Travelling in a motorhome called “Blue Snoopy”

14 September 2008

Early fuel consumption figures indicate that the “sweet” speed for our Winnebago Motorhome is approxiimatley 85-88 kph (flat and wind free).  Indication to date is 13.6 litres per 100k’s at this speed.

These early numbers are confirmed by the recent economy run involving several Winnegabo Motorhomes being driven from Queensland to Winton in Victoria under controlled conditions.  Bottom line was that 85-90 provided the best economy.  It was also revealed that by “putting the foot down” and increasing speed to 110 kph, fuel burn increased to 18 litres per 100 kilometers.

You don’t need to be Einstein to figure out the additional cost.

26 October 2008

We monitored fuel consumption on the return journey from Fingal Bay via Newcastle and the F3 to Hornsby and taking into consideration a couple of long hills where the consumption rockets, the overall result doing around the 90-95 kph mark (as per GPS as the speedo on the Iveco is out by about 4 kph) was 14.01 litres per 100 kilometres. Under the circumstances, we were very pleased with this result.

22 November 2008

We monitored fuel consumption over our weekend trip to Moss Vale via the M5 and then the Hume Highway.  Our experience with the new motorhome had indicated that the best speed for fuel consumption is around the 85 kph mark.  Our previous fuel fill was at Newcastle with average comsumption being 13.7 litres for the trip back to Sydney.  As we headed south, we watch as the average consumption steadily rose until it reached 16.41 litres.  This was the result of driving directly into the wind for about 120 kilometers.

Average fuel consumption on the return trip fell to 14.01 litres per 100k’s overall by the time we parked the motorhome in our drive away.

On one occasion on Saturday, the IVECO computer indicated that the current consumption was 22 litres per 100k’s (into the wind).  On the same stretch of road on Sunday, we were cruising along using 7 litres per 100k’s.  This was with a direct tail wind.

21 March 2009

We have kept detailed fuel consumption records of our trip over the past three weeks.  Unfortunately the results have not been as expected.  The vehicle is heavy and is being operated close to the maximujm GVM of 4495 kg.  We have averaged 16.14 litres per 1ook’s (manually calculated on distance against refill) over 3000 kilometers.  This is slightly higher than the average shown on the Iveco trip computer.  The average was impacted by very strong head winds early in the trip when the consumption was 18.38 litres per 100k’s.  Best average was 15.53 when travelling from Horsham VIC via the Grampians to Ballarat and on to Bendigo VIC.  We having been maintaining a speed of around 83 kph and note a rise of 2 litres per 100k’s when increasing to 90.

18 October 2009

We have continued to keep detailed fuel consumption records and it is now clear that the economy is not the same as that achieved with the previous Blue Snoopy.  In considering the economy, we have to consider that the current Blue Snoopy is over 400kg heavier than the first and the shape of the vehicle could provide some additional drag.

According to the Iveco’s computer (which we suspect is out by about 1.5 litres per 100 k’s), we are using around the 13.8 mark when traveling around the 90k’s per hour and this increases to 15 at 100kph.

Manual calculated figures would be 15 and 16 litres per 100k’s respectively.  We have found that there is not a significant difference in consumption between the speed of 83 kph (our initial “sweet” speed) and 90-93kph.  Range is calculated to be in the vicinity of a very safe 530 kilometers and probably up to 600 kilometers if you want to take the risk and this is also dependent on wind direction.

The difference in consumption between the lower and higher speed need to be considered when compared to the time saving from travelling at a higher speed.  In some cases, the savings in time from increasing speed by 10-15 kph far outweighs the cost of the additional fuel.  We will put this to the test when traveling to Victoria in November as a maximum speed of 110 kph for 5 to 6 hours to Albury NSW seems far more attractive than 80 kph for 7 to 8 hours when the cost for the extra 2 hours is only about $23 in diesel fuel cost or about $12 per hour in time savings.

Since acquiring the new motorhome, it has been driven to Bathurst, to Narrabeen, to Penrith and finally to the Blue Mountains and Blackheath. After returning from the Blackheath weekend, “Blue Snoopy” had been parked in our drive. Last Sunday “He” noticed a dent in the side panel. Refence to photographs confirmed that the dent was there prior to the last trip and we simply had not noticed it.

 We had no idea when or how it happened.

“He” spent a couple of days surfing the internet looking for Paintless Dent Removal that provided a mobile service.  “He” spoke to several operators who, after viewing a photograph of the dent stated that the job was either impossible to do (due to access) or the vehicle should be taken to their workshop for further evaluation.

Finally “He” spoke to a local car dealership that was the source of several cars we have purchased over the years and was given the name of the person who did their “dent” work.

“He” rang Andrew Busuttil from “Unique Paintless Dent Removal” and after viewing a picture, Andrew indicated that he believed there was a good chance that the dent could be removed without the involvement of a panel beater.  Andrew also provided a mobile service.

Upon arriving at our residence, Andrew commented that the dent was deeper than the picture indicaed and he had some doubt as to being able to provide a 100% fix.

Andrew agreed to attempt to remove the dent.

Andrew is a “wizard”!  

After an hour or so of work, “He” could not identify the place where the dent had been, however. Andrew was still saying that it was not perfect.  After further work, it was impossible to identify ANY evidence that there was ever a dent in the panel.  The job was made more difficult due to the lack of access behind the panel and the fact that the dent ran across a ridge line.

If you need small dents removed, we are more than happy to recommend that you contact Andrew on 0419 635 117 and see if he can help you.

We attempted to run the AC (Dometic 3300) in the new Winnebago with a Kipor 2600 generator.  With the generator running, the AC “moaned” and the compressor refused to start.  The fan in the AC unit worked. 

Spoke with Dometic who advised that a 2kva generator with invertor technology should start the unit. 

Spoke with Sydney RV and Michael advised that the Kipor WILL run the AC unit provided that you TURN OFF the electrical power to the water heater if it has been left on.  The water heater draws .5kva power when running.  After starting the AC unit, you can restart the water heater on electrical power or run it from gas.

Needless to say, the information from Michael was correct.

When calculating overall weight, remember:

- 1 litre of water weighs 1 kilogram (100 litres weighs approximately 100 kilograms)
- 1 litre of diesel fuel weighs approximately .86 of a kilogram  (100 litres weighs approximately 86 kilograms)