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2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing

turbopilot

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Ok the fam and I just got back from a 9 day, 630ish mile, 3 state tour with the RV. I recorded the miles, MPG, fuel type, drive mode type and elevation of each leg. so here goes:
The big variables with towing is trailer weight, trailer frontal area, average speed and wind direction/speed. Without posting average speed and wind per segment it is impossible to compare mpg trip to trip.
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Snakebitten

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OK. Fair enough. :)

I can assure you that I am a bit of a fanatic about handling/suspension and there are often more ways than one to skin a cat. But the Raas is a very clever piece of engineering, easy to install, and completely adjustable.
It's basically using a coil spring to both dampen the leaf spring, as well as effectively increasing the leaf spring rate.
 
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DOUGIE0426

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The big variables with towing is trailer weight, trailer frontal area, average speed and wind direction/speed. Without posting average speed and wind per segment it is impossible to compare mpg trip to trip.
I'm not sure if you're talking about me comparing my mpg trip to trip or someone else as I'm not that smart...
-Trailer weight did not vary more than 20lbs as the only variable was food that was constantly being consumed by a VORACIOUS 2yo.
-Trailer frontal area is the same as its the same trailer :rolleyes:
-Average speed was 55 miles per hour as enforced by my next-gen wife nagger 2.0
-Wind was non-existent per my super sophisticated :LOL: apple weather app
 

JIMFOUNTAIN

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I have pulled a utility trailer twice from Austin to Granbury (about 175 miles). To Granbury loaded to about 4500 lbs. To Austin empty so less than 1000 lbs. Cruise set at 75 MPH. Texas hill country so lots of ups and downs but no significant overall elevation change.

Mileage up each time in the high 10s/low 11s. Mileage back was in the really low 9s. Seems like unloaded should be better right? Wind! Prevailing SE wind helps on the way up and hurts on the way back. I find it very difficult to get repeatable mileage testing done as 10-15 MPH winds are common around here. Drove Austin to Rockport (Texas coast) going 75-80MPH into a 25MPH wind and barely got 18 MPG. I got 24.9 MPG over 70 miles or so coming back to Austin from the lake. So wind and speed are huge factors for MPG.

Should I expect better mileage overall? Maybe. Maybe not. In my experience with older tech (220ish HP with carbs or throttle body injection, 4 speed trans where 4th was useless in towing) on each uphill I would be at 3/4 throttle slowing to 50 MPH... dropping to the floorboard and 2nd gear on occasion. Setting cruise would result in additional wide open throttle excursions and the subsequent noise/vibes would bother the spouse.

In my Powerboost I set cruise at 75 MPH all the way dropping to maybe 6th gear with pretty good boost built up as I climb. No muss. No fuss. I am happy I have a couple hundred extra horses in my stable. And when I harness them I recognized they must be fed.

Overall MPG old tech vs Powerboost for me is similar. I just get there easier and faster with the Powerboost. One day I may drive this route without cruise to see what kind of better mileage I can get keeping to 70 MPH and pretending I only have 220ish HP using 1/2 the pedal.

Sadly, as gas prices increase this is becoming more and more likely.
 

AutonomousHybridF150

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Well this is my MPG while driving with a gross vehicle weight of 22,940 LBS. The hauler is 7.5 feet interior height, so it has greater wind drag vs a typical car hauler. This hauler also has the 8 lug axles to handle the extra capacity.

I would say 10.6 MPG is far from terrible. My speed was 55MPH max on this trip because i was so overloaded.

I must say that the PB towed this load with no issues. I attempted a panic stop 1 time with this load, and the truck and trailer slowed quicker than expected. I will post an update with the dry weight of truck and trailer.

Also, for the people that don’t know what this yellow paper is for, these are set up for 18 wheelers, so you have to look at the gross weight.

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 7BB342C7-7B5F-4B2A-9A78-09D3F46D36EE

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing F91AA961-DC3D-47A3-AC67-9AF8BD6E7B6D
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 20552323-F330-41B0-9F98-CE05CF316011
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 1251E171-11D6-436C-918C-43A46C6D01D5
Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 79C58CFC-BD94-459C-88D3-1910ED52CD9B


Has anyone towed heavier with a Powerboost? If so, please post your story.
 

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imnuts

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I don't know that I would have gotten weighed if I knew I was overweight. Last thing I'd want with me if I were pulled over would be a weigh ticket. Glad you made it though.
 

UGADawg96

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Well this is my MPG while driving with a gross vehicle weight of 22,940 LBS.

7BB342C7-7B5F-4B2A-9A78-09D3F46D36EE.jpeg

79C58CFC-BD94-459C-88D3-1910ED52CD9B.jpeg
I guess I shouldn't feel that stressed when I was 50lb over GVWR not on any GAWR when you're 15,590lb over GVWR and 9,990lb over GAWR. (Assuming standard PB ratings of 3900f/4150r/7350c) That was one hell of a stress test. Were your leaf springs upside down with that much weight ?

Ford F-150 2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing 8mx
 

RickBullotta

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I generally travel 65-80 MPH on the highway with a roughly 4500 Airstream and have noticed mileage ranging from 9.1 to 12.1 depending on grade and wind. Generally running 91 or 93 octane when towing.
 

SuperRaptor

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I guess I shouldn't feel that stressed when I was 50lb over GVWR not on any GAWR when you're 15,590lb over GVWR and 9,990lb over GAWR. (Assuming standard PB ratings of 3900f/4150r/7350c) That was one hell of a stress test. Were your leaf springs upside down with that much weight ?

8mx.gif
I'm not defending towing that heavy with an F-150 even though if he has the max trailer tow it would probably do it just fine (i mean it did it) taking it easy.

But that F-150 either has a GCWR of 17,000 or 18,400 (Max trailer tow) and therefor he's not as much out of spec. Either 4,500 or 5900 pounds over combined ratings.
At least when I've weighed on cat scales with smaller trucks the rear axle ratings aren't correct. To get to that combined weight I'm estimating the trailer at 16k (truck/passenger weight of 6,500?) and you couldn't possibly have that much tongue weight without breaking shit. At 12% tongue weight it'd be 1,920 on the hitch (which is wayy too much as well).
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