[Bill]

Agreed. That is good mileage. If I hold to around 60mph I can get over 7mpg easily, provided no hills. On freeway to Sacramento (once over the hills) my 1 ton pickup got 17.5mpg if I kept it around 60. It will drop to 13.5 mpg over 70. Probably not only the motor working harder, but increased wind resistance.

[DON]

My driving speed has been the butt of jokes for decades. I never did it to save money for fuel. Actually worrying about fuel mileage on a Prevost is a waste of time because fuel is not a serious part of the cost of ownership.

My initial speed was established when I had our 8V92 equipped 1987 XL geared so top speed was 69 to 71 MPH. At about 1800 (the engine’s sweet spot) I drove 60 MPH. I learned real fast if I tried to drive 65 or 70 I was going to get hung out to dry in the passing lane if I tried to maintain that speed so I backed down to 60 because if I did have to pass I had some reserves, and at 1800 I never lugged the engine.

After 15 years of the 8V92 we got our 97 coach with a Series 60. It seemed the sweet spot on that engine was 1500 which was about 62 MPH. By then I was aware of stopping distances at 60 being at least 150 feet less than at 70 so I was motivated to stay close to the speed I had gotten used to.

For me the benefits far outweigh higher speeds. I am slower than most traffic so my driving effort is reduced to setting the cruise control at 1500 RPM, letting everyone else go around me. I rarely have to change lanes. Stress is reduced. I later found out when doing a cross country ride of 4500 miles in my Corvette at 10 MPH over the speed limit that I often got behind a passing truck and almost always the truck passing was closer to 65 than any other speed, and that was the fast truck passing trucks closer to the speed I drive the bus. Now I ignore those who profess lower speeds are dangerous.

If mileage is improved I will take it. My mileage has improved, but because of the fact the EGR in my coach has mysteriously failed to work as intended (actually not at all) and that was a .6 mpg or about 12% gain so it is like getting a 12% cash discount on fuel on top of the TDS discount.

I have driven my bus like my hair was on fire, usually because I was caravaning with others, and I just do not like dicing in and out of lanes just to pick up a little speed so I continue to be the slow guy on the road.

[Chuck & Katrina]

If you’re traveling on the interstate and come up on two gorgeous Liberty Coaches running side by side … it will probably be Jon and me.

I typically run 63/64 (or the speed limit whichever is less) with the cruise set all the time. We’ve put about 50,000 miles on our coach since buying it in May of 2014 with 72,000 miles. About 30,000 or 35,000 miles ago I reset the fuel mileage on the DD computer and have left it alone. I watched as mileage started out in the high 7’s and then inched up to about 8.37. I presumed this was the engine loosening up as it was broke in. Since then the long term mileage has fallen back to about 8.25 which if I understand correctly means its time for the valves and injectors to be gone through.

I used to drive 9/10 over the limit all the time. But I was working then, time was precious, and I liked to drive fast. After buying the race car and running over 150mph on a regular basis, the need for speed has diminished. Now I’m retired and have lots of time. Driving 63/64 on the interstates means I rarely pass a vehicle and those passing me have enough speed differential they can do it quickly. Once in a while we are pressed for time in the coach and I’ll run the cruise up to 72mph, but that’s rare.

Since installing Matthew Valentine’s J.W. Speaker LED headlight upgrade, I’ve found its much easier driving at night. I can see far enough out in front of the coach that I’m not worried about over driving the headlights hitting something lying in the road.

---

2000 Featherlite H3-45

2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Leesburg, FL

[Ronald]

Getting from our summer home in So. OR to our winter home in Yuma, AZ, most often requires driving the length of CA on the I5. Since we tow, the speed limit is a very leisurely 55 MPH so driving faster is not an option. At a 55-58 pace mileage is 8.5 or better and the coach is much quieter………because the co-pilot is less often trying to second guess every driver on the road!

Jerry

[Andrew]

Jerry:

Very interesting, my coach seems to get quieter on the co-pilot side under 55 too.

Over 55 there appears to be a noise emanating from the passengers side that resembles the sound we hear from the carton character Charlie Browns teacher.

Chuck

[Roscoeapproved]

Driving from Calif to the Carolinas and Tenn towing Honda CRV 60 mph 1300 rpm’s

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Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL

[Roscoeapproved]

We own a Prevost coach and we worry about mileage or fuel cost? Really?

Run the numbers, including depreciation, insurance, tire and battery cost, repair and maintenance, storage costs, etc. and report back.

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Jeff and Lindsay

91 Marathon XL

[Archived]

It’s pretty cool to get that kind of mileage on a 41,000 pound bus, my Foretravel got 7.3

[Jon]

That’s great mileage Art!

Year after year, mile after mile, over the course of owning a bus 20+ years, that equates to quite a bit of savings, especially at todays fuel prices.

[Billy]

I am totally in favor of saving money on fuel, especially if I can make that savings come about with zero effort. For me the greatest advantage of improved mileage is it cuts down on my need to go into a truck stop. If my visits are reduced in number, and as a side benefit they cost less, even better.

But can we all agree “saving money” is a phrase that just does not apply to bus ownership? I cannot speak for others, but not including a penny for driving the bus I spend a lot of money per year just to own my bus. When I include depreciation, insurance, loss of earnings on invested capital, tires, batteries and any other costs required just to have the bus sit in my garage my annual costs have been at least $20,000 at the low side.

Newer coaches are going to be more, older coaches less, but at that cost I can spend more than 2 months in expensive motels eating fine meals. If I add in the costs of driving the bus meaning fuel, wear and tear, needed repairs and maintenance, RV park costs, etc. the number of days I can spend in a hotel goes up a whole lot.

Our coaches are all about not having to share a bed, toilet seat, or coffee cup with hundreds of others and having to travel with what you can pack in a suitcase. This is proven by the fact only a very small percentage of PC members think the TSD savings are worth signing up for.

[Loc]

Art that is incredible fuel economy!

While I agree with Jon on the overall impact, my analytical brain is trying to figure out how you’re getting that.

My XL40 loaded weighs almost 44K and we are pulling a 5K van. So total weight almost 49K. Driving OK to FL Keys and back (relatively flat), speeds mostly 63-67 (1600-1700 rpm range) with small amount of 70 mph my avg MPG is 7.3.

Curious if a few more thousand #’s and slightly more RPM/speed can make nearly 2mpg difference? Or something else.

I’ve never tried to find it published, but seems I heard the torque peak of Series 60 was around 1600 RPM. That may not be correct.

[Joseph]

I am curious as to how the mileage is calculated with that Detroit device. Is the fuel actually metered and compared to miles driven or is a calculation of Hp used and miles driven?

[Paul]

Best mileage I ever attained in my 02 XLII was 8.1 mpg. That was a run from New Hampshire to Tennessee when I first picked up my new to me bus without a tow vehicle. I stopped and met Jon and Lady Di for lunch on that trip so that was probably why I did so well. Over the next 100K miles, I averaged 6.5 mpg generally towing a Tahoe or Jeep with the average highway speed of 65 mph. I could do about 3 tenths better if i would stay at 59.

[Paul]

To put this discussion in perspective I am basing comments on an unbroken tabulation of miles and fuel added over 32 years, and three Prevost coaches.

First, any MPG reported for less than 5000 miles is going to be inaccurate. I have compared may one, two or three refueling events with the miles travelled and they are likely going to be the same, greater than or less than a much larger number of miles and fuel added.

Since I traveled on average 12,000 miles per year my only variation in MPG was between buses. My 8V92 was 5.6, My 12L Series 60 was between 7.5 and 8/0 with the deviation being the change in fuel formulations relating to sulfur content, and my 14L Series 60 at 6.4 based on a 35,000 mile history.

Speed (or headwinds) is the greatest impact on mileage in my mostly flatland experience. Hills comes in at #2. OTR and towing a heavy toad fall in behind the two. If you really need to save fuel, drive slow. Avoid hills. don’t tow and do not run the OTR or any A/C that gets its power from the engine,, and that includes running through inverters.

Or just enjoy driving where you want, how you want and accept the mileage you get.

If fuel economy is critical don’t use an 8V92, stick with a light coach and toad, drive slow, open the windows instead of using OTR and only go downhill with the wind at your back.

[George]

When you use simple math since 2012 we have 2 coach’s with series 60 D D our fuel has always been 13 mpg ,,wow 13 ,yes 6 in town and 7 on the highway and 6 plus 7 equals 13 .As others have stated we only drive down hill ,wind always behind ,,fuel booster of all sorts, engine lube from 15 suppliers, 8 different cooling additives, tires filled with lightest air ,,5 coats wax ,as you can see it works but when you add all the cost 9.00 a mile.miles Enjoy your coach and drive safe.