Chevy 454 or V-10 Triton- Whis is more fuel efficient

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Elly Dalmaijer

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If the exact same motorhome is offered with either of the above engines, which one would give the best fuel mileage? We're talking about a 26ft Class A and a 24ft Class C, both of which can be bought with a choice of these engines.

We now have a Chevy 454 in our 1993 27ft Sunrise. We keep a fuel logbook and have averaged 10.9MPG over the last 30,000 miles. Would a Triton get the same on the same size motorhome?

Elly
 
I can't imagine that there would be any difference at all worth discussing. Gas mileage is more a function of wind resistance than engine size. Since the wind resistance would be the same for both engines I doubt there would be a real world difference. I also doubt there is any real way of getting an answer to your question. I don't think anyone here has owned both of them, loaded them up the same, driven the same route and then compared gas mileage.
 
In theory the v-10 should be more fuel efficient. It is a more modern design, fuel injection, smaller displacement, etc. I would never have guessed anyone would get 10.9 mpg with the 454. The 454 is known to be a good engine but not at all fuel efficient.
 
Dave, I noticed that you have a BT-Cruiser. It is one of the units we are looking at. What is your mileage and how do you like it?

Elly
 
I have a 1977 GMC Class A with a 455 front wheel drive 26 foot Motorhome I get 8 to 10 MPG depending on if I am towing or not. :)
I had a 1974 Dodge Sportsman Class C 22 foot with a 318 and was only able to get about 7.5 mpg  towing or not.
I think the wind resistance on the shorter 22 foot was much greater. The weight was about the same (the 26 foot is aluminum and fiberglass)

so either having more power available lets the engine use less fuel or the 318 was tired.
 
Our first MH was a Chevy 454.  It seemed under powered climbing steep inclines and for that reason we traded for a MH with the Ford Triton V-10.  In both cases 7 + or - MPG was standard.  Once I discovered how to drive an RV on steep inclines I'm not so sure that one was any different that the other.  I learned to move into the slow lane and keep the RPMs where I felt comfortable.  It wasn't quite as fast as I liked, but hey - what's the hurry.















 
I got 6 mpg with my 31 ft class c. That was pulling/not pulling/driving fast/driving to save fuel.
 
Elly, I like it quite a bit and glad I ended up with the 27 even though I was originally looking at 24. Now that I have become used to the rear queen I am really glad I don't have to sleep on a pullout sofa.

If I keep the speed at 63 to 65 I get 10 mpg with AC on and towing a 1500 lb boat. Bumping speed to 70 and it drops to 9 mpg. Have never driven it with out the boat. In a smaller size unit like mine the v-10 is very nice with plenty of power.
 
You just cannot compare a 1993 454 with a 2012 version. Not only are there likely to be changes in head design, fuel injection and other tid bits to help over all fuel economy, but the block may also have been improved in design for fuel efficiency. Just my .2 being having been in the auto industry for 20 years. Also can you even compare a class A and a class C?
 
I had a 34 ft 89 Fleetwood Pace Arrow with the 454. It did seem really dead on steep grades. I have no idea what the rear axle ratio was at that time with the P30 chassis.

The V10 comes with a 4.3, 5.38, or 6.17 rear axle depending on chassis size. The MPG would vary depending that rear axle rating.
 
You can't compare the power output of the 1999 V10 with the 2005 or so V10. The later version has a lot more horsepower the  earlier ones, although the gas mileage may be about the same.
 
Hi,

The following are educated guesses on my part:

Item                        Impact on fuel mileage

Ford vs. Chevy            perhaps as much as 5% difference
Frontal Area/shape      close to 50% (flat plate equiv. varies as much as 2:1 or more)
Wind                          close to +/- 25% (by observation)
Differential gearing      around 10-25%
Speed                          70 mph vs 55 mph ~ 40% (drag doubles)
Weight                        up to 50% on hills only, no significant effect on flat
Rolling Resistance        around 3-5%
etc.
etc.

In other words, Ford vs. Chevy is insignificant although newer engines are usually more efficient. Even then, it's primarily drag that determines gas mileage (Area/Shape, Wind, Speed).

JM2C,

Ernie
 
I think that my question was not clear. We are shopping for another motorhome. We noticed that for some of them, with IDENTICAL models, both engines are offered. Driving style would not come into play since we only would buy ONE. Given a choice between identical RVs we wondered which engine would give the best fuel economy.

I am amazed that our mileage seems to be unusually good. Just a few weeks ago we gassed up in Great Falls and drove to our home in St Albert, just north of Edmonton AB, and the tank was nowhere near empty. That is  520 miles and we could easily have gone another 100 miles on that tank. It looks like we better prepare ourselves for gas-cost-shock if/when we buy another unit!  And I'll give our faithful Sunrise a little pat on its back ;-)


Elly
 
Elly, are you saying that a 454 is available in a new rv? I thought they stopped offering them years ago.
 
dave61 said:
Elly, are you saying that a 454 is available in a new rv? I thought they stopped offering them years ago.
Click to expand...

Nope, but it is in some RVs made in 2001/2002 which is what we are looking at.

Elly
 
When we were shopping I drove a smaller fleetwood 35g which was on the ford chassis & a 38p which was a wh v8.  From a driving standpoint the longer 38p just felt more solid on the same road.  Not sure if it was just the added weight or if it was the chassis that made me prefer the wh. 

I would think from mpg standpoint due to the rv's being the same mpg should be the same.  Another of the things I preferred with my rv is the Allison trans, does the 454 have that trans?

I haven't calculated my mph yet from my last trip.  3k mile trip Ohio-Florida-Ohio pulling a wrangler unlimited usually going 70-75 mph I think I was around 6.5-7 mpg
 
The GM 454 is an orphan, although there are so many of them out there that parts should be available for quite a while.  On that basis alone, I'd go with the Ford.  The 454 is larger and doesn't rev as fast as the V-10, but overall performance wise they're pretty much a wash.

When comparing gas mileage, keep in mind that any vehicle will get 20% more miles per gallon in Canada than in the US.  Imperial vs. US gallons, don'cha know?
 
Lou, Good catch on the Canadien thing, I completely missed that. That would explain the 10.9 mpg which would be more like 9 in the USA. That makes a lot more sense.
 
There is about 1 US Quart (32oz) more in an Imperial Gallon than a US gallon. That said, you cannot buy an Imperial Gallon of gas any longer. We have been measuring in litres for many many years now. A litre is not far off a US quart (33.8 oz) in volume.

To confuse things further, fuel economy up here in the Great White North is measured in "litres per 100 Km" which still confuses the heck out of me when trying to compare it to miles per gallon in the USA .  Oh well, what I get, I get.... as long as I don't run out of gas!!!
 
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