I hate to post this because I am embarrassed, but it is pertinent to this discussion. I recently went to Florida and back. I was pulling my 2720SL with a fairly normal load in it. I also had an old fashioned fiberglass large (non-folding) 2 man Folbot on top of my Ridgeline with the large open cockpit? facing up. It was sitting flat on my padded roof without a roof rack.
Knowing full well that higher speeds would decrease my gas mileage, I chose to drive at my normal fast pace. I am a working person and I reasoned that my time was worth more than the extra cost for gas. I averaged only 12.8 mpg.
I traveled at the same speed as the majority of cars on I 95 which was 75- 80 mph in most areas. I am sure many of you will think I was nuts driving that fast with a trailer, and you are probably right. As crazy as it sounds, I was quite comfortable driving at that speed using cruise control when traffic conditions permitted. Handling and braking seemed fine. As I often hear repeated here, I had to remind myself that I had a trailer behind me.
I get about 18 mpg on average without the trailer or boat with a good share of my driving at high speeds. I think this very poor mileage on my trip was a result of the aerodynamics of the open kayak on my truck roof compounded by my high speed.
In the Washington DC area we hit construction and did quite a bit of travel at 30 mph and even stop and go. I was expecting the gas mileage to be worse, but actually it improved for that tank of gas by one or two mpg. Other than this, my tank-to-tank gas mileage was pretty consistent so attribute it to the slower speeds and not an aberration.
When I found myself ahead of schedule I actually tried to slow down a bit and found it really difficult mentally. Driving where I do most of my driving at home seems almost like a competitive sport. I had a real hard time adjusting to all the aggressive drivers and 4 lane highways when I moved here from a sleepy town in upstate NY. Intersections that were uncontrolled when I lived there now have stop and yield signs, but there is still not one traffic light in town! I cursed the aggressive drivers when I got here, now I realize I have become one of them. No wonder my car insurance rates went up just because I moved. I know I am not winning any friends here, but that’s my paradigm. I hope to find the safer more relaxed driver in me again in a few years when I retire.
I know from other boards that some Ridgeline owners get much better mileage towing than I did. I can't blame the vehicle.
Go ahead…let me have it!
Jim