Just got back from our 2 day drive from Texas. Approximately 1200 miles. Van had 48 miles at pickup. It's a 159" Gasser window van. Here are a few impressions.
After hearing all the downshift issues with the Gasser, I was pleasantly surprised. It does downshift into the wind and up hills but it isn't jerky or all that noisy. I didn't find it annoying except that the gas mileage suffers a bit when it hits 3000 RPM vs 2000.
I tracked mileage on each tank and averaged 19.2. The lowest was 17.0 going from the low country in TX to New Mexico. The best ironically was going from Pueblo Co. to Grand Junction (through Montrose) Averaged 20.9. That takes you over Monarch Pass at 11,312' Elevation. Probably the reason that was so good was Average speed was 53 mph, due to winding roads. The final stretch from Grand Junction to Utah was 19.7.
I kept the speed at 65-70 mph. Above 70 the mpg suffers. The speedo shows about 1/2 mph low. The Computer trip computer consistently showed about 1 mpg optimistic. It was a great trip.
My biggest take away is that after a few hundred miles The driving position felt normal. Also I usually get sore after 3-4 hours continuous driving in my Camry. I was good in the Promaster for 8-9 hours. The seats are very comfortable and nice upright position.
After hearing all the downshift issues with the Gasser, I was pleasantly surprised. It does downshift into the wind and up hills but it isn't jerky or all that noisy. I didn't find it annoying except that the gas mileage suffers a bit when it hits 3000 RPM vs 2000.
I tracked mileage on each tank and averaged 19.2. The lowest was 17.0 going from the low country in TX to New Mexico. The best ironically was going from Pueblo Co. to Grand Junction (through Montrose) Averaged 20.9. That takes you over Monarch Pass at 11,312' Elevation. Probably the reason that was so good was Average speed was 53 mph, due to winding roads. The final stretch from Grand Junction to Utah was 19.7.
I kept the speed at 65-70 mph. Above 70 the mpg suffers. The speedo shows about 1/2 mph low. The Computer trip computer consistently showed about 1 mpg optimistic. It was a great trip.
My biggest take away is that after a few hundred miles The driving position felt normal. Also I usually get sore after 3-4 hours continuous driving in my Camry. I was good in the Promaster for 8-9 hours. The seats are very comfortable and nice upright position.
