[Subhuman]

Does anyone know what kind of fuel economy I will get while driving my red 1997 Legacy OB with a rack on top and towing a U-Haul trailer weighing about 2000 (US lbs) total?

I will be travelling across the US from New York to Oregon mostly on I-80 between August 1 and 5. Honk and wave if you see me!

Thanks everyone

 

[bheinz57]

Manual or Auto? I'm thinking only 2-3 MPG lower than usual. And I live about six miles south of I-80 in Omaha, so honk and I may just here you. Brian

 

[Subhuman]

It's auto and thanks for the info.
I'll be staying in Lincoln my second night on the road, I'll wave too

 

[Jondalar]

Well I am really curious to hear what fuel economy other Outback owners get while towing. I was quite surprised to find that my 3.0R used at least 50% more fuel while towing a rather small caravan. My experience was 10.5 to 12.9 MPG US. (22.2 to 19 L/100km) The caravan only weighs 1000kg / 2200lbs.

Is this bad?

 

[Random]

I think a large part of the mileage change has to do with the frontal area of the trailer/caravan. While towing 1200 lbs of motorcycle and 800 lbs of trailer, my mpg went down only 3mpg vs my normal highway average. The trailer has low sides, and the MC's themselves offer very little wind resistance.

I would expect worse mileage towing a 8'x6'x6' U-Haul trailer, simply because has so much more frontal area for wind resistance. I would guess something on the order of 8-10 mpg decline.

As a side note... when I towed the OBXT with my Range Rover, I only lost 2 mpg. Considering I was towing 5800lbs, that's not bad! Even on the trailer the outback was more aerodynamic than the Rangie!

 

[Jondalar]

Random I'm sure you're right, and even though it's a "pop top" caravan it's an older one and not as low as newer models are. It probably also didn't help that I kept things moving at least up to the speed limit, even up hills, partners Hyundai couldn't keep up even with just 3 people onboard. LOL

 

[Random]

As a side note. I lost more MPG with my roof rack fully loaded with lights than I did towing a basic open air trailer with 2 motorcycles on it. Granted, with the Trailer and motorcycles I was keeping it to 70 or under, and with the roof rack full of stuff and the lights I was going 75-80.

That's why I say the drag/size of the trailer matters more than the weight, at least for highway travel. Around town, the added weight would matter more in the stop/go/stop/go acceleration fuel consumption.