Winnebago Fuse question

[MikeFromMesa]

We are seriously looking at one of the new Winnebago Fuse models and I suspect that it is a better built RV than the Thor Gemini model we have also seen, and I was wondering what kind of fuel economy users get with the Fuse. I understand that fuel economy depends upon a lot of different variables - speed, terrain, weather, traffic and other things, but I was wondering what mileage users with the Fuse diesel engine were getting as a general rule on the open highway.

We would not be towing anything as the tow capacity is only 5000 pounds and our Jeep can not be towed without a flat tow trailer. The combination of the weight of the vehicle (approx 3500 pounds) and the weight of a flat trailer (approx 2000 pounds) would be too heavy.

Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[John Canfield]

A Thor product was never on my radar when I was coach shopping, I'm sure they make some good products though. I have a Ford F-250 Power Stroke (the engine built by IH) with an 8' bed and extended cab. My truck weighs about 6,000 pounds, the Fuse GCWR is twice that. I get 15 MPG with no load, it would probably drop to the 10-12 MPG range if fully loaded up. My nephew tows a tag-along trailer with an F250 and he's in that MPG range. The Fuse has a six speed tranny while our trucks are four speed - that would make a small difference in mileage and performance.

Why can't you tow the Jeep 4-down? Is it a 2 wheel drive?

 

[MikeFromMesa]

A Thor product was never on my radar when I was coach shopping, I'm sure they make some good products though. I have a Ford F-250 Power Stroke (the engine built by IH) with an 8' bed and extended cab. My truck weighs about 6,000 pounds, the Fuse GCWR is twice that. I get 15 MPG with no load, it would probably drop to the 10-12 MPG range if fully loaded up. My nephew tows a tag-along trailer with an F250 and he's in that MPG range. The Fuse has a six speed tranny while our trucks are four speed - that would make a small difference in mileage and performance.

Why can't you tow the Jeep 4-down? Is it a 2 wheel drive?

Thank you for the information.

As for the Jeep, it is a small 4 cylinder version with an automatic, but it is "Trail Rated" which means it is a 4 wheel drive vehicle. Jeep says that the 2 wheel drive version can be towed with the drive wheels off the ground but that the 4 wheel drive version can not be towed at all unless it is on a flat tow trailer with all wheels off the ground. In the manual they went to the added trouble of telling users that any attempt to tow it without the entire vehicle being on a trailer would cause severe damage to the drive train components and repair would not be covered by the warranty. Unfortunately I believe them ...

 

[RedT]

I'm told there is a very active Fuse community on Facebook. Am not on Facebook, so can't provide any further info.

 

[John Canfield]

As for the Jeep, it is a small 4 cylinder version with an automatic, but it is "Trail Rated" which means it is a 4 wheel drive vehicle...

Then you must not have a transfer case that has neutral/4-low/4-high?

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Then you must not have a transfer case that has neutral/4-low/4-high?

Not like there used to be on our previous Jeep Liberty. This one has a 2 wd, 4 wd and 4 wd low setting, but no neutral. That is a pain because it would be nice to be able to tow it if we wanted to, but when we bought it I never thought about towing as we had the small Class B.

The Fuse has a 5000 pound tow limit and the Jeep and dolly together weigh about 5500 pounds. I suppose I can rent, but I have wondered about buying an old and light vehicle as a toad. I am just not sure that the few times we might want to tow are worth the time, trouble and money.

We did buy the Fuse today and hope to take delivery tomorrow.

 

[John Canfield]

Ah, no neutral in the xfer case - that's too bad. We used to pull a Jeep Liberty (the diesel model) 4-down. We towed it for 80,000 miles and put 100,000 on the odo, it was surprisingly reliable. Our rock crawler Rubicon is a trailer queen due to being highly modified.

You could buy an old Suzuki Samurai to tow, I think they are really light and have a transfer case with neutral.

And... welcome to the Winnebago family!  ) They make a good product and have a bunch of on-line resources for the DIY owner.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

You could buy an old Suzuki Samurai to tow, I think they are really light and have a transfer case with neutral.

And... welcome to the Winnebago family!  ) They make a good product and have a bunch of on-line resources for the DIY owner.

Thank you for the welcome. We are looking forward to getting out with the Fuse. Our current 20 ft Pleasure-Way has given us very good use once we got it fixed (we bought it used, 8 years old with only 9100 miles on it, and it required a lot of initial work) and in some ways we are reluctant to see it go, but we are looking forward to something a bit larger and I suspect that we will do better in fuel economy with the diesel Fuse than with the gas Pleasure-Way.

I think I will at least look into getting something like a Samurai. We have not gone to a lot of places where we would have used a toad, but that has been when we could use the Class B as a get-around vehicle in urban areas. That will probably change with the Fuse as it is longer, taller, wider and heavier than our old RV. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

Well, we have picked up the Fuse today and I drove it home. The distance was not great, about 25 miles, but I zeroed the mileage display and checked what I got. It was a bit disappointing at about 14.5 MPG and I had expected more, but as they say in life, "It is what it is".

The Fuse only has about 1500 miles on it and I was wondering if I could expect the mileage to go up as the engine gets "broken in", assuming that diesel engines do get broken in. The sales buy told me yes, but then sales people often tend to gild the lily, but then I may be giving away my age with that expression.

 

[PancakeBill]

I tow a Suzuki Grand Vitara,  very nice toad.  As to mpg,  just accept whatever you get. 

 

[John Canfield]

You will gain maybe 1 or 2 MPG after ~10k on the odo, it's not a huge improvement though. Towing could drop your mileage maybe 2 or 3 MPG. I really like diesels, the engines are relatively simple just needing air and fuel to run. We had a 2016 Passat TDi - a great vehicle and would get about 50 MPG on the highway but we sold it back to VW.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

As to mpg,  just accept whatever you get.

I am not sure there is anything else you can do.

The numbers were a little disappointing as I expected between 17 and 19, but then again it is about the same as I was getting with the much smaller, lighter and more streamlined Class B with its Ford V10 so I really can not complain.

 

[MikeFromMesa]

You will gain maybe 1 or 2 MPG after ~10k on the odo, it's not a huge improvement though. Towing could drop your mileage maybe 2 or 3 MPG. I really like diesels, the engines are relatively simple just needing air and fuel to run. We had a 2016 Passat TDi - a great vehicle and would get about 50 MPG on the highway but we sold it back to VW.

Thanks for the information.

What I did notice in the limited testing I was able to do is that there does not seem to be much of a difference between 55, 65 and 70 mph. All 3 gave me about the same mileage numbers based on the display, although the small ups and downs of the overpasses on the highway did show a significant difference.

I always checked the numbers for our V10 Class B during trips and it varied from about 12 up to about 15 with an average of perhaps 13.5 or 14 depending upon terrain, traffic and wind, but I was more interested when we first bought it than later and I assume the same will be true for the Fuse. Mostly now it just seems BIG when compared to the old Class B.

 

[John Canfield]

My F-250 PowerStroke gets ~15 MPG as I mentioned earlier and it stays fairly consistent regardless of speed and terrain for the most part which mirrors your experience. I've not checked it when I tow because I never tow for any distance, just 50 or 60 miles once in a while.

 

[PancakeBill]

The only really test is over a couple tanks of gas/diesel.  Watching the display doesn't really give you a good idea.  500 miles, a tank or two, average terrain, is the best test.