How much worse will gas mileage be if a van is towing a trailer?

Question

My band is going on tour and we need to figure out how much $$$ gas will cost. We're driving a mini-van that will be hauling a 5'x7' trailer full of instruments and amplifiers.

Answer 1

Sorry , but this is kind of a vague question.Type of van?  Weight of trailer? Geographic area of travel? Only then can we estimate the mpg reduction  due to the trailer, i.e. miles traveled/miles per gallon/ cost per gallon of gasoline.

Answer 2

My experience has been your average mini van gets approximately 20mpg with a base engine with about 2000lbs towing capacity.  Upper models with bigger engines will have increased towing capacities at the cost of gas mileage.  I cant tell you for sure, not knowing weight, model of van etc, but a trailer as such would typically not be more than a 20% hit of fuel economy.  I know people with F250s and trailer homes who can still get 13mpg with tow.