While I agree that the mileage is affected, I wanted to say that using a different route may have messed up your numbers. For example, in my A4, when I drive South to San Diego from Orange County, I am at around 33.5 MPG. Coming back North, my mileage actually drops about 1.5 MPG. This has happened consistently for several years. Going East vs. West can also affect your mileage due to wind and elevation changes. Thanks for the great work!
Hey guys, do you know if there was any major elevation changes from the trip there compared to the trip back? e.g if you are travelling uphill the entire way there, the way back will be more efficient too. That is probably getting too specific but the results already speak for themselves
Hey Wayne, in their case they would have had a much longer uphill run coming back than going. Lowering the tent makes a difference but exactly how much is impossible to say without identical tracks and test conditions. Still, 2.4 miles per gallon on a longer uphill run is significant.
You have to make the full trip, both ways with the tent in each position else you will reach the wrong conclusion. Travelling east to west almost is always a different change in elevation then west to east. Sorry guys, I love your videos, but you need to redo this test.
I agree. Set it low and go to Utah. Set it high back to Colorado. Then crunch the #s. Also were they leadfooting it at certain times vs casual drive. Many many variables.
@@awesomexistence It doesn't matter, whether or not the work is performed rapidly or over time, it requires the same amount of energy to do the same amount of work. So moving an object of the same mass from one elevation to another requires the same amount of energy if it is done over 10 seconds or 6 hours. So the elevation changes depending on the direction they go, do matter for MPGs.
I sure would like to see fuel numbers for an F-150 with it's 3.5 engine and transmission over that same trip,.. I'd almost bet that the Chev / 5.3 is the fuel economy leader. Thanks for this Gentlemen!
I enjoy experiment contents like this. I live in Salt lake City area and have taken countless trip (50+) to StG in last 8 years. I have always found that driving from SLC to STG I get 5-10% better MPG than driving from StG to SLC. It's combination of SLC being higher elevation and typical wind direction faced as headwind seems to be more common when coming back from StG. I am confident that if two trip loops were taken under similar condition, where one loop was done with Roofnest up above the roof line and second loop with below the roof line, the % of MPG will be even higher on the below the roof line setup what was found here.
To do this truly scientifically you should compare same direction, same day, same driving style, but I’m sure you know that and I know that’s more time consuming to make, whereas this you could make as part of your trip to an event. And I appreciate it. Vids like these are really helpful. Makes you think about some things you might not otherwise. Bet that side by side day was fun- looking forward to vid.
I've made two round trips from Buffalo New York to Vero Beach Florida. To use my cruise control every chance I get. I don't know why but I've always gotten close to 2 mi per gallon better going to Florida than coming back to New York both times.
I have an old Crown Victoria police car and used to make a similar trip a few times a year to visit relatives. It takes nearly 5 tankfuls of gas each way or about 9 total round trip. I have found that the portion of the trip between Fl and N.C. I get better than usual gas mileage, with slightly better results South to North. Myself? I attribute it to 2 things: a difference in the gasoline formulations (I use the same brand nearly the whole trip) and the fact that Georgia and the Carolinas are flatter than Virginia and Pennsylvania.
The prevailing wind blows west to east, so going there with the box above the roof line you were also heading into the wind which could cause some of the difference too,
I average 19-21 70%, highway In my Trailboss. But most important the highway speed limit is 90kmh or 55mph. We do have some highways that are 70mph and the mileage drops to 17-18.
Great vid of what we suspected. Nice to see verification. Lower does make it hard to get to the front of the bed, more so on longer beds and older, human, bodies. Always trade offs
On my f150s it was a difference of 12mpg (2016 w/5.0 above cab) to 17mpg (2020 w/3.5 ecoboost below cab) you do have to sacrifice a lot of bed space but on the bright side nobody has asked me to help them move
4:25 - Utah resident here, I know it's silly, but Hurricane, UT is pronounced more like Hurri-cun, almost like there's no vowel between the 'C' and 'N'.
@@DJR5280 I've driven past the Hurricane exit on I-15 a hundred times but never been. There's not much there but the desert landscape is really nice. it's really close to St. George where you'll find a bigger town with retired folk, students, and some druggies. If you're interested in the area I know a UA-cam channel that's based there: Matt's Off Road Recovery.
Watching this now as just got my 2022 model. But, would adding the air deflector in front help with mileage when RTT is above roof height on the truck bed? I was thinking of keeping it below the roof height for the reason to avoid blocking the RVMirror camera and of course for better mileage.
This instance is really pretty obvious, but sometimes what you think will be better actually isn't. I would like to see the same test on a truck with the tailgate up and one down. I remember seeing a truck run at Bonneville that had a tonneau cover that only covered the back half of the bed because their testing showed it was more aerodynamic. You wouldn't have thought so, but I am sure they wouldn't have been trying to set a record and just making it up.
Pro tip, clear your cruise control setting prior to filming the trip computer. Set at 85mph, which I know is only 5mph over the 80mph Utah speed limit (or is it 75mph outside of Hurricane, I forget where it switches to 80]. Enjoyed the video and the Lambo joke. Missed the opportunity to say: “We drove a vehicle with lambo hurricane visibility in Hurricane.”
You 2 make a good team. Lot of editing time in the office these days to put this so far behind that actual trip. Same direction/miles with the tent in 2 different positions and 1 trip in the same direction with no tent at all would have been a more comparable test. But for the purpose of giving you something to do on the trip, it proves to help MPG.(no surprise)
And if you want to save even more, leave it in the garage when you aren't camping. That goes for ski and kayak racks too. Some people leave them on all year long as some sort of badge of honor or something, "Yeah, I ski" and wait gas leaving the rack on all the time.
I'd like to see an MPG test were you do three different types. One type would be driving a pickup with the tailgate down. The second trip would be the same pick up with the tailgate up. And the third trip would be with one of those bed covers. Same trip same truck all type all three times with the cruise control on
That was a great video. I am super down to see more videos on these edge case type of situations that most people would gloss over. Another good thing to test are the effects of tires. I have definitely seen people put their AT tires in the bed on their way to a trail in order to save fuel economy and wear. Keep it coming!
Have you considered doing an MPG comparison between a truck equipped with a rooftop tent that sits above the cab versus no rooftop tent while towing a small camping trailer like the Colorado Teardrops Summit model?
Did you take into account the elevation of both the starting and ending locations? Also, on your way out you were comparing the fuel economy from the vehicle's computer and your own calculation. You said the difference is about half a gallon and that's not correct. The difference is half a mile per gallon.
Did you account for elevation? Was the destination higher or lower in elevation from the start position and did you account for prevailing winds? You may have had a tailwind all the way home. Should have been 2 runs in the same direction really because anything could happen over such a distance.
Thats quit a bit of savings actually at those low numbers. I've been waiting for someone to do a vid like this. If I ever put a tent on my truck a rack system like this is probably a must. It'll pay for itself in the savings over time. Where I live right now thtas $177.53 cdn vs $146.78 cdn. I live in Canada and gas is around $1.1/litre right now. Thats a savings $30.75 cdn for a trip like that. Thats add up quick pver 4 or 5 years.
Rooftop tents are definitely cool... but I don't see the benefits over just throwing a traditional tent into the back of a truck/suv. Time wise most decent tents can be put up in maybe a couple minutes. Sure, your tent is raised off the ground, but for multiple day campsites you are forced to completely break down camp it you want to drive anywhere.
MPG tests should always be A-B-A to even out elevation and wind et.c. But with that distance it might even out anyway or make the elevation difference neglectable.
Think you need to do it on your 100 mile loop. Cuz the way u did it, it could have been more uphill one way and downhill the other which would skew the numbers. Granted I expect an increase, but this probably isn't 100% accurate
It would be interesting to see how some incremental height adjustments affected fuel mileage. I would expect that letting the tent protrude a couple of inches above would not hurt mileage and return some rear visibility.
At time 3:52 your tach shows 3K RPM on what seems to be level road. Why is it running so high? not good for MPG. Are you manually shifting and holding a lower gear?
Why was it 648 miles one way and 621 miles back, seems like they took a different route? I would think that maybe they should do the 99 mile long f mileage loop TFL use to run.
Case, I have a few questions. What speed were you driving at on the interstate? Is St. George, UT a nice place to visit? Is the roof top tent easily removable from the truck? Have you ever used the roof top tent? Do you like the setup? Thanks.
Around 4:20 it looks like the cruise was set at 85. Not sure how Chevy sets up their gauges, but that’s what it looked like. It probably could have been 1-2 mpg better both ways by just slowing it down a bit
My '07 Dodge with the 4.7 got about 17 hwy, too... HOWEVER, this new truck can do the same mpg with nearly double the HP and far more tech and a much better comfort level. Still pretty impressive, imo.
Maybe I missed it somewhere in the video, but what speed where you doing on the interstate? I've driven a 5.3L Chevy Tahoe on the highway and easily logged 25mpg... at 70mph.
@@greathornedowl3644 did you hear what you just said? You're comparing a 6 cyl diesel engine built specifically for fuel economy to a 5.3L pushrod V8 in an off road truck with a 2 inch lift and offroad tires. No shit it's going to be worse.
Oh gosh that’s a lot of fuel for not many Miles! I won’t complain about the small Turbo Diesels we get in Australia ever again 😜 35 Mpg for 150kw 500nw - not an awesome V8 but better touring!
Prevailing west to east winds and aerodynamics will be of consequence. A 1/4 mile elevation difference in home vs destination is of minute consequence over 650miles.
There are so many comments about the efficacy of this test and while I've often given TFL grief for some of their conclusions this is simply a fun sort of "what if" piece done for entertainment on a drive they were going to make anyway. Is it scientific? Not in the slightest. In order to know exactly how much the tent position effects fuel economy you'd have to run in both directions exactly the same mileage with the tent both up and down in nearly identical weather and traffic conditions. Or, more simply, just ride over to a stretch of eastern Colorado and run a fifty mile flat loop both ways with the tent up and down. Much more likely to get similar weather that way with way less traffic in the mix. In any case the video here is not misleading it just may not be showing precise numbers. Considering that there is more elevation gain returning from St. George than leaving from Boulder I'd say the real difference is probably larger than shown because the elevation gain would have otherwise reduced fuel economy on the return trip if no tent were present. Of course, I'm sure there will be another event in St. George and they could simply remove the tent altogether to see what difference it makes.
Rooftop tents have got to be the silliest trend going with all things automotive. The amount of reasons you should not get one vs why you should get one are about 10-1. Have you tried getting out of one at 2am because you have to take a piss? And That’s not even in the top reasons i dont like them.
This test was meaningless. What you need to do is take it to the Nürburgring and drive it 1000km (621.371miles) in both directions twice for the most accurate fuel economy numbers. And no eating or drinking is allowed or you have to start over.
I saw a couple of anomalies in addition to some of the previous comments on elevation change and wind direction. At the beginning, it was noted the first reading on the computer calculated mpg was 17.9 (where did that come from), and later on a screen shot while you were cruising at highway speed the tach showed 3,000 rpm (how fast were you going then). While I don't disagree that the more aerodynamic drive will yield better fuel economy, I do feel your testing procedures could have used quite a few more tweaks (to confirm equal comparison).
While I agree that the mileage is affected, I wanted to say that using a different route may have messed up your numbers. For example, in my A4, when I drive South to San Diego from Orange County, I am at around 33.5 MPG. Coming back North, my mileage actually drops about 1.5 MPG. This has happened consistently for several years. Going East vs. West can also affect your mileage due to wind and elevation changes. Thanks for the great work!
“We’ve basically turned this thing into a Lamborghini” 😂😂😂 Nice!
Loved that comment! :D
Maybe if You put the front of the roofnest a notch lower than the back, You'll get extra downforce, like having a spoiler, lol.
🧠
that would make the fuel economy worse.
Downforce= handling
Downforce=/= extra mpg
Hey guys, do you know if there was any major elevation changes from the trip there compared to the trip back?
e.g if you are travelling uphill the entire way there, the way back will be more efficient too.
That is probably getting too specific but the results already speak for themselves
There’s more overall elevation loss driving the first segment
Boulder CO is at an elevation of 5400 ft. Hurricane UT, 3200 ft.
There is. Plus the Rockies they have to climb over.
The destination in UT is lower than in CO, so in reality the difference is probably much larger if you were to go on a completely flat plane.
I'm gonna miss this Trail Boss. Such a cool and manly truck even in that cute red paint
Young kids and their new math ! What they dont realize is it could be all uphill one way and all downhill the other !!!
true. but there will be a difference regardless. probably not 2.4 gallons though. maybe like 1.
Hey Wayne, in their case they would have had a much longer uphill run coming back than going. Lowering the tent makes a difference but exactly how much is impossible to say without identical tracks and test conditions. Still, 2.4 miles per gallon on a longer uphill run is significant.
The significant figures were killing me too. It was a cool assessment though.
1300 miles of driving in a 10 minute video... impressive!
There is a lot of Time lapse video
@@kennethmetzger4944 thanks Kenneth. Just a little brevity and not looking to get technical. 😉
@@RealMrNails so the next Z71 should be called the SR71 I recon!
@@77Infidel Recon! I was a Scout for 10 years in the army.
@@RealMrNails yes, English befuddles me, I reckon. Thanks for the correction and as well for your service!
For everyone else in the world, 17.7 US MPG = 13.3L/100kM. Not too bad for a big bluff-fronted truck. Roughly equivalent to a petrol 'cruiser.
Yep...you can't make a dart out of a brick.
Morning Alex and Case!!... Love the Trailboss Truck!!! Great video guys!!
You have to make the full trip, both ways with the tent in each position else you will reach the wrong conclusion. Travelling east to west almost is always a different change in elevation then west to east. Sorry guys, I love your videos, but you need to redo this test.
Boulder is at 5328 ft. Hurricane is at 3248 ft
I agree. Set it low and go to Utah. Set it high back to Colorado. Then crunch the #s.
Also were they leadfooting it at certain times vs casual drive. Many many variables.
Prevailing winds giving aerodynamic resistance. 1/4 mile of elevation difference is of minute consequence over 650miles.
Agreed. There are also prevailing winds that will have a large effect. Sorry to nag
@@awesomexistence It doesn't matter, whether or not the work is performed rapidly or over time, it requires the same amount of energy to do the same amount of work. So moving an object of the same mass from one elevation to another requires the same amount of energy if it is done over 10 seconds or 6 hours. So the elevation changes depending on the direction they go, do matter for MPGs.
I sure would like to see fuel numbers for an F-150 with it's 3.5 engine and transmission over that same trip,.. I'd almost bet that the Chev / 5.3 is the fuel economy leader.
Thanks for this Gentlemen!
2018 F150 3.5 eco with FX4 36 gal. Tank 24 mpg on hwy 65-68 mph bed cover hwy. tires 600+ miles range
I enjoy experiment contents like this. I live in Salt lake City area and have taken countless trip (50+) to StG in last 8 years. I have always found that driving from SLC to STG I get 5-10% better MPG than driving from StG to SLC. It's combination of SLC being higher elevation and typical wind direction faced as headwind seems to be more common when coming back from StG. I am confident that if two trip loops were taken under similar condition, where one loop was done with Roofnest up above the roof line and second loop with below the roof line, the % of MPG will be even higher on the below the roof line setup what was found here.
To do this truly scientifically you should compare same direction, same day, same driving style, but I’m sure you know that and I know that’s more time consuming to make, whereas this you could make as part of your trip to an event. And I appreciate it. Vids like these are really helpful. Makes you think about some things you might not otherwise. Bet that side by side day was fun- looking forward to vid.
I've made two round trips from Buffalo New York to Vero Beach Florida. To use my cruise control every chance I get. I don't know why but I've always gotten close to 2 mi per gallon better going to Florida than coming back to New York both times.
I have an old Crown Victoria police car and used to make a similar trip a few times a year to visit relatives. It takes nearly 5 tankfuls of gas each way or about 9 total round trip. I have found that the portion of the trip between Fl and N.C. I get better than usual gas mileage, with slightly better results South to North. Myself? I attribute it to 2 things: a difference in the gasoline formulations (I use the same brand nearly the whole trip) and the fact that Georgia and the Carolinas are flatter than Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Curious what your start and end altitudes were. Driving that distance with a net altitude gain can definitely affect your mileage.
nice to see the newer guys do a quick truck vid
The prevailing wind blows west to east, so going there with the box above the roof line you were also heading into the wind which could cause some of the difference too,
I average 19-21 70%, highway In my Trailboss. But most important the highway speed limit is 90kmh or 55mph. We do have some highways that are 70mph and the mileage drops to 17-18.
I believe the truck computer computes engine idle time also.
Yes but so does measuring the actual fuel pumped into the tank...
Great vid of what we suspected. Nice to see verification. Lower does make it hard to get to the front of the bed, more so on longer beds and older, human, bodies. Always trade offs
On my f150s it was a difference of 12mpg (2016 w/5.0 above cab) to 17mpg (2020 w/3.5 ecoboost below cab) you do have to sacrifice a lot of bed space but on the bright side nobody has asked me to help them move
People say the tundra gets bad gas mileage yet I get similar mileage to this Silverado in the test. With 35’s and 3/1 leveling kit. Sweet test though!
4:25 - Utah resident here, I know it's silly, but Hurricane, UT is pronounced more like Hurri-cun, almost like there's no vowel between the 'C' and 'N'.
How is it in Hurricane? The people friendly?
@@DJR5280 I've driven past the Hurricane exit on I-15 a hundred times but never been. There's not much there but the desert landscape is really nice. it's really close to St. George where you'll find a bigger town with retired folk, students, and some druggies.
If you're interested in the area I know a UA-cam channel that's based there: Matt's Off Road Recovery.
Dude, if you need that attachment for your job or camping pleasure, GO FOR IT!!! Don’t worry about MPG. 🤗😎🤓🧑🚒🧑🚀🧑✈️🤵👷👮👨👨👧👦🎉🇺🇸
Watching this now as just got my 2022 model. But, would adding the air deflector in front help with mileage when RTT is above roof height on the truck bed?
I was thinking of keeping it below the roof height for the reason to avoid blocking the RVMirror camera and of course for better mileage.
Good video of basically a 1300 mile round trip and proved daily facts most of us wonder about
Exactly why on our F150 were having a custom rack to put the iKamper tent basically right at the roofline. Great video 👍
Do you think there is a difference if there is a sloped air dam at the front
This instance is really pretty obvious, but sometimes what you think will be better actually isn't. I would like to see the same test on a truck with the tailgate up and one down. I remember seeing a truck run at Bonneville that had a tonneau cover that only covered the back half of the bed because their testing showed it was more aerodynamic. You wouldn't have thought so, but I am sure they wouldn't have been trying to set a record and just making it up.
Pro tip, clear your cruise control setting prior to filming the trip computer. Set at 85mph, which I know is only 5mph over the 80mph Utah speed limit (or is it 75mph outside of Hurricane, I forget where it switches to 80].
Enjoyed the video and the Lambo joke. Missed the opportunity to say: “We drove a vehicle with lambo hurricane visibility in Hurricane.”
You 2 make a good team. Lot of editing time in the office these days to put this so far behind that actual trip. Same direction/miles with the tent in 2 different positions and 1 trip in the same direction with no tent at all would have been a more comparable test. But for the purpose of giving you something to do on the trip, it proves to help MPG.(no surprise)
Big rigs have those aerodynamic air shield/deflector extensions, perhaps you can rig up something similar to compensate for things like this.
And if you want to save even more, leave it in the garage when you aren't camping. That goes for ski and kayak racks too. Some people leave them on all year long as some sort of badge of honor or something, "Yeah, I ski" and wait gas leaving the rack on all the time.
I'd like to see an MPG test were you do three different types. One type would be driving a pickup with the tailgate down. The second trip would be the same pick up with the tailgate up. And the third trip would be with one of those bed covers. Same trip same truck all type all three times with the cruise control on
Tailgate up or down has already been done by mythbusters years ago...
(spoiler, tailgate up is better)
Maybe also throw in a regular camper shell in the mix
@@nielsdebakker3283 I know but there's still some hardcore Believers out there. They never believe me
I have a 2020 TB and have a peragon bed cover on it. Can yall recommend a good, inexpensive rack that I can use with a bed cover?
That was a great video. I am super down to see more videos on these edge case type of situations that most people would gloss over. Another good thing to test are the effects of tires. I have definitely seen people put their AT tires in the bed on their way to a trail in order to save fuel economy and wear. Keep it coming!
Or just run em at a higher pressure for less rolling resistance. That's what I do on long trips.
Have you considered doing an MPG comparison between a truck equipped with a rooftop tent that sits above the cab versus no rooftop tent while towing a small camping trailer like the Colorado Teardrops Summit model?
Thanks, good test and comparison that we don't do.
Holy crap! 3.80/gal for gas?! I just paid 1.92/gal!
2.4 MPG is a HUGE difference for such a simple change! 😳
Hi Alex and Kase 🙂, excellent video content on this episode of TFLoffroad, very cool to see the difference in mpg by lowering and raising the camper.
Did you take into account the elevation of both the starting and ending locations? Also, on your way out you were comparing the fuel economy from the vehicle's computer and your own calculation. You said the difference is about half a gallon and that's not correct. The difference is half a mile per gallon.
Did you account for elevation? Was the destination higher or lower in elevation from the start position and did you account for prevailing winds? You may have had a tailwind all the way home.
Should have been 2 runs in the same direction really because anything could happen over such a distance.
Was the speed the same going each way? Looked like you had the cruise control set to 85 going there and that will always lower your mileage.
I wonder what was for lunch 🤔
Thought the same. Always nice knowing the good food places along the way.
Not a good comparison due to elevation changes and such. You have to mimic the speeds and route to get closer accuracy
Thats quit a bit of savings actually at those low numbers. I've been waiting for someone to do a vid like this. If I ever put a tent on my truck a rack system like this is probably a must. It'll pay for itself in the savings over time. Where I live right now thtas $177.53 cdn vs $146.78 cdn. I live in Canada and gas is around $1.1/litre right now. Thats a savings $30.75 cdn for a trip like that. Thats add up quick pver 4 or 5 years.
Ugh and I imagine itd be even worse on a fabric covered tent vs a plastic cover like this one.
We're you traveling towards a higher or lower elevation on the way to and the way home?
Boulder CO is a mile high. Hurricane UT is at 3200 ft elevation.
I would love to know more about this converted school bus at 8:06
How would the mpg compare to having an empty bed with no roof nest
Rooftop tents are definitely cool... but I don't see the benefits over just throwing a traditional tent into the back of a truck/suv.
Time wise most decent tents can be put up in maybe a couple minutes.
Sure, your tent is raised off the ground, but for multiple day campsites you are forced to completely break down camp it you want to drive anywhere.
MPG tests should always be A-B-A to even out elevation and wind et.c.
But with that distance it might even out anyway or make the elevation difference neglectable.
Think you need to do it on your 100 mile loop. Cuz the way u did it, it could have been more uphill one way and downhill the other which would skew the numbers. Granted I expect an increase, but this probably isn't 100% accurate
It would be interesting to see how some incremental height adjustments affected fuel mileage. I would expect that letting the tent protrude a couple of inches above would not hurt mileage and return some rear visibility.
What about factoring in wind speed, wind direction, elevation gain and elevation loss?
Fun fact it is not pronounced Hurricane like the storm but Hurrikhan.
At time 3:52 your tach shows 3K RPM on what seems to be level road. Why is it running so high? not good for MPG. Are you manually shifting and holding a lower gear?
One of the shots later in the video showed cruise control set at 80mph. So that might just be the rpm it takes to roll 80mph.
Why was it 648 miles one way and 621 miles back, seems like they took a different route? I would think that maybe they should do the 99 mile long f mileage loop TFL use to run.
I saw you guys on I70. Truck looks good.
Top of the morning TFL
Case, I have a few questions. What speed were you driving at on the interstate? Is St. George, UT a nice place to visit? Is the roof top tent easily removable from the truck? Have you ever used the roof top tent? Do you like the setup? Thanks.
I can see a 2mpg difference going from 65mph to 75mph. How fast were you driving?
Around 4:20 it looks like the cruise was set at 85. Not sure how Chevy sets up their gauges, but that’s what it looked like. It probably could have been 1-2 mpg better both ways by just slowing it down a bit
should use the same route. your mpg going one way will differ from your mpg going back.
Its all relative, I like my ARB 6 feet of the ground = 12.2 mpg on I95.
You should test a truck with and without a tonneau cover to see if that makes a difference.
LOL my 99 5.3 Chevy gets 18 MPG on the Highway Kind of funny , Great job Guys Keep it up / Or Down ?
So does my 04 z-71 crew with the 5.3. 18-19 mpg highway with 286,000 miles.
My '07 Dodge with the 4.7 got about 17 hwy, too... HOWEVER, this new truck can do the same mpg with nearly double the HP and far more tech and a much better comfort level. Still pretty impressive, imo.
My '04 F-250 with a V-10 gets 16-17 highway, but it isn't lifted on heavy offroad tires. 4.30:1 axle ratio, but less rotating mass and overall drag.
Idk if octane rating has anything to do with it but these 5.3L engines run better on 87 octane and I noticed the pump at the loves doesn't have 87.
You usually run lower octane with elevation, most gas stations west of Denver have 85 octane
@@jessaphillips2846 that makes sense. I'm in California so the lowest I've seen is 87
I would love 15mpg.. getting 6-8mpg currently!
God I thought my truck was bad!! :-(
how fast did you guys go on average?
Would love to see the elevation profile of the drive in each direction.
Great idea. Please, can you do the same kind of test, but now with and without a tonneau cover?
Still waiting for you guys to compare the power wagon vs the f250 with camper
Maybe I missed it somewhere in the video, but what speed where you doing on the interstate? I've driven a 5.3L Chevy Tahoe on the highway and easily logged 25mpg... at 70mph.
They were set at 85mph
@@rossgreenzweig that explains the crappy gas mileage.
Had cruise set on 85 first trip last fuel up.
that's horrible mileage either scenario and only a 24 gal tank.
Compared to what?
I also thought HORRIBLE gas mileage, without a load, do you have a 400ci V8? Thinking Ram 1500 w/ 3L diesel gets 20+ routinely.
@@greathornedowl3644 did you hear what you just said? You're comparing a 6 cyl diesel engine built specifically for fuel economy to a 5.3L pushrod V8 in an off road truck with a 2 inch lift and offroad tires. No shit it's going to be worse.
It has 32" all-terrain tires, off-road suspension and likely higher axle ratio, it isn't going to get good fuel economy.
@@capt.stubing5604 mostly highway miles, should've easily been 20+, unless the kids have heavy foot.
Did you guys account the difference of elevation on both cities?
07:31 PUNCH BUGGY! NO PINCH BACK!😂😂😂😂
Please have Case do more videos! He’s easy on the eyes and entertaining to watch. 😜
Oh gosh that’s a lot of fuel for not many Miles! I won’t complain about the small Turbo Diesels we get in Australia ever again 😜 35 Mpg for 150kw 500nw - not an awesome V8 but better touring!
Wow that is well below the rating of 21 on the Highway. I thought you guys said in another video that it could hit its MPG rating?
It's so weirdly placed.
Good reporter
Headwind, tailwind, elevation changes? You just need to do your MPG loop that you guys normally do. Would be more accurate.
Prevailing west to east winds and aerodynamics will be of consequence. A 1/4 mile elevation difference in home vs destination is of minute consequence over 650miles.
You know if you just pull the handle out a little bit the pump will work fine. The fumes are tripping the auto shut off
What rack is that
There are so many comments about the efficacy of this test and while I've often given TFL grief for some of their conclusions this is simply a fun sort of "what if" piece done for entertainment on a drive they were going to make anyway. Is it scientific? Not in the slightest. In order to know exactly how much the tent position effects fuel economy you'd have to run in both directions exactly the same mileage with the tent both up and down in nearly identical weather and traffic conditions. Or, more simply, just ride over to a stretch of eastern Colorado and run a fifty mile flat loop both ways with the tent up and down. Much more likely to get similar weather that way with way less traffic in the mix. In any case the video here is not misleading it just may not be showing precise numbers. Considering that there is more elevation gain returning from St. George than leaving from Boulder I'd say the real difference is probably larger than shown because the elevation gain would have otherwise reduced fuel economy on the return trip if no tent were present. Of course, I'm sure there will be another event in St. George and they could simply remove the tent altogether to see what difference it makes.
Reduce drag. Improve MPG. Got it. 👍
Rooftop tents have got to be the silliest trend going with all things automotive. The amount of reasons you should not get one vs why you should get one are about 10-1. Have you tried getting out of one at 2am because you have to take a piss? And That’s not even in the top reasons i dont like them.
A lot of people like the IDEA of a roof top tent, not the practicality. I see them on a lot of Subarus, and they don’t look used.
nice video guys. You should test an electric motorcycle soon.
Good trick. How to make a 5.3 with a 10 speed get the milage of my 8.1 with a 5 speed.
Anyone else from the midwest feel bad for what they pay for gas in Utah?
Owning a TRX shouldn't make any other truck feel like they have bad fuel economy lol
Now remove the rooftop tent and compare the mpg.
All broverlanders keep the rtt on the truck for the Gram
This test was meaningless. What you need to do is take it to the Nürburgring and drive it 1000km (621.371miles) in both directions twice for the most accurate fuel economy numbers. And no eating or drinking is allowed or you have to start over.
Lift, tires, tent, I’m only getting 12-13mpg on my trailboss 😳
say hi to matt from matts off roading
If anyone wants to know more about the bus that was in the background, go check out Connor Ward's UA-cam channel
I saw a couple of anomalies in addition to some of the previous comments on elevation change and wind direction. At the beginning, it was noted the first reading on the computer calculated mpg was 17.9 (where did that come from), and later on a screen shot while you were cruising at highway speed the tach showed 3,000 rpm (how fast were you going then). While I don't disagree that the more aerodynamic drive will yield better fuel economy, I do feel your testing procedures could have used quite a few more tweaks (to confirm equal comparison).