B190 Enthusiasts

What kind of gas mileage are the rest of you getting? I've only been getting between 9 and 11 mpg. Mainly right around 10. Is this normal? Only had my B190 about 3 months.

Sounds about right...what engine do you have?

My 1993 with the 460 gets 10 most of the time (over the last 14,000 miles). If I am climbing elevation (like driving from CA to NM) it drops to 9. Putting around town I have gotten 11. I have new plugs, new plug wires, and a new K&N air filter. None of that made any difference.

I have a 92 with the 351 (5.8l). Currently on a road trip from California to Canada through the Rockies and Cascades. I'm paying the extra ten cents per gallon for midgrade and am averaging close to 13. It's worth the extra few cents for the upgrade in gas plus the performance is better in the mountains.

I have the 7.5 liter gasoline engine in my '93. Over the last 3000 miles I measured the following mileage.

Worst tanks were around 10.5 - 10.6 mpg. (Headwinds, 70mph speed, hills)
Best 12.1 mpg This is on a couple of tanks on flat ground, 65mph driving speed and no headwinds.
Average for the 3000 miles was 11.1mpg. Driving condition was mostly on highways, 65mph speed with 50% flat and 50% rolling hills.

The following are some driving tricks to improve fuel economy.
1. Stay off 70mph highways. The impact of air resitance really starts increasing as you drive above 45-50 mph.
2. Avoid routes with lots of starts and stops. If you have to stop, start coasting from as far away from the stop as traffic safety and your passenger's tolerance permits.
3. Think that every time that you use your brakes, its a clue that you applied the gas pedal for a longer time than was necessary. The trick is balancing time, not being inconsiderate of drivers behind you and fuel economy.
4. Drive to minimize letting the vehicle downshift going up grades.
5. Avoid driving into the wind.

Don't expect alot of difference. These vehicles are big, heavy and have the areodynamics of a brick.

Keep in mind that even a 5% mileage improvement on a 11mpg vehicle is only ~0.5 mpg.

I have a 7.5 liter gas 93 B190. Over the last 5 years I've put about 30,000 miles on the vehicle driving mainly from and to the west coast from Kansas City through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Northern California, Washington, and Montana. I've been up mountains, crossed the high deserts and traversed the coast. The one thing I can always count on is the MPG will be a very consistent 10 miles per gallon. The lowest MPG seems to be driving into head winds on the interstate where it may dip down to 9. The highest I ever got was around 12 traveling from Crater Lake to the Oregon coast which is almost nothing but down hill driving.

Mike

Although there are a few driving tips that help a little on fuel economy, the biggest payoff that I have found is to use the internet to shop for the lowest price on fuel.

On a recent 1400 mile trip we likely saved $50 by taking a little time to plan where we would stop for fuel. I have been using the web site and iphone app from gasbuddy.com to shop for fuel.

Before starting out for the day I would check the web site for the below county by county fuel price map to get a general idea of which State/County along my route was going to be the cheapest at about the distance that I would be ready to buy fuel.

Once we were in the county where we wanted to buy fuel, my wife would use the app on her iphone to scan ahead on our route to see what the price per gallon was at each station ahead on our route. The app can either show you a list of stations/price and how far you are from them or you can view the price overlayed on a scrollable road map.

This proved to be both economical and mildly entertaining!

Mike,
It sounds like our 7.5L vehicles are tracking each other pretty closely. Thanks for the post.

Hey, thanks everyone for the info. Now I don't feel quite so bad about the mpg. I used to have a class C motorhome and I thought it was bad getting 10-12 mpg. How can you find out what the engine is? I have a 1996 and it's not in the manual or posted on the side like my class C was. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a gal and I'm better at baking cookies than mechanical stuff.

Lou0403 wrote:Hey, thanks everyone for the info. Now I don't feel quite so bad about the mpg. I used to have a class C motorhome and I thought it was bad getting 10-12 mpg. How can you find out what the engine is? I have a 1996 and it's not in the manual or posted on the side like my class C was. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a gal and I'm better at baking cookies than mechanical stuff.

Check the 8th digit of the VIN, which is located under the windshield on the driver's side, or on the title. This thread has a list of the engine codes - for example, a "G" is a 460 (though I think yours is too new to have that one).

9 to 12 low and high but avg 10. I have a 94 460

I was thrilled at the MPG aftere getting our 91, no way did I expect double digits. Mine has been averaging about 11 no matter what I do.

Our 1999 V10 B190 generally gets 12-13 mpg. Constant headwinds or lots of hill climbing can bring it down to 11 or so. Pleasant surprise.

We probably only filled up a dozen or so times during the short time we've owned the 1998 B190 (V-10 engine). The lowest mileage was 10.8, normal mileage is in the high 11.x and we see 12.5 pretty regularly. Hope that continues.