2017 Suburban, MPG When Towing?

[tdebacker]

I now there are plenty of threads on every forum about MPG, but I want to get yalls experience when towing with the 5.3L V8.

I'm about to haul an '82 Chevy K10 that weighs ~4400 pounds on a ~2200 pound trailer, so 6600 pounds in total. I'm driving it from Aspen, CO to White Oak, TX which will be a little over 1000 miles with the route I'm taking. In other words, a lot of mountains, plains, hills, and passes.

When y'all tow trailers around this weight, what do you see for MPG? I'm trying to calculate how much money to budget for gas.

Empty, I usually get 18-23 hand calculated highway MPG in my Suburban, all depending on elevation, speed, and hills.

 

[Jeff_]

When I trailered my 3900lb camaro on a 2200lb uhaul trailer 3500-4000 miles from southern CA up to the PNW and back, I got around 13mpg if I remember right. Lots of just cruising and taking it very slow on the big grades/passes.

 

[Bigkevschopshop]

Factory tow package here with 3.42 gears

12-14 is my normal loaded Mpg. empty trailer 18 MPG. Lock it in 5th gear and let her eat.

I towed a Scout 2 up to dallas a few months ago and 13.2 mpg average on the way there.

I think for your first part of the trip coming out of CO and through the pan handle, 9-11 MPG is a safe assumption. You will be basically going down in elevation but the hills and mountains will kill mileage for sure. About half way you should see some increase as the rolling hills through there are not too bad.

If you have 3.08 gears these numbers may be 1 to 2 lower, I've done some trips with 3.08 gears and its lock it in 4th and set rpm around 3k for best torque and mileage was what I found.

 

[CaptainMurray]

20 Yukon with a 6200 lb boat, I get 13 mpg.

 

[LT1ZOB]

Camaro SS or C7 Z06. Open trailer, 12-13.5 mpg. Enclosed trailer, 10.5 mpg

 

[B-train]

Agreed with ^^^^^

These motors are fine with higher rpm, and usually return the same, if not better, than lugging in a higher gear with lower RPM.

I towed a 6500 lb trailer from FL to WI with a rental tahoe years back (probably a 2013/14) model. I let it eat between 3 and 4k for 24 hours of driving. It pulled like a champ, mileage around 11.

It was definitely broken in after that trip, and probably due for an oil change.

With my personal yukons with the 6.2L I usually drop about 4-5 mpg from highway mileage when towing if that helps. Probably in the 13-15 mpg range depending on weight.

 

[tdebacker]

Factory tow package here with 3.42 gears

12-14 is my normal loaded Mpg. empty trailer 18 MPG. Lock it in 5th gear and let her eat.

Thanks! I made sure to buy the factory towing package because I knew I'd be hauling trailers.