MPG When Towing

All fuel economy figures depend, of course, on the speed of progress. Some will hustle along more than others with a commensurate drop in economy

The best i can hope for is the low twenties but thats a 2.9 ltr twin turbo 6 cyl petrol 4x4 towing a 1750kg t/a van.

v9

Unless all the figures being claimed are measured brim to brim or similar, and using the same fuel, driver, route, weather etc they are otherwise fairly meaningless. Computer read out fugures are also not accurate. There are simply too many variables, tyre rolling resistance, fuel quality, engjne and transmission oil viscosity, weather conditions, use of ancillaries etc etc etc. I get an average of 44mpg solo with my passat alltrack dsg which includes some town commuting. Towing a 1600kg t/a van so far on our Austrian trip has given brim to brim figures of between 28 and 25mpg.     

I have checked the cars consunption against the computer. Until I changed the front tyres it was reading a couple of mpg high. Having got new tyres which increased the diameter I checked again and they are now as accurate as brimming. Even the computers figures depend on tyres.

 ..... Computer read out fugures are also not accurate.  .....     

They might not be especially accurate, but they give a good comparison of various journies, and as long as it's always inaccurate by the same amount, you're laughing.  I did a few tanks of brim to brim mpg vs the trip on my R Class when I first got it, and they were similar enough for me to use the trip as a general guide. My Smarts don't have a trip, but know that a tank will do around 300 miles which is high 40s mpg

I always work my mileage out from when I fill up the car (right to the top).  I use a phone app to record mileage - Fill Up (Fuel Log).  There are a number of apps that do the same sort of thing.

David 

With my 180bhp Mondeo I get an average of about 48mpg solo on all types of roads and between 27 and 31 towing 1300kg, depending very much on road type and weather conditions, particularly the wind direction. The mpg is as indicated by the car's computer which, as we all know, always show on the high side. This, I guess, is because the speedo will always show a faster speed than is actual and all this type of information is interlinked so mpg's and average speeds etc will always be out by the same percentage as the speed.

I'm willing to bet that VWs get loads and loads and loads of miles to the gallon according to the trip computer. 

I never check the mpg while towing with our 180 bhp Kuga but now at 18k miles it's averaging just a shade over 37mpg according to the computer - I can live with that. 

After 20K miles my Kuga has averaged out at a whisker over 40mpg on mixed solo/towing.

2013 Freelander 2 190bhp, about 37mpg solo and 27mpg towing 1350kg single axle.