5500 Mile Canadian Road Trip through the Maritimes

[DScruggs]

I just returned from 16 day 5500 mile road trip through Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador ending with a 2 day stop in Quebec city. Oddly, the gas mileage, and cost, was a bit bizzare.

First of all everything is recorded in US$, in miles and in gallons. I triple checked my liters to gallons conversion. I used 72 cents US to the CAD.

I was told that gas in Canada was twice as hgh as the US. Wrong. I was paying about $4 per gallon in Maine. Then, in New Brunswick I was paying about 1.809 cents (Canadian) per liter. 1.809 x .72 =$1.303 USD per liter. $1.303 x 3.785 (liters in a gallon) I had about $4.93 USD per gallon. FAR from double.

Then the mileage. The highway trip to Maine resulted in 33 mpg. Tooling around Maine including Acadia National Park netted 39 mpg. The Acadia to Saint John NB was also good at 39.4 mpg. Then the bottom dropped out. From there on I averaged 30 mpg until the last day in Quebec. On two consecutive days it was under 24 mpg. Oddly, the 12 hour highway drive back to Maryland was over 37 mpg. 31.4 mpg was the overall aggregate for the trip.

The truck ran flawlessly the whole way. I could not have happier with the performance overall.

Sponsored

 

[Hunters Edge]

I just returned from 16 day 5500 mile road trip through Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Labrador ending with a 2 day stop in Quebec city. Oddly, the gas mileage, and cost, was a bit bizzare.

First of all everything is recorded in US$, in miles and in gallons. I triple checked my liters to gallons conversion. I used 72 cents US to the CAD.

I was told that gas in Canada was twice as hgh as the US. Wrong. I was paying about $4 per gallon in Maine. Then, in New Brunswick I was paying about 1.809 cents (Canadian) per liter. 1.809 x .72 =$1.303 USD per liter. $1.303 x 3.785 (liters in a gallon) I had about $4.93 USD per gallon. FAR from double.

Then the mileage. The highway trip to Maine resulted in 33 mpg. Tooling around Maine including Acadia National Park netted 39 mpg. The Acadia to Saint John NB was also good at 39.4 mpg. Then the bottom dropped out. From there on I averaged 30 mpg until the last day in Quebec. On two consecutive days it was under 24 mpg. Oddly, the 12 hour highway drive back to Maryland was over 37 mpg. 31.4 mpg was the overall aggregate for the trip.

The truck ran flawlessly the whole way. I could not have happier with the performance overall.

Sounds like a lot of scenery. Hope you enjoyed the trip as well. Happy to read that you were happy with the Maverick ride, handling, room, mileage etc.. Just wondering if you snapped some scenic views along the trip and if you could attach or share them. If not no issue thanks for the post.

 

[Maverick123]

Wow that's quite the trip, must have been awesome!

What's it like being in Quebec with the language difference?

PS MPG really depends on the slope along your route; sometimes it's going slightly uphill all the way but you can't really tell. So your fuel economy is really bad one way and really good on the way back

Also, prevailing winds blow East so even on a return trip along a perfectly flat road your MPG will usually be better heading East because heding West you're driving into a headwind

 

[lm126027]

From your write up, sounds like you drove to Quebec city from Labrador. You do it via the road from (western Labrador) south to Baie Comeau then on to Quebec City? Wondering how that road is now. Did it back in the early 90's the 1st summer the most northern section was open (in a 89 Bronco II). North of Gagnon it was not much more than a wide gravel path in some places. At the time I was concerned about driving across Labrador to Goose Bay (even talked to the Provincial travel bureau), not the road north to western Labrador. I should have been more concerned about the drive north out of Baie Comeau. lol. Back then we had to put my Bronco II on a train to get it from Labrador City over to Escort and the road to Goose Bay (road to replace the train ride section was expected to be completed the next summer I believe).

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Great trip!
I can't risk myself driving too many hours
I felt sleep easily at my age
Flying is a better option for me

 

[DScruggs]

From your write up, sounds like you drove to Quebec city from Labrador. You do it via the road from (western Labrador) south to Baie Comeau then on to Quebec City? Wondering how that road is now. Did it back in the early 90's the 1st summer the most northern section was open (in a 89 Bronco II). North of Gagnon it was not much more than a wide gravel path in some places. At the time I was concerned about driving across Labrador to Goose Bay (even talked to the Provincial travel bureau), not the road north to western Labrador. I should have been more concerned about the drive north out of Baie Comeau. lol. Back then we had to put my Bronco II on a train to get it from Labrador City over to Escort and the road to Goose Bay (road to replace the train ride section was expected to be completed the next summer I believe).

The entire road in Labrador is paved. All the way from Blanc Sablon to Labrador City. Excellent road condition. However, Route 389 in Quebec still has two extensive gravel segments. The 66km from Mont Wright south to Fire Lake is gravel and then the 93km from Relais-Gabriel south to Manic 5 is gravel.

We made the drive from Goose Bay to Baie-Comeau in one 12 hour day.

 

[MavGeek]

That sounds like a great trip! We want to go up to that area also, maybe next year. We are going to NC in July but taking the Edge as it is much more comfortable for long trips.

Sponsored