Towing MPG 4.6

Hi, this morning I went to pick up a caravan from Birmingham.

I got on the M6 at J3 with a warm engine and reset the computer. When I got off at J5 (Must be be about 12 miles) I had averaged 23mpg.

I came home on the same bit of motorway and towing the caravan I averaged 15.9mpg.

I was doing 56mph both ways with the cruise control. Does this sound right for a 4.6 petrol?

On a run from Coventry to Devon that would work out at £37 extra each way to tow the caravan

I must add though that I think the RR is an absolute dream for towing. The last time I towed a caravan was in a Mondeo 1.8 and I hated how sluggish it felt and how the back end of the car was being pulled all over the place by the caravan. The RR just felt so solid and it was genuinely so easy to forget you had anything behind.

That mpg sounds about right - what size/weight of caravan ?
Remember neither are what you would call aero -dynamic
If the wind was against you on the way back that would also make a difference

v8kenny said:

That mpg sounds about right - what size/weight of caravan ?
Remember neither are what you would call aero -dynamic
If the wind was against you on the way back that would also make a difference

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It's a 20ft caravan. About 1200kg I think. It has been quite windy round here today so that might have made a difference.

Generally manage around 18mpg towing a Bailey twin axle which weighs in around 1200 kgs at around 6omph. It's not the cruising that knocks the juice about, it's the starting and stopping. The 4.6 is such a good towing motor and sometimes it's all to easy to put the foot down a bit to pull from a standing start. As V8 says- they are both about as aerodynamic as a brick.

Yep, there's a big temptation not to wait as the lower gears wind themselves along and floor the pedal to get a bit more activity ! I tow a twin axle bessacarr 550GL and rover's figures are about as good as it gets. It's not the aerodynamics of the car or van or even your driving technique that make the biggest difference..........it's all the stuff the wife piles in......expect 1 to the gallon ! It's on a long varied journey towing that you'll reap the benefits of the r rvr v8, 4 or 4.6. I towed with a mondeo estate and top gear never came into the equation. Wherever the caravan went is where we all went. If you can't tow with a v8 r rvr, you can't tow. Neither is there a necessity to be an impedament on the road. (If you were moving at all beteween jnctns 1 & 6 on the M6 you'd be lucky, anyway) regards P.S