do you lose gas mileage in winter?

[bones22 5,000+ posts]

Lies. Intake Air Temperature sensor reads the air as colder, and thus more dense, and sends more fuel to the combustion chamber, leading to better performance. As far as mileage gains, they're minimal at best and only produce such gains by increasing the efficiency of the intake system by reducing restriction.
In a nutshell, IAT sends more fuel to burn in the cold.

Also, when your car starts in the cold, it goes into a warmup mode where the idle kicks up and it runs a bit rich to heat the motor up faster. I get horrible mileage in the winter because of my beastly cooling system keeping the car in warmup mode.

this is about the best answer you will get unless you want a lot of tech talk

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

this is about the best answer you will get unless you want a lot of tech talk

Tyty. I try hard (sometimes) to explain things in chimp terms lol.

 

[qtipextra 5,000+ posts]

I get less too. I was getting about 16-17 MPG in the summer, now getting about 13MPG.

It happens in the winter, just the way life works.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

I notice my Civic Hybrid is averaging 44mpg it averaged 48mpg in the summer //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Dont drive that thing in the winter. It's destroying our environment.

 

[HypnoticCure 10+ year member]

some of the stuff said here is bs, im not gonna go into the who knows more but 90% of the drop is due to the winter formula that they use for our gas. Another issue is that when its colder our motor oil doesnt get as hot so it stays thicker and increases the drag on the rotational mass. Also if you use 4wd then your mpg will go to hell as well.

 

[CrispedUp 10+ year member]

some of the stuff said here is bs, im not gonna go into the who knows more but 90% of the drop is due to the winter formula that they use for our gas. Another issue is that when its colder our motor oil doesnt get as hot so it stays thicker and increases the drag on the rotational mass. Also if you use 4wd then your mpg will go to hell as well.

mmm, i probably should use 2wd, since its not that bad on the roads.

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

mmm, i probably should use 2wd, since its not that bad on the roads.

Only use 4wd when necessary, 4wd puts more stress on the engine and transmission which could cause premature failure.

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Another issue is that when its colder our motor oil doesnt get as hot so it stays thicker and increases the drag on the rotational mass.

Using the proper weight of oil makes this argument null. I dunno about you guys, but I run 0w-20 in my car this time of year.

And wtf are you talking about, 'winter formula'?

 

[SuperchargedRS 10+ year member]

Fuel weighs more when it's cold, i.e. 1 gal or gas is normally around 6lbs at 60f, which may affect things, though 4x4 vs. 2wd WILL affect your mpg

Do NOT use 4wd on dry roads it will cause drive train binding if you go into a turn, as your transfer case will not allow a difference in wheel speed between your front and rear wheels in a turn

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

Fuel weighs more when it's cold, i.e. 1 gal or gas is normaly around 6lbs at 60f, that may effect things, though 4x4 vs 2wd WILL effect your mpg

The density of fuel does not change as dramatically as you think. The only difference in weight really only comes into play after, say, 1000 gallons.

Do NOT use 4wd on dry roads it will cause drive train binding if you go into a turn, as your transfer case will not allow a difference in wheel speed between your front and rear wheels in a turn

Maybe if you have the hubs locked...

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

i always run my 4wds in 4wd high all the time for better traction...so more less like awd ...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[geezy21unc 10+ year member]

Wow you guys are funny, Colder Air is dense air therefore your foot will be on the throttle more because of the "gain" in power. Well for me at least, darn turbos...

 

[SuperchargedRS 10+ year member]

i always run my 4wds in 4wd high all the time for better traction...so more less like awd ...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Really guys.... AWD has a center diff, 4x4 has a transfer case, if you PUT YOUR 4x4 into 4WD and make tight little turns it WILL bind, doesn’t matter if your in 4H or L or middle lowish high, IT WILL BIND, you don’t have a center diff.

Maybe if you have the hubs locked...

If your hubs are locked and 4wd is engaged on the tcase, then you ARE in 4wd.... there is no maybe, and you WILL bind turning on dry pavment.

Also if you don’t think the temp thing is significant, go top your car up on a cold day, then park it in you warm garage, check the floor in the morning for your present loll.

 

[muskyhunter567 10+ year member]

i allways thought i got bad gas mileage in the winter cause i got stuck all the time and everywhere i drove was gettin sidways, but thats just me

 

[atoz350 10+ year member]

In most of the country, gas stations use oxygenated gas in order to light your catalytic converter off faster during the winter months. There is usually a decrease in gas milage from this type of fuel.