scottydl
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There's nothin' like an American V-8...
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Post by scottydl on Dec 22, 2004 19:08:13 GMT -6
My fuel economy is getting consistently worse as winter continues. Over the summer/fall months I averaged 19.8 mpg throughout my mixed daily driving conditions, and I would reset the DIC mpg meter at every fill-up. Recently I decided to let the "Average" mpg accumulate over several tanks, and much to my dismay it keeps getting lower... down to 18.6 mpg now with no signs of stopping.
Why would fuel economy be *worse* in the winter, when engines are actually running cooler? I do not let my Aurora sit and warm up since it's garaged, so I don't think that wasted "idle fuel" is a factor for me.
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Post by stevensolds on Dec 22, 2004 19:22:15 GMT -6
warmer means better gas mileage first of all. cooler doesnt necessarily mean better. its probably worse. 18.6? your lucky. i get 12mpg with a new air filter.
Probably my EGR or something is plugged.
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Post by Marc on Dec 22, 2004 19:33:11 GMT -6
The colder the temperature, the worse the gas mileage. ___________________ GM!!! BRING BACK OLDS!!!  |
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Post by stevensolds on Dec 22, 2004 19:39:17 GMT -6
^^^
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Post by JimW on Dec 22, 2004 20:07:17 GMT -6
Indeed, its common across the board when the weather gets colder. Typical behaviour Scotty, dont let it phase you to much.
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Post by Aurora40 on Dec 22, 2004 21:01:24 GMT -6
In addition to your car running less efficiently until it warms up (for example, most cars idle higher when cold), most states require fuel to be oxygenated in the winter, which means it has less energy. It takes more of it for the same amount of power.
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Post by stevensolds on Dec 22, 2004 21:03:32 GMT -6
fock, forgot about that. good point.
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scottydl
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There's nothin' like an American V-8...
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Post by scottydl on Dec 22, 2004 21:13:05 GMT -6
Thanks guys, a feel a little better.  I just like to keep things as efficient as possible... although 18.6 isn't half bad considering my folks' Dodge Caravan (V-6) averages about the same or lower. I couldn't believe that! |
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Post by Custom88 on Dec 23, 2004 23:10:50 GMT -6
Like mentioned above, it's true that there are different mixes of gasoline. There's the summer blend, and there's the winter-month blend. You can always tell when the winter blend starts to be distributed because your gas mileage drops quickly. I dropped 5 MPG average. (went from 28 MPG down to 23 MPG.)
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Post by Rocketv8 on Dec 24, 2004 13:53:16 GMT -6
 my gas mileage has dropped from about 17 mpg to 15.5 mpg since the cold weather...almost all my driving is short stop and go city driving, but it always suffers in the cold....oil is thicker in the cold, cars sit a t idle longer to warm up and the gas around here is reformulated in winter so we get really low mpg...is your 18.6 mpg city or highway  thats pretty good if its city..
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scottydl
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There's nothin' like an American V-8...
Posts: 7,373
Staff Member
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Post by scottydl on Dec 24, 2004 15:18:18 GMT -6
is your 18.6 mpg city or highway thats pretty good if its city.. It's about a 50/50 mix of city and highway, which is my daily commute. |
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Post by Rocketv8 on Dec 28, 2004 17:03:14 GMT -6
 drove the NJ Turnpike yesterday for 65 miles doing about 70mph most of the way.....i got 23.8 mpg
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I just like to keep things as efficient as possible... although 18.6 isn't half bad considering my folks' Dodge Caravan (V-6) averages about the same or lower. I couldn't believe that!
my gas mileage has dropped from about 17 mpg to 15.5 mpg since the cold weather...almost all my driving is short stop and go city driving, but it always suffers in the cold....oil is thicker in the cold, cars sit a t idle longer to warm up and the gas around here is reformulated in winter so we get really low mpg...is your 18.6 mpg city or highway 
drove the NJ Turnpike yesterday for 65 miles doing about 70mph most of the way.....i got 23.8 mpg