Average MPG for the Minnie Winnie 22M

Raxel7851 · 01-09-2019, 04:02 PM

Maybe looking to move up from our Travato 59K. We usually get between 16-18 mpg on flat interstates. What could we expect with the V-10 in the 22M? I know the Sprinter chassis is very popular, but the Ford is more convenient to get serviced if needed.

Ret.LEO · 01-09-2019, 04:50 PM

Probably average 8-10mpg

Phil G. · 01-09-2019, 06:01 PM

We average 8-10 MPG in our 24 foot Itasca on it's optional Ford E450 chassis.

We cruise at only between 57 MPH and 60 MPH to get this mileage. The E450 does have a lower differential ratio than the more common E350 chassis used on most small Ford-based Class C motorhomes. However, we counteract the E450's lower differential ratio by using larger diameter tires than stock for improved ground clearance.

AJMike · 01-09-2019, 06:14 PM

I had a V10 in 2 RVs. One, an older (perhaps 2003) 24' Thor Four Winds Class C and a 2005 20' Pleasure-Way Excel TS Class B. I believe the mileage in the C was about 11-12 mpg and the mileage in the B was 13-14.5 average. Both were generally driven about 60-65 mph.

The Ford V10 in our Pleasure-Way never gave us a single problem for the 4 1/2 year we used it, and that mileage is an average from about 42,000-44,000 miles.

mcfflyer · 01-09-2019, 06:24 PM

I bought a 2018 Minnie Winnie 22M with the E350 Ford chassis with the V10. In the trips I’ve made, I’m averaging between 9.25 to 9.50 miles per gallon, depending on the usual: load, wind, speed and use of the a/c. I’ve gotten as low as about 8mph going up a lot of grades, and as high as almost 12mph, going down those same grades, but 9.25 to 9.5 is about average. I do love the power it has.

TonyOIB · 01-09-2019, 06:51 PM

DITTO on the Mcfflyer post. My new 2018 with the E350 gets right about the same as his. I also sometimes tow a small Jeep Liberty and it gets about 1mpg less. But, it does have great power with the V10. You may have been following my posts, I'm the guy with the SEVERE rusting condition under my new 22M. So I encourage all to crawl underneath and check out your belly. I'd really love to know how many of us are out there with this situation. One more thing, be sure your dealers activated the smoke and CO2 detectors by pulling the plastic tape off the batteries. I was on several trips without those safety devices working.

mcfflyer · 01-09-2019, 06:58 PM

TonyOIB, I’m glad you agree. I am wondering how it is towing that Jeep behind your rig, something I’m contemplating for the future. How does the V10 handle that?

And I’ll check out the rusting on my rig. Right now, it’s in a storage lot under a cover, but come springtime, I’d do an underbody survey. I have to admit I neve did see any when I was poking around under it this past year. One thing I did note is that the cables to the valves on the holding tanks sure seem to be long and I have to use zip ties to keep them up from possibly snagging on something.

And no worries on the smoke and CO2 detectors. Heck, I can hardly cook anything on the stove without the smoke detector going off, usually from steam! I usually have to remove it while cooking!

AJMike · 01-10-2019, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyOIB

DITTO on the Mcfflyer post. My new 2018 with the E350 gets right about the same as his. I also sometimes tow a small Jeep Liberty and it gets about 1mpg less. But, it does have great power with the V10. You may have been following my posts, I'm the guy with the SEVERE rusting condition under my new 22M. So I encourage all to crawl underneath and check out your belly. I'd really love to know how many of us are out there with this situation. One more thing, be sure your dealers activated the smoke and CO2 detectors by pulling the plastic tape off the batteries. I was on several trips without those safety devices working.

Your post made me go out right away and check the underside of our RV. I was relieved to find that our RV, unlike yours, does not seem to have this problem. Thanks for posting about it.

Dave11 · 01-10-2019, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcfflyer

TonyOIB, I’m glad you agree. I am wondering how it is towing that Jeep behind your rig, something I’m contemplating for the future. How does the V10 handle that?

And I’ll check out the rusting on my rig. Right now, it’s in a storage lot under a cover, but come springtime, I’d do an underbody survey. I have to admit I neve did see any when I was poking around under it this past year. One thing I did note is that the cables to the valves on the holding tanks sure seem to be long and I have to use zip ties to keep them up from possibly snagging on something.

And no worries on the smoke and CO2 detectors. Heck, I can hardly cook anything on the stove without the smoke detector going off, usually from steam! I usually have to remove it while cooking!

Mcfflyer, you need have no concern about the V-10 pulling a toad. You are only limited by your chassis load rating and the hitch rating.

The V-10 is used in Class A Rv's and Ford commercial trucks with literally more than twice the GVWR of your rig. Granted the three valve version has a little more power and there are gearing differences between different applications but the fact is the V-10 is strong for a gas engine. It is basically overkill (if there is such a thing) in a 22 foot model class C.

Raxel, Re; MPG I have never gotten less than 8.1 and not more than 10.4 mpg. Most of the time we go 62 mph and use the cruise control as much as possible until the hills dictate otherwise. The E350 is geared slightly taller so highway rpm's will be a little less compared to the E450. This may allow for a slight improvement in fuel economy , perhaps as much as 10%.

Raxel7851 · 01-10-2019, 02:40 PM

Wow!! Thanks so much for the great posts. My Travato has a “sweet” spot between 65-67 MPH. Once you get over that, the mpg seems to drop. Plus since my Travato does not have dual rear wheels, I feel it’s safer going a slower speed in case of a rear tire blowout. Thanks Again for the info and opinions.

Ret.LEO · 01-10-2019, 04:51 PM

It will be interesting to see what the new V-8 7Liter engine does when Ford makes the switch. Probably the 2020 model year. Ford says it will have more horses, increased torque and better gas mileage.
Time will tell. I do hate to see the V-10 come to a end in Class C's

TonyOIB · 01-12-2019, 03:06 PM

Hi Again Mcfflyer, getting back to you with towing that Jeep. Did a lot of research before buying a nice used 2004 Liberty. So much to learn as a newbie, which toad, tow bars, base plates, breaking and lighting systems. So I feel we did the right thing here in going with the Blue Ox base plate, and the Ready Brute Elite towing and breaking system and I was able to install the entire system myself. You Tube has been my best friend. Best of all, no expensive supplemental braking device to buy. That V10 is awesome, going down the road we can't even tell the Jeep is behind us. Starting and stopping is no problem at all either. Couldn't see buying a new toad to just get pulled and pelted behind the Winnie and we really like the used one so much we actually use it most of the time even at home. Lots of luck on all YOUR decisions.

JoeC · 01-16-2019, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJMike

I had a V10 in 2 RVs. One, an older (perhaps 2003) 24' Thor Four Winds Class C and a 2005 20' Pleasure-Way Excel TS Class B. I believe the mileage in the C was about 11-12 mpg and the mileage in the B was 13-14.5 average. Both were generally driven about 60-65 mph.

The Ford V10 in our Pleasure-Way never gave us a single problem for the 4 1/2 year we used it, and that mileage is an average from about 42,000-44,000 miles.

Wishful thinking. You'll get that mileage only on a downhill run with the V10. 8-10 is a good estomate for speeds between 55 and 65 mph.

mcfflyer · 01-16-2019, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyOIB

Hi Again Mcfflyer, getting back to you with towing that Jeep. Did a lot of research before buying a nice used 2004 Liberty. So much to learn as a newbie, which toad, tow bars, base plates, breaking and lighting systems. So I feel we did the right thing here in going with the Blue Ox base plate, and the Ready Brute Elite towing and breaking system and I was able to install the entire system myself. You Tube has been my best friend. Best of all, no expensive supplemental braking device to buy. That V10 is awesome, going down the road we can't even tell the Jeep is behind us. Starting and stopping is no problem at all either. Couldn't see buying a new toad to just get pulled and pelted behind the Winnie and we really like the used one so much we actually use it most of the time even at home. Lots of luck on all YOUR decisions.

Hey Tony, I hadn’t seen you had responded to my question. Thanks for the info. When I replace my current vehicle, a 1997 Dodge Grand Caravan with 220,000 miles on it that just keeps going and going and going, I’ll replace it with a vehicle to be towed, but until my Caravan dies, that may not be soon! Again, thanks for the info!

Lee

OldForester · 04-17-2019, 06:28 PM

I live in the Tacoma/Seattle area and have had a 31' E450 for about 28,000 miles, including a trip to Alaska, a 38' Alpine Coach (Diesel pusher with a 400 Cummins) for about 70,000 mile and the 2019 22M for about 2500 miles, over the last 14 years. I have tracked every gallon of fuel and every mile on all these coaches and miles, generally always towed a vehicle in the 4500 lb. range, but had a 3200 lb and a 6200 lb vehicle behind them. The heavy vehicle was my pickup behind the Alpine Coach. All three of these machines have average 7.5 mpg over the total total time I owned them. i never drive over 63 mph with a toad.We have more hills on the freeways and the two lane roads than a lot of the country has, but I've come to advise people to expect 7.5 mpg over the long haul. The hills, the winds, the amount towed all affect it and sometimes it's 6.8 mpg and sometimes it's nearly 10 mpg on a tank, but if you go into it with the attitude I'm going to average 7.5 mpg when towing you won't be disappointed.

JoeC · 04-17-2019, 08:50 PM

Same here. 2015 Itasca Spirit 27QP (Ford E450) now with 31,000+ miles and currently at 7.75 mpg for this year, 7.88 last year all pulling a 2 dr. Jeep Wrangler. 2017 got 8.11 pulling a trailer with two 850 lb. quads around the country. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

**Eagle5** · 04-20-2019, 01:36 AM

For my 22M Minnie Winnie on an E-450 Chassis, I now have two data points:

9.2 MPG (dry roads, up to 60 MPH)
8.8 MPG (heavy rain, much of it at 70 MPH)

Both trips were lightly loaded, not towing anything.
I have noticed the engine does run more quietly on the Ford-recommended Premium fuel. On the regular which was filled in the tank by the dealership, I could hear a very slight knocking rumble, indicating the engine is retarding the timing to prevent outright knocking.

OldForester · 06-11-2019, 02:52 PM

I've had two Class C V-10's, one in a 2005 Fleetwood Tioga 31', and it average 7.6 MPG over 28,000 miles, towing a Toyota 4 Runner almost all the time. When not towing, it averaged 8.06, and when towing, it averaged 7.06 mpg. The current 2019 Spirit 22M has about 1300 miles on it, towing 2 door lifted Jeep Wrangler, and it's getting 7.4 so far. both of these were on an e-450 chassis. The Jeep and the 4 Runner both weigh about 4200 lbs, and I live in Western Washington; always going up and down hills/mountains, and often dealing with wind. I think it takes a lot of flat land driving to average 8MPG or better towing with the Ford V10. I record every mile and every gallon I put in my motorhomes (incidently, my 38' diesel pusher towing the same kind of vehicles averaged 7.94 overall over 53,000 miles).

I have come to view 7.5-8.0 mpg as an overall average for any of these types of motorhomes, when towing. I drive 60-62 mph where I can and let cruise control manage it where I can.

JoeC · 06-11-2019, 03:44 PM

I own a Scan Gauge, since I had a problem with a bad spark plug coil, and use it to monitor my Average MPG while driving. Hills and wind definitely kill the gas mileage. The downhill run does not anywhere near make up for the climb. But you can use it to optimize your mileage through better driving skills. Do not use cruise control if you want good mileage. Do not drive over 65 mph, unless going downhill. I prefer to cruise at 60-62 mph average, slower uphill, and try to minimize the down shifting. Let off the gas before to top of the hill and ease on over it. Of course, you can't do much about a 10 mile long ridge climb but the annoying rollers can be tamed.

Best wishes and happy travels.

OldForester · 06-11-2019, 04:09 PM

Joe,
I do the same thing on hills; take it off cruise control on the bigger hills and try to minimize the downshifting plus easing over the top of the hill. I also travel at the same speeds you do, but keep the downhill to 62 or so because I don't want to blow a front tire. I get great mileage with all my vehicles (and I own 7 total, with about 25,000 miles/year of driving) , but I don't buy the 10 mpg+ claims of Class C Ford V-10s or big diesel pushers when dealing with the up and down hills when towing 4000 Lbs. Just have tracked about 80,000 miles of the combo of these with every tank and every mile, for a long term average and I'm used to planning on 7.5 mpg and gotten used to it.