This topic contains 6 replies, has 7 voices, and was last updated by 
-
Posts
-
I have always got slightly worse MPG with my car in the winter, probably from idling and different gas blends. In the summer I average 27mpg with city and hwy driving where in the winter I get as low as 21mpg. The highest I ever get is running 65-70mph I get 34mpg.
Well just before Christmas we decided to leave in some pretty snowy conditions and could only drive between 40-55mph during our whole trip. The first time I topped off the tank I got 39mpg, and the second time I got 41.6mpg
The car is a 2004 cavalier with an automatic, and is only rated at 31mpg.Guess all that winter slow driving can have a great side effect. Anyone else have a similar experience with driving slow in the winter?
That’s why the speed limit was lowered to 55 MPH. Most vehicles gas mileage will peak between 50 and 55.
I know my milage drops some during winter. 1) my truck does more idling because I am scraping /brushing frost/snow off of it and it is warming up while I am doing that. 2) I drive a two wheel drive pick-up and I need to add a little extra weight behind the rear wheels for added traction. 3) if my tire’s air preassure is down a little bit, I will usually leave it for the added traction as well.
Slowing down on long trips has helped, but babying it for daily use hasn’t done anything regardless of temp, probably because of all the idling now with the cold weather.
Slowing down definately helps.
In the past, I’ve aways done about 8-10 MPH over the limit while on the Freeway. When on a trip, I want to make the best time possible.
This summer for the first time, I started driving the speed limit, or slightly under. Every time I went up to the cabin, or any long trips, I set the cruise control at 64 MPH, instead of my usual 74 MPH. The results were an increase of 2 MPG.
2 MPG increase is huge for me. My truck typically gets 15 MPG. Driving slow has increased it to 17 MPG. My truck has a 42 gallon tank. Do the math and figure out how much it cost me to fill up at this summer’s gas prices. Some rough calculations would indicate I saved about 5.6 gallons per tank, when I drive the speed limit. That’s about $22 woth of gas at $4.00 a gallon.
This summer’s gas prices have really changed my driving habits.
I did notice that this winter my mileage has gone way down. I think that’s mostly because of warming my car up for a while, and driving a lot in four wheel drive.
There is another reason for decreased fuel economy in the winter.
All fuel injected cars have an air temperature sensor (IAT) between the air filter and the throttle body. The IAT tells the ECU in the car how rich or how lean of fuel/air mixture to use, to keep the vehicles performance the same throughout the year.
In cold temperatures, the sensor tells the ECU to richen the mixture, because cold air is more dense, and requires more fuel to make proper combustion.
It’s much economical for me in the winter. I cache less which means I drive less which means I spend less on fuel…
I know this thread is about MPG but when you think of the economy of it all, isn’t gas typically cheaper in the winter? Therefore, regardless of this discussion, it might be more economical to cache in the winter than in the summer when gas prices peak due to early summer travel demands.
It’s too cold out to go caching…
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.