As the title says. Towing a trailer that weighs at most 2000lbs, including the Ranger sitting on it, and only getting 9.1 MPG. Is this normal? This is what I got out of my totally underpowered 04 Tundra.
If you are going to respond with the "It's is a truck" comment, you can save it. I am well aware of that but what the hell would my gas milage have been at 10,000lbs. Do you think I have got a problem or is this normal.
By the way, most of this towing was in the MS Delta and for those of you that don't know it is absolutely flat and my speed averaged from 70-80 mph.
Was that a Ford Ranger on a flat bed trailer? Unless it was just parts, it weighed more than 2K. A Ford ranger weighs more like 3,200 lbs.....then add in the trailer and you were probably over 4,000 lbs.
Add to that the 70-80 MPH...and 9.2 is probably not all that unreasonable. At 55-60 you probably would have been at 11 or 12 MPG...Speed, especially when towing, will destroy your gas mileage.
I just towed our 6000lb Travel trailer-up hill, from 3500' above sea level to 6500' and that was passing on some of the grades at 70 and I got 9 miles to the gallon! I'm happy!
How much frontal area does this trailer have? I think drag plays as much a part as anything. For example, those Trail Manor and Hi-Lo trailers (The kind that the entire top half lowers over the bottom half) weigh as much as a conventional trailer but since they have less frontal area, you use up to 25% less gas towing one.
I think he is talking about a Polaris Ranger UTV. When I tow my pontoon boat, which weighs 3200# including the trailer, I average between 11 & 12 mpg. That's using the Tow/Haul mode, and no cruise control. Using the CC will lessen your MPG because the engine will downshift more. Towing my 5500# travel trailer I averaged 10.2 on a 3600 trip from Arizona to Arkansas via Oklahoma,down to Texas and then return to Arizona via I-10. That was lots of hills, curves...and bumpy roads through OK.
__________________ '07 Tundra SR5, 2WD DC, 5.7L, Salsa Red Pearl with Running Boards, Delta Toolbox.
I tow a 6 x 10 enclosed trailer(8ft tall) weighing aprox 3500# most of the time - for my business. I get about 13mpg. That is a mix of city and highway.
Was that a Ford Ranger on a flat bed trailer? Unless it was just parts, it weighed more than 2K. A Ford ranger weighs more like 3,200 lbs.....then add in the trailer and you were probably over 4,000 lbs.
Add to that the 70-80 MPH...and 9.2 is probably not all that unreasonable. At 55-60 you probably would have been at 11 or 12 MPG...Speed, especially when towing, will destroy your gas mileage.
Polaris Ranger, I estimate that with the trailer it is 2000lbs, the trailer is extremely light. Let's say I am wrong, and the weight equals 4000lbs, I still thought the mpg would be better. If I was to tow 10,000lbs, which the truck is rated for, I would get less than 5mpg.
I make this trip about 30-40 times a year and with my 04 tundra and average around 10-11mpg. I understand it is a bigger engine in the 07 but without the trailer my mpg is better than it was with the 04 but with the trailer it is dismal.
Another thing, the gas tank is WAY WAY WAY TOO SMALL.
I just towed our 6000lb Travel trailer-up hill, from 3500' above sea level to 6500' and that was passing on some of the grades at 70 and I got 9 miles to the gallon! I'm happy!
How much frontal area does this trailer have? I think drag plays as much a part as anything. For example, those Trail Manor and Hi-Lo trailers (The kind that the entire top half lowers over the bottom half) weigh as much as a conventional trailer but since they have less frontal area, you use up to 25% less gas towing one.
The Polaris Ranger has a cab enclosure on it so there is definently some drag taking place. I just expected to at least get as good of mpg with my 07 as I did with my 04. With my 04, I felt that the engine was constantly overworked. I chose this truck over some of the competitors because of the engine and the 6 speed transmission, I am just dissappointed. I could care less if it will smoke this or that truck off of the line, I want it to pull well and I think that it should get much better than a little over 9mpg pulling that little weight.
If I was to pull my travel trailer that is 7500lbs then I would need to stop at every other exit to fill up with gas. Not trying to rant, just very very dissappointed. To be honest people keep saying that they cannot tell that the trailer is back there, I can certainly tell, the truck was actually sluggish. My 1995 Chevy Tahoe pulled a trailer much better than this $45,000 ride.
I've got a 29ft 7,400 pound dry weight travel trailer and got about the same mpg as you did.
but i stayed down in the 60-65 mph range. i noticed a big drop off on the mpg at around 70. going up a lot off hills it dropped off to 8.5 but i weigh the fact that my 04 diesel f250 only got 11 towing the same trailer over the same distance and same camp ground. and with the diesel prices being 30 cents a gallon more than gas here. i figure i made out great!
just my 2 cents worth.
Laugh, thanks but I did that a couple of times on the way there and back because I just could not believe the mpg were worse than my 04.
Thats weird becuase, I hauled over 200 42x42 pallets to Orange, Texas(about 2 hours from Houston) and I averaged 11.3mpg. Each pallet weighs about 40lbs and thats not including the trailor. I was well over 12k lbs and it handled it with ease.
i dont get it either... my boat weighs about 4-4500 lbs and i have a 16 ft trailer i tow 3 quads on(3500 lbs without the quads) ... when i tow the boat my mpg is about 12.2 when i tow the quads my mpg is 9.4 go figure ....
That's really low imo, I tow a similar load Yam. Rhino, on a 16 ft trailer all the time in MS also. I sell real-estate, land only, so i'm constantly on the interstate running 75-80 with my 6.0 Sierra and i usually get 13-14mpg. Something has to be wrong to be getting that low of milage, What gear are you in while towing. On heavier loads 5-6k i've noticed that a lower gear will actually help mpg, the engine operates more efficently.
Sell it and stop complaining. Oh buy the way I hauled my 27' travel trailer about 6000 lbs and never had to get into the gas like I had to on my ex Ford I got about 9 mpg ford use to do it at 10 mpg but empty Toyo gets around 19. The trip included a lot of hills at around 70-75 mpn.
9.2 MPG towing 2000lbs?
'07 Tundra SR5, 2WD DC, 5.7L, Salsa Red Pearl with Running Boards, Delta Toolbox.
. Oh buy the way I hauled my 27' travel trailer about 6000 lbs and never had to get into the gas like I had to on my ex Ford I got about 9 mpg ford use to do it at 10 mpg but empty Toyo gets around 19. The trip included a lot of hills at around 70-75 mpn. 
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