Fuel consumption when towing a bike on a trailer?

[Tim in Belgium]

Does anyone have any experience of towing a bike on a trailer?

What kind of consumption do you get when cruising on the motorway?

No of bikes on trailer and car model, engine type/size, year of manufacture and fuel consumption would all be appreciated ! :)

Trying to decide on my next vehicle and will be carrying out a full cost analysis.

[fastdruid]

38mpg motorway, 34mpg avg over the entire journey (bloody cadwell, lots of roundabouts and crappy roads to get there). 32mpg avg on the way back because we were in a bit of a hurry to return the van and giving it full throttle rather than pootling.

2 bikes (CBR600 and thundercat), car filled with camping stuff and three adults. 1998 Mondeo 2l petrol Ghia X Estate.

Sticking to a GPS 60mph (~65 on the speedo) on the motorway, 50mph on single carridgeway.

All figures taken from the fule computer rather than worked out.

Druid

[embee]

Get out more Tim, get out more. :help:

[Tim in Belgium]

Cheers for that, what do you normally get out of the Mondeo?

[fastdruid]

Cheers for that, what do you normally get out of the Mondeo?

Depends how I drive it.

29mpg thraping the **** off it, 32-34mpg normal, 38mpg taking it easy and 40mpg driving in super economy mode but not driving slower. I find it's far better with cruise control on too.

That's over a 26 mile commute, mostly motorway and A road with about 4 miles of 30/40.

Druid

[the_lone_wolf]

normally get about 500 miles from a full tank with my car on the motorway, towing a trailer it went down to about 400

Car: '53 Ford Focus 1.8TDCi + 3 adults + racing kit
Trailer: 2x Supermotos + BMX + minimoto, approx 500kg

[graham04]

My car seems better on petrol because I drive a bit slower and smoother. Diving into roundabouts with a bike on a trailer is not recommended.

Also on the plus side my bike doesnt use a drop when towed and arrives at a track in pristine condition. Sadly it doesnt always return that way
Graham

[Tim in Belgium]

Ha ha, had the zero fuel consumption joke on other forums!

[Balky001]

I have a CR-V but it is the 2 litre petrol auto, not great for towing. With 2 bikes and the trailer 200kg I get about 35mpg and a clear and steady run

[Demonz]

I get very close to the same towing a trailer on the motorway as I do driving the kids to school on a normal week. Normally 28mpg Volvo XC90 D5 (2.4l). Towing the trailer on the motorway is the same - 2 bikes and fully loaded trailer (6-700kg), plus full in the wagon kids, bags - it hardly notices the extra weight. I am sure i could stretch both of those to 30-32mpg if I stuck to the speed limit. No prizes here for fuel economy but plenty for safety and long journey comfort - also more for heavy load towing as overtaking is also a breeze.

[fastdruid]

I forgot to mention the other reason I bought the mondeo est, it'll tow up to ~1800kg so it'll tow 3 bikes easily[1].

Druid

[1] Well apart from not having a three bike trailer. :)

[Baph]

Ha ha, had the zero fuel consumption joke on other forums!
Damnit, they beat me to it!! :smt021

But still, it helps to save fuel if you turn the bike engine off whilst it's on the trailler!