still stay a safe distance behind a tall HGV and get a considerable improvement in mpg, especially in a headwind, though get too close and it is not only dangerous, but you get buffeting. Mythbusters did something on this once. You can also feel the tug when a bus or an HGV overtakes at speed in a headwind.

Finaly after much experimenting on quiet motorways on the continent, I came to the conclusion that cruise control did not make any difference to consumption, though driving was much easier.

 i thought something had gone drastically wrong with our fuel consumption on the last trip to cornwall , realised later that i had converted litres to us gallons not imperial

 i thought something had gone drastically wrong with our fuel consumption on the last trip to cornwall , realised later that i had converted litres to us gallons not imperial

Hello again,

The only reason we noticed, was because a journey that normally takes quarter of a tank, took nearly half a tank -

oh well, here's to the next trip out

Quote: Originally posted by YVONNE130 on 14/7/2009

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Hello again,

The only reason we noticed, was because a journey that normally takes quarter of a tank, took nearly half a tank -

oh well, here's to the next trip out

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Yvonne, Baileys are much more upright at the front than most, it gives you more headroom inside, but it must make it more suceptable to headwinds.

I tow my Pageant with three bikes on the roof (of the car) and if I have a head or cross wind I am only getting 22 mpg towing.  On calmer days I can get upto 28 mpg.

Our new van weighs 1483 mtplm compared to 1250 mtplm for our previous van and the economy didn't alter that much so I concur that air resistance has more effect that weight.

That makes sense - the bailey is definately a different shape to our old one. We are out again at the weekend, so we shall see how it goes - it was just a bit of a shock lol x