Great summary. Is your car trailer open or closed? When you mentioned impact of wind on mileage I was wondering what type of trailer you have.

 

Just a general tid bit... I took my 14ft + 3ft V 'fish house' on a voyage from MN to Banff/Jasper National Park in Canada and the trailer sits 10ft tall.

MPG thru the Dakotas was 10.
Everywhere else was 12-13.

Trailer height plays a SUBSTANTIAL role in the MPG numbers you get.

 

29 - 31???? Was someone pushing you? I drive highway every day to work and I average 18 - 20.

 

The OP never said what engine he is reviewing. If it’s a diesel, 14 mpg towing a 4,500 lb. trailer is not very good. The diesel should do better than that.

 

32k in 6 months is a hell of a lot of miles! haha


mid-high teens with the car trailer seems reasonable. i get about that towing the boat and it weighs a bit more than your car trailer.
as mentioned the height of the trailer plays a huge role, the aero drag is significant with something a lot taller than the truck


and as youre bound to blow through the warranty pretty quickly at this rate, at least a few of your concerns could be addressed with some aftermarket parts

 

So to answer questions

Yes it’s a diesel - thought I was in the diesel forum
Open car trailer
If you have a diesel and it’s getting 18-20 mpg something is wrong or you have monster truck tires on it

The winds out west wreaked havoc on our towing mileage (travel trailer is 10 ft), also big difference between 60 mph and 75 mph

Peace,
Don

 

I am curious about your trailer Chevy C10 towing. I had asked a question either on this forum or the Camaro6 forum about towing my 3700 lb. Camaro and was told "no way". Thoughts?

Bill

 

It’s no problem with the diesel. Weighs less than my travel trailer. I’d attach a picture if I could figure how to do it on my iPad

Peace,
Don

 

@champ203 Don, I can fix at least one annoyance for you- the homelink. Here is a 4 channel programmable remote for $24, it fits in the tiny useless cubby between the seat heaters. No reason to have homelink ever again, its obsolete.

[ame]https://www.amazon.com/XIHADA-Universal-Programmable-4-Buttons-280MHZ-868MHZ/dp/B07CYP2W3F/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=programmable+garage+door+opener+remote&qid=1552071015&s=hi&sr=1-8[/ame]

 

@champ203 Don, I can fix at least one annoyance for you- the homelink. Here is a 4 channel programmable remote for $24, it fits in the tiny useless cubby between the seat heaters. No reason to have homelink ever again, its obsolete.

Homelink can't be stolen from your car if it's parked outside for some reason.

 

Suggestions -
Homelink garage door opener - really GM? Top of the line and no opener?
Blind spot monitoring - safety item for me
Automatic tailgate lock
Airride suspension option
Automatic headlight dimming and rain sensing windshield wipers

I just bought a Chevy LT, but found my dream configuration in a GMC SLT. I ended up going for the LT because the only things I really wanted badly in the SLT was leather/lumbar seats and the color red. That wasn't worth the $6,000 difference in price I would have to pay (which included differences in dealer pricing, rebates and options). Things like automated climate control don't really do it for me, in part because I really hated it on a 2012 Rav4 (but it's nice on a 2019 Subaru).

I'm not saying the things you mention would have made me jump to the higher priced truck, but I do miss Homelink from my old car, and my wife's car has blind spot monitoring which I miss. And while I don't like the features for the lazy like automated climate control, rain sensing wipers would be very nice!

One thing you didn't mention is adaptive cruise control. Since it already has collision sensing, how hard would it be to make that an option?

Seems like GM isn't doing that good of a job of upselling.

 

CHAM203'
Thanks for the excellent review. Your usage mirrors my plans for the diesel twin I'm planning to purchase in the Spring. This is the kind of post that's a big help to those of us perspective and new owners.

Thanks again Don,
Howard

 

@Goodspike If you are worried about a $20 opener being stolen I would think you have bigger issues than the door opener... although I live in a low-crime area. Is this seriously something that happens in cities?

 

It's not the cost of the opener. Thieves steal the remote to break into the garage, and if you don't have a lock on the man-door, the house. They will even do that at night when people are sleeping.

 

I average 22-24MPG with my normal driving/commute, towing the horse trailer nets around 14MPG and towing our travel trailer averages around 12MPG.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

@Goodspike I never thought of that, it is sad that innocent people have to be that vigilant. We dont even lock our houses or cars ever

 

What is the range on the 2.8 on the highway at say 70 and 75 MPH? (mostly flat)

Is it good for 500+ miles per tank?

 

Easily. Flat open highway, cruise set is where the diesel really does it's thing. Cruising at 70 mph the diesel beats it's 30 (28 for 4x4) MPG highway rating easily. I see 34+ all the time and my truck is a 4x4 with no air dam.

If you wait after the 1st click, let the diesel foam die down and fill it all the way (another 2.5 gallons is typical from the 1st click when filling) high 500s to a bit over 600 mile range on pure highway is cake. Going faster exponentially burns more fuel of course. 80 mph drops it down into the 27 MPG range. Even going 80 mph most of the time, a 500 mile range is no problem.

The diesel will go hundreds of miles on the open road without ever shifting down from 6th. Headwinds, decent grades don't bother it. Depends on where one is of course, but 70 mph and 1,800 RPM in 6th is a sweet spot for moving along and getting stupid fuel economy, as 1,800 is not "revving it" but it is enough engine speed to keep it from lugging on hills or with headwinds - it just pulls. I find myself driving a lot at 1,800 RPM or thereabouts.

The diesel is a great power train for the open road.