I finnaly stopped procrastinating and attempted to see what my mpg was.
21.mpg
23.mpg
WHAT?! i thought something was up... but what could cause suck a suck tank? I think that it would be the constant cold (michigan sux... 2 weeks ago it was -30 w/ windchill) that keeps the engine in its "warming up" stage, so it doesnt shift into overdrive. consistantly it is traveling around at 3k rpm.... so is that the cause? i dont do long drives, im in high school, so is that the cause? Any tips are helpful. and no i do not typically floor my cube.

TY. N-G-

 

my car gets crap mileage after it gets cold and they go to winter mix for the gas

 

It's winter gas... also, if you drive mostly city, you aren't going to see 30. You'll see better mileage on longer trips, the stop and go and shorrt trips are what kill MPG.

 

Winter gas and cold, I drive mostly highway, last week it was below zero every morning here. I couldn't break 28 mpg. It has warmed up and the fill up today I was at 33 mpg.

 

im in rochester michigan, and i have noticed some pretty bad gas milage. the weather sucks so much, my little blue temp light stays on for like a half hour

 

shoulda got the manual ;-) i shift when i please lol

 

Engines are least efficient when they're cold. The larger the proportion of your driving is spent without the engine fully warmed up, the lower your MPG will be.

Winter gas doesn't help. Lots of stopping, starting, and especially idling (0 mpg when you're standing still!) hurt more.

R

 

I have found that most 87 octane during the winter is the problem. It's causing major spark knock in my wifes Jeep. We switched to mid grade 89 and all is well. Knock is gone and mpgs are back.

 

Lots of different factors act together for lousy cold weather mileage.

warmup time, even if limited to ice scraping time...

stop and go traffic- lots of idling and operation in lower gears

slow warmup, lots of open loop operation- deliberately rich mixture

winter gas has a lot more ethanol, which is lower in energy

accessory operation takes power- lights, wipers, blowers, defoggers all add up, although the effect is mnor compared to the a/c compressor in really hot weather...

cold lubricant drag- oil is like honey, and grease like wax at super low temps...

it even takes more energy to flex cold tires to get them to roll...