Fuel Economy w/ toad?

[adamdegraff]

Still debating whether or not to tow a car on our tour. Never in the same place for more than 2 days, so not sure it is worth it. Was thinking of towing a Honda CR-V, AWD, 5 Speed manual transmission. Assuming that I am a conservative driver and keep to the speed limit, or a little under, what do you think the difference in my fuel economy would be if I did tow a car such as the Honda? Depending on terrane I tend to get 7 to 7.2 mpg. Total mileage for the tour is about 40,000 give or take. Worth it? Or should I just rent a car when I need one.

Thanks for any advice.

~Adam

[Jerry Winchester]

Adam,

I have to think being on "tour" will require being parked in some interesting places, most of which will require backing up. About the second time you have to have a fire drill with someone jumping out of the coach to unhook the toad so you can back in the alloted space, you will wish you didn't have the toad with you.

[adamdegraff]

Adam,

I have to think being on "tour" will require being parked in some interesting places, most of which will require backing up. About the second time you have to have a fire drill with someone jumping out of the coach to unhook the toad so you can back in the alloted space, you will wish you didn't have the toad with you.

Jerry, I was thinking about this too. No single item has caused me more grief than whether or not to tow a car. Most of of doesn't want to. Part of me... the part that wants to get out for an hour here or there to explore, wants to bring a car. Maybe I should bring some bikes instead.

Thanks for your input.

Adam

[Orren Zook]

I prefer hauling a Toad along when I travel more that a couple hundred miles from home - I've had a couple of catastrophic failures 400+ miles away and having a vehicle to get around with while repairs are made was quite a convenience, but I guess you could rent a suitable vehicle if the situation arose.

[rfoster]

That is the question? The Small CRV will have a minimal effect on the mpg. The issue of needing to unhook the toad at the wrong time and wrong place is the real drawback.

Here is what put it over the top with me: Once upon a time I was deep in Indian territory, not a house or teepee within miles and I broke down. The cell phone worked and the Detroit Diesel person and I along with Jon ascertained the problem. A relacement sensor was required - fortunately I located one some 40 miles away in Flagstaff Az. They had no delivery or service trucks. They would be glad to perform the repairs if I would bring it in. That is were the gig comes in. I couldn't move the bus. Fortunately I had a tow vehicle that I hopped into and in about hour I had the replacement part in hand and was on my way to fix my own bus again and I didn't charge 100 lewbucks an hour.

I also didn't have two small children with me. If I were in your shoes I would like the peace of mind of having a toad vehicle in case I or the family needed it.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Roger that......What he said.

[Coloradobus]

We can tow 3 of our vehicles. A Rover Disco, 3/4t Chevy 4X4, or E-350 Class B Airstream van. Solo, or towing our mileage doesn't vary. The toweds just dictate how slow we go up hills.

[Petervs]

Towing a car will not affect milage measurably. And if you use the car for a few trips to the grocery store or whatever instead of the bus, you will be fuel ahead.

On our last 4 week trip we put 2800 miles on the bus and 3500 miles on the car separately. Just running around. We normally only stayed in one place for a couple nights.

The fuel should not be the issue, the convenience should be.