98 intrigue..winter vs summer fuel consumption

[harmankardon35]

ronnie...i live in canada But I don't see those kinds of extreme temperatures. Where do you live? Coldest this winter was -25 and that was only one night. I live just north of Toronto. Today fwas just above freezing in the sun, and its getting warmer every day...You can try premium fuel as it doesn't usually contain ethanol like regular fuel (up to 10% at most stations)

[sydtron]

Harmon, where do you live in Canada? Even in West Michigan, buffeted by the big lake, it gotten down to -20F, almost -30C, a few times this winter. This morning was 5F, -15C for my friends to the north.

Roonie, I believe Hoov is onto something with the fuel-air mix running rich until the engine is warm; I know I try to let my car run until the AIR pump is done doing its thing. Did you ever check your shift points when the tranny is cold to? It sounds like the running rich, higher running speeds due to no lock-up, and a less energy dense winter fuel mix could easily account for the drop in mileage.

[harmankardon35]

southern ontario....in the greater toronto area it gets cold but not the deepest extremes folks even a few hours north can get. must have to do with the lakes

[lameurer86]

I seem to notice a drastic drop in mileage during the winter months, here in Minnesota, and it only started happening this winter. I got the car last spring and was fine last winter. last winter was a bit more mild than this year. I would think it was because of the cold temps but I am not an expert by any means. Just thought you would like to know that I have the same problem.

[harmankardon35]

most Canadian auto parts stores (napa, carquest, partsource, canadian tire) put a HUGE mark-up on many car parts....fraudulent if you ask me. I always log onto sites like carjunky or 1aauto and order online...about a week later UPS drops the parts off and I save a bunch of money by switching my car insurance to geiko....well maybe not that last part, but definatly save on ordering parts

[LittleHoov]

RockAuto ships to Canada. Ive always had a pleasant experience with them, as have others here.


And if you go to the last page of this thread, theres a current 5% discount code. That thread is updated regularly as new codes come out.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-...308/?start=140

[roonie]

Originally Posted by harmankardon35

ronnie...i live in canada But I don't see those kinds of extreme temperatures. Where do you live? Coldest this winter was -25 and that was only one night. I live just north of Toronto. Today fwas just above freezing in the sun, and its getting warmer every day...You can try premium fuel as it doesn't usually contain ethanol like regular fuel (up to 10% at most stations)

I live in central Saskatchewan. We have had a terrible winter here with many weeks in a row of -30 temps at night and -25 in the day. This is when my car does the worst.
what would happen if i unhooked my air intake so that i was not bringing in cold air from the front and just brought air in under the hood? Surely my air intake would be warmer...or do i not want to do that? I cant help but thinking how relavent my milage is as the outside tempurature drops.

[LittleHoov]

Your car is going to use more fuel in the winter than in the summer, its as simple as that, and just common sense.


No matter what your approach, your car will take longer to reach operating temperature(max efficiency) in the winter than in the summer. If you let it idle till it warms up, youll use more fuel that way, if you simply get in and drive, it will take longer to warm up than in the summer. I think thats the biggest impact, and why everyone gets worse mileage in the winter, not just you.


As for re-routing your intake I dont think it would be worth it, but thats just my opinion, you might see a performance drop once the vehicle is warmed up as well.

Just make the best of it you can, block off your radiator with some cardboard, that should help your temps keep up when moving. Other than that make sure your tire pressure is high enough, and keep your foot out of the go-pedal until summer gets here.

[dizzle1]

I have seen some cars were they block the grills in the winter and I don't see a reason for it. Maybe they aren't using 50/50 coolant or they have car issues when the engine gets cold instead of warm when they drive in freezing weather. But this shouldn't be a problem with New Cars etc. The coolant bottle says what the 50/50 can handle. -32 for Dexcool even if its striaght dexcool and u mix 50/50 with a gallon of distilled water. Using 2 coolant bottles to even it out.

I believe that the car only releases coolant from the engine when its warm and pushes it in the radiator again, keeping it warm.

But for best mpg in the winter make sure you to these things
Good tire pressure
5w-30 oil maybe synthetic low vicosity
Tune up
No Check Lights, CEL
Oil change at 3000miles
Idle no more than 5minutes and up to 1 minute after short stops
No more than 2.5 rpm when driving, don't push a cold engine, no rev warm ups.
Good Alignment
Clean airfilter/ PCV

[harmankardon35]

just after Christmas i changed my oil to 0w30 and the engine doesn't seem to turn over so slowly in the cold mornings. Im not worried anymore winter is pretty much circling the drain.....I F@#%ING hate winter