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Hi LC1962 I have a 8.1GM in my 04 Brave, which according to reports on the web is reckoned to do more to the gallon than the V10, I have to admit that as its a bigger engine i would be surprised if this was true.
However driving at 55-60 i never got more than 10mpg and talking to an owner of a holiday rambler which was a simular size and fitted with the V10 he said he got about 10mpg as well.
Diesel has a higher energy density so will always have the potential to do more to the gallon.
Olley
______________________________________________________________ If you have a problem you canīt fix its because your hammerīs not big enough
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Hi Olley - Thats interesting to hear..........We deal mainly in Coachmen (although do buy other makes...Winnebago & Dutchmen to date) and have recently sold two Catalinas and a Mirada (2000 - 2001 year models), all 28 footers and all did 14.5mpg driven without trailer etc at a steady 70 on the motorway...obviously this drops on small, slow roads but not drastically - apart from the old 88 Itasca we have never had a petrol RV do less than 12 mpg on us (that was a 97 31ft C Class Dutchmen)........we thoroughly test 'em all.
The buyer of the Mirada called us after using it for a while and claimed he was getting 16- 18 which we found hard to believe, but he was chuffed to bits with it.
One of the Catalina buyers bought a chip to disable the rev limiter (it apparently cuts in at 95mph??? )...he was, unsurprisingly, getting around 9mpg at that speed but hey.....who else wants to drag race an RV??
Even our 97 Itasca 30 footer did Southampton Docks to Moreton on Ģ25 in petrol (left S'ton with a full tank & re-fuelled when we got back to see how much it had used as the fuel guage had hardly moved and we thought it was faulty...it took Ģ25 to fill to the top!).
Perhaps we've just been lucky so far .
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Hi LC1962 interesting figures, what weight are these RV's and how high and wide? The brave is over 71/2 tons and 12' high and 8'6" wide the holiday rambler was simular, so weight and wind resistance could be a factor in this.
Towing our micra on a trailer mpg drops to under 8 I normally sit behind the HGV's (not to close ) and set the cruise for about 58mph, unlike my transit, the speedo is very accurate according to the gps.
As for speed, the engine is governed to 4800 rpm, at 58mph it's doing about 2000rpm in 5th, so who knows what it will do
The speedo records max speed and rpm into its memory, and tells me its never gone faster than 79mph
olley
______________________________________________________________ If you have a problem you canīt fix its because your hammerīs not big enough
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Hi Olley - I'm not so sure that wind resistance would be much of an issue, they all have the aerodynamics of a breezeblock whether A or C class and however wide...weight is most probably the main factor.
From memory I think the Catalinas weighed in at around 5600kg with a full tank of fuel, the Mirada was a touch more as it had a nifty stabilising kit fitted on the suspension and a few other gizmos. (7'8" and 8" wide respectively)
The Suncruiser (97 Chevy...8'2" wide...I think) is heavier (can't find the Log Book, JC must have it at work) although nowhere near 7500kg, probably nearer 6500.....................................just checked my advert...6577kg to be exact, so I think thats where the discrepancy lies .
We don't usually tend to deal in anything over 31ft (the roads around here aren't up to it) although we are thinking of shipping in a couple of bigger ones this year to test the water...will be interesting to see how they compare.
Had to chuckle at your reference to towing your micra...you've probably seen them over in the states with their 40 - 45 footers towing their Chevy Suburbans...its a whole different world!
Linda
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Hi LC1962 my brave is only a 30W it actually measures 30'10" but its built on a W22 chassis, with all the extras that people want nowadays the weight just keeps going up.
I believe the shipping weight was over 7 tons, some dealers downrate them to 71/2 tons for the licence but that gives you very little payload.
We can't put the micra on an "A" frame as its an auto, but we did consider an "A" frame for the Galaxy.
olley
______________________________________________________________ If you have a problem you canīt fix its because your hammerīs not big enough
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We don't usually tend to deal in anything over 31ft (the roads around here aren't up to it) although we are thinking of shipping in a couple of bigger ones this year to test the water...will be interesting to see how they compare.
It would be more acurate to say that SOME roads are not up to it, in my experience if a 30 footer can manage so can a 36 footer like mine, I don't find length an issue , it's the width which causes me to take sharp intakes of breath...
We toured in the Mosel and Rhine last year and went everywhere we wanted to without a problem.
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We don't usually tend to deal in anything over 31ft (the roads around here aren't up to it) although we are thinking of shipping in a couple of bigger ones this year to test the water...will be interesting to see how they compare.
It would be more acurate to say that SOME roads are not up to it, in my experience if a 30 footer can manage so can a 36 footer like mine, I don't find length an issue , it's the width which causes me to take sharp intakes of breath...
We toured in the Mosel and Rhine last year and went everywhere we wanted to without a problem.
Pardon my inaccuracy Jim..."Some" indeed, however I certainly wouldn't fancy trying to exit our driveway in a 36 footer like yours as the front end would be in the ditch on the opposite side of the road before the back end had cleared the gateposts We estimate 32ft would be the max we'd risk (At least a 28 footer with a 20ft trailer on the back bends somewhere in the middle to allow a little flexibility). That extra 2 ft buys you the added luxury of a barrel chair at the front and a little extra floor space.
Incidentally, we totally blocked the centre of Dinan a few years ago with a 24 footer...a woman in a Peugeot 106 coming towards us would not back up to let us through so we sat there for ages until she relented...about 15 cars tailed up behind us and a lot of locals were falling about laughing!
Sorry Keith for hi-jacking your thread...it was not intentional!
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Hijack away Linda, I love it when a topic gets thoroughly discussed, even if it wanders about a bit, I'm sure future readers of this thread will get a lot more info than I alone could ever have provided.
Thats what I call value for money
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)...he was, unsurprisingly, getting around 9mpg at that speed but hey.....who else wants to drag race an RV??
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I normally sit behind the HGV's (not to close 
) and set the cruise for about 58mph, unlike my transit, the speedo is very accurate according to the gps.
