I love the Winter (but not the MPG)

[jefferios]

It happens every year...I get to my peak MPG in the summer in the low to mid 40s. Then winter comes around and my MPG drops 5-10.

Just look at this:

'08 Smart (Sonic) (Smart Fortwo) | Fuelly

Last week our high temperature barely got above 0 degrees and my gas mileage was in the low 30s. Driving no different than I do in the summer and can get low 40s.

I know winter and the cold take a hurt on gas mileage, but this is a 25% loss.


What is everyone else seeing?

[Georgieslovak]

Jefferios: I love the winter AND my /05 Passion Diesel. 16F here in Whitby Ontario Canada and the lil Smart groaned a bit and then sprang to life. Not plugged in either..! Diesel mileage 462 miles on tank of fuel. Did not get the gas engine because of past dealings with diesels.....GREAT...and they "keeps on tickin'".

Enjoy the Winter.

Georgieslovak

[jwight]

Just wait til the fuel freezes into sludge in the tank!

Jeff has a point; winter mpg takes a hit - car is slow to warm up, more internal friction, lots of stop and go driving. If I knew a good weatherman I'd ask when this cold weather will end.

[smart fortimo]

Same here Jeff. When we are at -5 to 0* for lows and the highs in the 10's (and the IAF doesn't get above 45*, it's about 39 mpg.

When the temp is around 50's and up, it's in the 42 to 46 mpg range (depending on the lead in my foot).

Your winter numbers are lower than I've experienced, but the seasonal swing is confirmed.

Cheers,
Timo

[jefferios]

The good news is that the next week will be in the upper 20s here in Duluth, so my MPG should go up.

Don't forget I an taking 5-6 mile trips which are very short and some of my driving (about 50%) is pure, steep hills. (Like driving in SF)

I think I am doing very well with the conditions, but my avg of 40.1mpg is going to be like 39.6mpg by the winters end.

[Padawan]

When the weather turned consistently cold here in NJ, I began experimenting with running regular unleaded as opposed to premium. It's a bit early to tell since this is only my fourth tank of regular, but so far the indication seems to be that it is providing slightly better economy. The very cold air should reduce any potential pre-ignition (which I don't believe would be a problem regardless), and I have not noticed any performance penalty or abnormal engine behaviour.

[rfernatt]

Originally Posted by Padawan

When the weather turned consistently cold here in NJ, I began experimenting with running regular unleaded as opposed to premium. It's a bit early to tell since this is only my fourth tank of regular, but so far the indication seems to be that it is providing slightly better economy. The very cold air should reduce any potential pre-ignition (which I don't believe would be a problem regardless), and I have not noticed any performance penalty or abnormal engine behaviour.

When I owned a VW GTI 1.8T and had some cold weather starting issues and some stuttering, the service manager suggested running regular gas instead of the premium recommended for the turbo engine. It did seem to help, so there may be something to it. I might try a couple tanks of regular in the cold weather and see what happens to MPG.

[TMACK]

Likewise. My mpg has dropped to 38, from 42, since the cold weather started.

[NeWave]

Yep, I can say the same thing. My MPG dropped from 38 to 32. This tank I'm on is even worse. 3 bars left, and it's only at 160 mi.. usually at 3 bars it's around 210. I don't think it's the air so much as it's the gas...

[jefferios]

Hmmm, maybe I will try a tank of 87 next cold snap and see what happens.