Matt and I tracked the fuel pretty dang close for the trip (used GPS for the mileage) and here are the (surprising in some cases) results...
Total miles driven: 2225
Total gals of fuel used: 173.389
Avg MPG: 13.18
Lowest price per gallon: $4.029 (H.R. CO)
Highest price per gallon: $4.899 (Kyburz, CA)
Lowest mpg trek: 6.55 mpg from Kyburz CA to Reno NV (Rubicon trail
)
Highest mpg trek: 15.95 mpg from W. Wendover, NV to Battle Mtn, NV
We got the highest mpg figures while travelling in a pack (drafting) and going slow (following Dave
) although a close second was the 224 mile section from Ely NV to Salina UT where we got 15.6mpg and probably averaged 70-75mph
Taking the Rubicon trail out of it we got:
CO to CA - 13.4 mpg avg
CA to CO - 14.3 mpg avg
Personally I think that is pretty dang good for a brick with a 4" lift, 315s, 4.88s, etc. loaded down with probably 1000#s + of gear. It was apparent that NOT having a roof rack or anything on top made a definite difference.
I was surprised that on 5 of the legs of the trip we got better than 14mpg
MPG Range # of legs
---------- --------
<10..................1
>10 to <12........1
>12 to <13........2
>13 to <14........2
>14 to <15........3
>15..................2