What am I doing wrong? mpg's

[gothlicroni]

Sorry jetfuel, haha..I know nothing about cars. But if you want to know anything about clothes and fashion, I'm your girl And I will just wait until it gets warmer to see if it changes but I won't go crazy over it. I am very very happy with my car and like someone else said, it's still WAY better mileage than my last car (hyundai).

[tgobie50]

For my two cents, I drive the car at 3500/3700 rpm at a steady 70-77mph most every day. My round trip is all Expressway. I'm averaging 325 to 375 per tank. I fill up at two bars, cost $14.00. No matter what you can't beat this car, and it does haul _ss.

[tinysmart]

winter kills mpg, you're on the right track.

[jetfuel]

Originally Posted by gothlicroni

Sorry jetfuel, haha..I know nothing about cars. But if you want to know anything about clothes and fashion, I'm your girl

...sorry babe....didn't know...we are here to help, so, any time you need it let us know....and thanks for the offer but I think I'll keep my bell bottom jeans and my amoeba shirts....young kids look it up..lol

jetfuel

[PerryA]

I agree that winter is a factor. You may not notice longer times in traffic with more idling (even if you aren't doing a warm up before you start out). I'll leave it to the more technically oriented to comment on the fuel issue. A Scangauge can help you see what's happening, but the best way to measure is to have a fair amount of non-winter driving for comparison.

If you glance at your Scangauge from time to time on your regular route during other times of the year and then in winter, you can see whether there is some direct impact. You can also use the average MPG by tank from the Scangauge to see if performance varies tank to tank. Then you can consider other factors that might be influencing. For instance, you did more highway driving on this tank or the temperatures were particularly low.

My experience with other vehicles is that over the long term, performance generally tracks pretty consistently unless there's a mechanical problem. The Smart is a different animal, but I suspect the same variation on the positive side during summer would elicit less of a reaction than a drop.

You're the only one who can say whether you changed anything about what you do when you drive.

[randygt]

hello winter does kill your fuel milage and also that the gas they use burns more faster if you use premium it will give you less fuel milage than regular i experimented it one day i filled up premium at one station cuz they ran out of regular and i got lost 50 km on the premium fuel than the regular .the premium burns faster and cleaner and it was when i had my hyundai accent ,so im not to sure about the smart cars ,well seems to me everyone here has gas .....well mine is a 2005 passion diesel and i get good fuel milage one time i got 120 km on one bar on the guage ..i believe if you do highway alot it will burn more rather than you do local cuz the engine has to work harder ...have anyone ever used lucas fuel additives it should lubricate your engine and give you tons of extra milage .

[seano]

Yeah, in every car I've ever had, I get worse mileage in winter. Between the engine running cold (when it is at its least efficient) and the quality of the fuel "blend" in winter time, you'll always see a drop. Even my brother in law's Prius doesn't do all that well in winter.

[gothlicroni]

Well today my check engine light came on and hasn't gone off. I'm bringing it in Saturday so while they check that, I'm sure if there is anything wrong with the fuel, they'll tell me. But from what everyone has said, I'm sure it's just b/c it's been so darn cold..brrr..

[Woody14619]

I was mid to high 40s most of the summer too, and am now in the mid to low 30s. It's a combo of winter driving, temperatures and driving less because I hate driving in the snow. I figured this would happen mid winter, so I'm not to set off about it. I'm still averaging about 39.5, but that's down from 41ish over the summer. I'm betting I'll track at about 40ish after a year, with summer being high 40s and winter being mid 30s.

[SidneytheSmartee]

Yep!! Winter is the problem!!! my MGP plummeted once the nasty weather hit us. You can always tell when there are really nice days. The car runs like a champ and I get a few more extra miles out of the tank.