Fuel consumption when towing your boat.

[Salad Fingers]

yer i get about 15-16L/100 in my NP Paj DiD towing my 5.4m alloy boat at 120/130kph.
get much better at only 100kph, 11-12ish or so.

[Robbo76]

Holy crap, 130kph...Hope it's got good anchors!

I have the 03 NP exceed petrol, wonder how that would go??

[Lancair]

Normally I get around 11-12L per 100km in my 08 TD Hilux, get 14.5L avg towing my Tournament 1800 at up to 100km/h.

[ozscott]

9'year old Disco 4.0 v8 5sp manual. Don't know what she burns towing the Vagabond, but I love the sound of her working and I dig the torque of those 8 little pots firing up. I also dig how easily she pulled the Vag out of the reeds while in water and reeds herself at Glen Lyon dam a few years ago. Bloody amusing that. I know it would be chugging it back whether I am running LPG or petrol. I don't care though. All original drive train and when not towing the petrol equivalent of 10l per 100k when on LPG. I worry to much about the new diesels as to easy contamination with bad fuel etc. Having said that if I ever got rid of my truck (and I sill have my 95 disco so perhaps I am starting a collection) I would get a Defender and they are a diesel. So bottom line is that unless I was traveling 1000k a month I couldn't care less about it just reliability, comfort (including sound and smoothness) and getting there. Cheers

[FisHard]

03 V6 Commodore ute towing 5m Seafarer Venus Avg about 18 l/100 (without boat 12l/100) I found running 98 octane fuel was a good investment
08 3l TD Ford Ranger dual cab 4x4 towing 6.2m Seafarer Venom (2-2.5t) Avg about 16-18l/100. Without boat a miserly 8-9l/100. The Ranger is a great tow vehicle- plenty of power and very good on fuel. From Brisbane to 1770, I only have to drop out of top gear 3 or 4 times on hills. It does it very easy if only first and reverse were a bit lower.

[Laraby]

Chew approx 26L/100klm towing 26ft Powercat at 100k/h with petrol manual 100 series Landcruiser in 4th gear.Thought that was bad untill I read some of these!

[kitty_cat]

hey laraby i also had a 100 series cruiser at 27l/100ks average to 1770(sad day when i sold her best 4x4 ive owned just too heavy on juice driving her on a day to day basis) but hoping martys figures are right as have just brought a new colorado 3.0 TD 11l-13l/100ks sounds sweet to me .

[Flex]

I tow my 21f Striper with a 2004 3l turbo Diesel Navara.
I get 15-17l per 100km.

For towing you simply cannot go past a diesel. More importantly engine capacity/torque. My old mans 4.2l 6 cyl Cruiser economy only goes up 2-3l per hour towing my boat.

4x4 monthly did a article comparing pertrol to diesel towing a 1.5t caravan. Diesel economy only went up 10-15% were the petrol was exactly double from 13l per hour to 26l.. If your towing alot do yourself a favour and get a diesel.

end of the day its only money eh..

[Crocodile]

Hello All,
I tow a 4.3m Webster Twinfisher with a 2001 Toyota Avalon, 3Lt V6 Petrol.
Boat at 750kgs by weighbridge.
Normally about 9-10lt/100Kms.
Towing from Gold Coast to Turkey Beach (800km) at speed of 90 kmh; 13lt/100Kms (tailwind) return trip 17lt/100 kms(headwind).
No wind effect 15lt/100kms on shorter trips.
Car has a computer that gives instant readings that have been confirmed to be pessimistic by about 10% by actual bowser measurements.
I would comment that ordinary cars are often overlooked as towing vehicles in favour of 4wd's.
Cars offer comfort and economy that no 4wd can match.
If the boat is not so big and the ramps are concrete there is really no need for the 4wd.

[ozscott]

...
Cars offer comfort and economy that no 4wd can match.
If the boat is not so big and the ramps are concrete there is really no need for the 4wd.

You havent been in a Disovery 4 or Range Rover then hey

But yep I have a V16C and the VT Commodore towed it pretty well - V6. Not ideal at slippery ramps with no lsd or traction control.

Cheers

[krazyfisher]

11l per 100 avg from townsville to mackay with 5mtr hooker

[age]

V8 100 Series Petrol Landcruiser 5 speed auto
18-20l/100 around town/highway
20-21l/100km towing SF565 Southwind
21-23l/100 towing SF565 Southwind to Waddy in sand.

Old truck
80 Series diesel 1HZ(non turbo) same boat, same trips, 5 speed manual
14-15l/100km town/highway
19-20l/100km towing SF565 Southwind
23-25l/100km towing SF565 Southwind to Waddy in sand.
One trip had to swap off the sub tank (45l) from barge at Rainbow before we got to Orchid (110Km) - with a bit left in the tank I reckon that was about 35l/100km, but it was stinky soft and powdery and we got stuck at Indian and Middle Rocks.

Just planning now to go into a Petrol V8 200 series - heaps on the 2nd hand market now with the value washed off them/low km etc.


Never go back to another diesel (maybe a 200 series turbo V8) or a manual again. Gotta love that V8 towing on the highway and the sand especially and for better than the old diesel could ever do.

Cheers

A

[PinHead]

Another question..who does bother working out fuel consumption on their car/ute. I have never done it with any vehicle I have owned..just filled it when required.
So I guess my question is : why do you do it?
Would you sell the tow vehicle and buy something else just because of fuel consumption when towing?

[Kondo 1]

Another question..who does bother working out fuel consumption on their car/ute. I have never done it with any vehicle I have owned..just filled it when required.
So I guess my question is : why do you do it?
Would you sell the tow vehicle and buy something else just because of fuel consumption when towing?

I used to - but I was always disapointted (100 series petrol with a supercharger) so stopped doing it and put in a bigger tank.

I get about 18-20 with the little boat and up to 26 or so towing a 7m plate boat. I get 16-18 on the highway unloaded.

In answer to your question I probably wouldn't change cars because of towing economy, there would have to be other factors that would have me in a new car, and I wont sell the landcruiser because eonomy aside it is the perfect car for me. However range does become an issue for me in that car whilst towing (not boat but camper across the simpson etc) so I have bought a new motor (4.2 1HD-FTE toyota motor and 5 speed auto) and waiting to put that in at the moment.

I just bought the boss a new prado diesel, picked it up this week - we have upgraded from the last model v6. I bought the diesel for economy and resale, its nice but the V6 is a nicer drive and kind of wish I went that way.

[No Fear]

I have a 09 Hilux SR Diesel Turbo and uses between 65 and 75l towing to 1770 which is 500km. I tow a Yalta weekender which tips the scales at a bit over two tonne. The little hilux loves it and can easily sit on 110.... Pretty good fuel consumption I reckon...