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Alright, so I have some results from a 360km trip. It was the maiden voyage for this beast, and it rained a lot both ways. I don't have a scan gauge yet, so I'm going by the factory eco display.
On the way down to Windsor (from Toronto). a 3.5 hour trip took over 5 hours and we rolled at 10 km/h for a solid stretch around kitchener, as well as a stretch near cambridge.
We averaged 18mpg on the trip down, including a little bit of city driving, and the slow parts of the highway. This is with the truck as is, exposed bed, tailgate up, etc - in the rain.
On the way back, we filled the tires before leaving (they were so low I'm kicking myself for not checking before I left). I averaged 23.4mpg on the 200km trip to London, ontario, where we stopped to buy a topper from someone on craigslist.
Still, same truck, but less rain, and full tires... 4mpg diffrence.
We bought the topper and installed it in London. Drove back to Toronto, 150km. Heavy rain again, 22mpg average.
Quick summary -
350km in rain and bad traffic, low tires - 18mpg
200km in light rain, tires full - 23.4mpg
150km in heavy rain with topper - 22mpg
Not very scientific, but it's a start.
Any ideas on the next move? I have a couple of weeks before I have to take a 600km trip, with a heavier load.
I'll post some pictures later, but the first thing I think I need to do is fill in some of the cavernous spaces on the front.
Next, I have to see if I can fill some of the space between the topper and the cabin (I'll post a picture to show the specific problem - and then all ideas are welcome).
After that, I don't know what my next move is.
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