15 mpg for a normal road trip

[VegasGuy]

With the occasional question about, "what kind of mileage do you get in your H2," I thought an actual road trip report might be of interest to a few. I filled the tank up Friday morning, reset the fuel economy gauge and drove from Vegas to Salt Lake City. The wind was calm all day but the outside temperature soon reached 109. Upon arrival in Salt Lake City the gauge registered 14.8 mpg. You can describe most of the trip as a slight uphill climb. The highest peak is 6600 feet. Speed most of the way was held at 65 mph due to the extreme heat.

Sunday morning I returned to Vegas. I did not reset the the fuel economy gauge. Early on I caught a dead-on head-wind blowing 15-20 mph with strong gusts. (Why does the wind always blow hard in the wrong direction?) The temperature reached 116. Again, because of the heat speed was held at 65. During the initial part of the trip the gauge quickly crept up to 15.3 mpg so things were looking promising, but the strong winds quickly knocked that figure back down to 15.1. The final average both wayjs at the end of the trip was 15.0 mpg upon reaching home in Vegas. If the wind had not blown so hard and the fact the return trip is downhill I think the average mpg would have been in the high 15's. With cooler temps and no wind 16+ mpg is reasonable. But that's life.

Engine coolant was a steady 200 and the transmission was slightly under 200. Everything on my H2 is stock, including the tires. All-in-all, especially considering the 100+ temps, I'd say a stock H2 can get better mileage than most people think.

Next weekend the wife and I are leaving for a three week 4000+ mile driving trip. This was a test run. It ought to be a great time.

[TGCOFTN]

With my 2007 H2 the very best I have been able to get with it was 19 Miles Per Gallon.

With my 2008 H2 the very best I have been able to get with it was 24 miles per gallon.


I am SURE I will get plenty of responses saying no way, but I hand calculated it twice. I top off my gas tank till I can visually see it in the filler neck. Reset my trip meter, then when I fill up again, divide my miles driven into the gallons of gas it takes to fill it up.

My Hummers are both 100% stock, no modifications, I run Synthetic fluids, and Premium Unleaded Ethanol Free Gasoline.

Can I get those kinda numbers everytime? NO WAY, it depends on where you are at, because if you are in hilly conditions, and your engine is having to downshift and work harder, your not going to get that great of gas mileage. The time that I got 24 miles per gallon just so happen to be flat level land, and it was 99.999% Highway miles ( cruising at 60mph )

For me, I cant say enough GOOD about them, they are simply the BEST vehicles I have ever owned, and I have no complaints what so ever with them. I have always been a person who trades vehicles every 2 years, but due to them not making these anymore, I am HANGING ON TO THEM.

[Big.Z.hummin]

Originally Posted by TGCOFTN

With my 2007 H2 the very best I have been able to get with it was 19 Miles Per Gallon.

With my 2008 H2 the very best I have been able to get with it was 24 miles per gallon.

No Way!!!

sorry i had to...

[HummerMann]

Just got back from a weekend 1200 mile trip to Boothbay, Maine. It was gorgeous there. I averaged 12.8 mpg, and I was running 70 mph to 80 mph in my '06 SUT. After years of ownership of H2s, I've found the difference between 60 and 75mph is significant to what gas mileage you get. What suprised me the most was two finger gestures and one loud bad remark about Hummers in Portland, Maine where we spent two days. It's been a long time since I've gotten the Hummer finger. You would think with all the snow they get, they would appreciate H2s!

[Stellar]

Live in Utah, the altitude doesn't help HP numbers but I average 15-16 mpg commuting on the freeway back and forth to work.

[Intercooled]

Originally Posted by HummerMann

Just got back from a weekend 1200 mile trip to Boothbay, Maine. It was gorgeous there. I averaged 12.8 mpg, and I was running 70 mph to 80 mph in my '06 SUT. After years of ownership of H2s, I've found the difference between 60 and 75mph is significant to what gas mileage you get. What suprised me the most was two finger gestures and one loud bad remark about Hummers in Portland, Maine where we spent two days. It's been a long time since I've gotten the Hummer finger. You would think with all the snow they get, they would appreciate H2s!

Portland is liberal city! No wonder.

[Badace]

11.5-12 here. Must be doing something wrong.

[Intercooled]

Originally Posted by Badace

11.5-12 here. Must be doing something wrong.

I'm the same no matter what I do. Never noticed ethanol free fuel around here though.

[Z06RB]

Originally Posted by Badace

11.5-12 here. Must be doing something wrong.

Same here.

[HummerJim]

Just got back from Dillon, CO and a 1400 mile trip. Punched the mpg to 0 when I left and it now reads 11.8 mpg.

[MVR 155]

I copy and pasted this from a post last year on 7/6/2009 after getting back from a road trip to florida
Well I got back from my road trip (Chicago to northern Florida). The best I was able to get was 14.48mpg. I filled up in Cobb county Georgia after getting through the mountain area of Tennesse/Northern Georgia with Shell 87, I proceeded to maintain speeds between 70-80mph with a gentle/steady pedal, I was also running the AC.....when I got to around 3/8 of a tank we stopped for something to drink along with a bathroom break, I topped off and got my results. The rest of my fill ups netted me anywhere from high 12's to upper 13's depending on overall speed and whether the land was flat..... going through the mountains really sucks up the gas. There is not a doubt in my mind if someone kept it at 65 or less that you could easily see 16+ I just cant drive that slow

I have not had a chance to road trip the 2008 yet but I can already see that the mileage is better than the 2006. We have only put about 900 miles on it since getting it 3 months ago and better than half of those miles have been back and forth to the lake towing the 2 place PWC trailer (about 2000lbs). I have filled up 4-5 times (I dont let it get all the way to empty) and Im getting a solid 11.5-12.1 mpg's, most of the driving with the trailer off has been short trips. There is no doubt in my mind that truck could get 15-16 on the road as long as you stayed under 80mpg and kept a steady pedal..... higher teens (16-17) if you could keep it under 65mpg.... this is also on relatively flat road, mountain/hilly driving is sure to suck up more fuel. We were supposed to make the same trip again this year with the new truck but both me and my wife ended up with work obligations that didnt let us make the trip.

[VegasGuy]

MVR_155, you brought up a few pertinent facts that I neglected in my original post:

* I had cruise control on the whole trip (except for city driving, a few stops and a bad UPS truck accident in the Virgin River Gorge)
* I had A/C running the whole time (it was 100+ outside)
* I only use 87 octane and avoid ethanol whenever possible
* I bumped my tire pressures from 37 to 39 before leaving

[vetteSUT]

Best I've ever gotten has been 13.5.

I don't think it's honestly that bad for the size tires the Hummer runs as well as the weight and the all-wheel drive.

Granted, who wouldn't like better mileage? Just with any type of vehicle setup like this I don't think it's happening soon.

[TGCOFTN]

Originally Posted by Intercooled

I'm the same no matter what I do. Never noticed ethanol free fuel around here though.

Go to www.pure-gas.org and you can find gas stations that have 100% pure gasoline, NO ETHANOL. They are fare and few inbetween, but where I live, I am able to hit them in different parts of town. So many people are NOT getting good gas mileage, and the truth is, I dont care what kind of vehicle you have, if the gas has ethanol in it........thats where your mile per gallons are going. Get some Ethanol Free Premium Gas, run synthetic fluids, and bump up your tire pressure to 45 pounds.

I am sticking to my figures weither anyone wants to believe me, my 2007, the highest is 19mpg, and my 2008 the highest is 24mpg. My Hummers are both 100% stock ( no oversized tires, etc. )

The key thing is, keep it at 60mph ( most people dont drive 60mph ) and another big factor is depending on the area you live in. If you live where its a lot of hills, your tranny will most likely downshift quit often, which will raise your rpms, and use more fuel. If your on some pretty smooth highways where you can keep your engine at around 1,400rpms you would be amazed at how much better fuel economy you can get ( and I DONT go by the mile per gallon meter on the dash ) I hand calculate my miles per gallon.

The truth is.............I really dont care what kinda gas mileage it gets, cause I love them, and they are the best vehicles I have ever owned. But I have tested both of them to see what is the absolute BEST mpg I can get out of them.

[vetteSUT]

Some of you guys have the newer models as well with the 6 speed. That might make a difference on the highway at cruising speed.

[VegasGuy]

Road trip report: The wife and I just returned from our three week vacation covering 11 states and over the Rockies twice. We put about 4500 miles on the H2. I hit the average mpg reset in my driveway upon departure. I took two lane roads when time allowed and mostly drove 65 mph. Upon return to Vegas, my average mileage for the entire trip was 14.8. Pretty good for a stock H2, IMO. The H2 performed flawlessly.

[surf twang]

We just drove our new-to-us 2006 H2 from San Jose, CA to Albuquerque, NM. On the way to ABQ I did not reset the average mpg and got 13.3 mpg for the entire trip. At one point we were at 13.8.

On the way back I reset average mpg every time I filled the tank. On the first two legs through NM and AZ at mostly 75 mph we got 14.4 and 14.3 mpg respectively. The third leg from Kingman, AZ to Newberry Springs, CA (near Barstow) we got 12.7. The last time we filled up before arriving home we got 13.8. We had pretty strong head winds through most of California. I am pleased with the results. I'm sure the hundreds of big pickups and SUVs that passed us going 85-90 mph weren't getting any better mileage.

Over 70% of our trip was in 100+ degree weather (hitting a peak of 110 in AZ) and engine coolant never got more than a little past 200 and that was after 3 hours of driving in 105-110 degree heat.

[VegasGuy]

My gut feeling is city driving, strong headwinds and driving over 65 mph are the biggest factors in average mpg in a H2. We had some strong headwinds the first 1/3 of the trip, especially in the afternoon. There were only a couple of legs where we had a tailwind. It made a big difference when we did. We spent close to a week in one city with a lot of hills and that also was a big factor in bringing our mileage down.