another MPG issue

[deadring]

hi, just wondering what you guys do as MPG in the winter.. and i mean like nothern states and canada... just to know if im low..

im around 12 MPG in city only.. i let the car idle 10minutes when i take off to work and 10 more before coming back home since we got real cold climate here. and im not THAT gentle.. i dont drive like a 90 year old man ( no offence for the elderly) and i dont drive like a 16 year with rice ( ok offense is given now :P )

and when i mean cold temperature, i mean COLD as in BRRRRR -5 to - 20 degress F !! (like tonight saturday night january 22 its gonna be - 25 F !!!!!)

i got new plugs and wires and a new O2 sensor as well

so is my MPG normal or not?

Deadring

[volkerc]

my perrsonal opinion, no.
i got a 91 pa and i'm getting more mpg than you, besides i own a 79 firebird with a souped up 350 and it gets 10 mpg, so i'd say your car is way off.
i just installed a new pcv valve, think the previous owners never changed it and i got a little bit better mpg, next i want to change the fuel filter, but again, sounds like your off in mpg...

[deadring]

how wmuch mileage ith your full tank? in city only here

i already changed my fuel filter, wires, plugs and even the oxygen sensor.. whgat else is there? how much is a PCV valve?

Deadring

[volkerc]

about $4 for the pcv valve. should be changed when changing the airfilter and is mostly overlooked.is also an emission part.and i get about 18 miles to the gallon in the city, if that is what you wanted to know.

[volkerc]

your 20 minute idle time does not help you much either, that is like sitting in traffic for 20 minutes!modern cars can be driven right after you started them, even in the cold.you are not supposed to "race" them when the engine is cold, but if you start it up and drive it right away, the engine heats up pretty fast and so does your interior.once they reach normal operating temperature you go faster if you need to...

[deadring]

"modern cars can be driven right after you started them"

not really,well not here. like right now, as i write these lines, it's -23 degrees F here.. there is no way you can just start up a car, even if it had a block heater on it ( like mine does) and drive off... first thing you would get in condensation of the interior air because of your body heat which leads to freezing up of ALL the windows and you cant see where your going within 2 minutes. Even if you did put on the defrost air on the windshield, it would still have no effect coze your engine if COLD.. besides, you should try driving your PA in that temperature, its terribly harsh on a car, my shocks ( which are new sensatracs) are so hard it and move so little i would step on a dime with the car and i would feel it.. it's like having H-beams under there instead of the shocks.

so believe me, warming up the car 10 minutes is not an option. At 32 degrees F i can understand what you mean..but that is not my case.

Deadring

[volkerc]

I'm glad I'm not in Canada, no offense. I see how -32F is pretty darn cold. Hate to be a car in Canada also I guess, again, no offense.Well I was doing some more calculations here, and your warm up times definetely kill your MPG big time, I think all you can do, that is left is change the PCV.Bad thing about idling the engine is lubrication problems. When idling the engine for a long time you do not get any oil splash into the cylinder bores from the crank. Now that is generally speaking, as some cars now have some sort of oil injection into those areas, but I assume very few, and I'm not sure the 3.8 Buick got that kind of help, hope you change your oil often.Take care and God bless!

[deadring]

hey no offense taken it's just that it is really hard on car to take off just like that... since your in gemany or somehwere related you understand more about the metrical system, we get -35 celsius and even some -40.. with the wind factor it's -50.. but thats doen't count since it doesn't effect cars only poeple, and in summer we get +30 degrees.. so you see, we get both extremes... oh and in winter, they put salt to melt the snow on the roads.. now imagine what that can do to a under side of a car ...cars here dont stay beautiful long...hthats why we rust proof them.. i do ever year.. they shoot antirust all over the place.

and the gas aint getting cheap to top it off,

ever heard of spikes in tires? we got that.. but were not that up north.. just 450 KM from montreal, quebec.

Deadring

[Ftrev]

Originally Posted by deadring

hi, just wondering what you guys do as MPG in the winter.. and i mean like nothern states and canada... just to know if im low..

im around 12 MPG in city only.. i let the car idle 10minutes when i take off to work and 10 more before coming back home since we got real cold climate here. and im not THAT gentle.. i dont drive like a 90 year old man ( no offence for the elderly) and i dont drive like a 16 year with rice ( ok offense is given now :P )

and when i mean cold temperature, i mean COLD as in BRRRRR -5 to - 20 degress F !! (like tonight saturday night january 22 its gonna be - 25 F !!!!!)

i got new plugs and wires and a new O2 sensor as well

so is my MPG normal or not?

Deadring

I have a 97 Ultra, live in northern New Jersey where it has been in the single digits for two weeks including 118 inches of snow. I get 18 miles to the gallon around town and can get up to 21 on trips during the wintger months. Summer gets me up to 21 around town and I jump all over it to keep from getting run over by the big rigs on the interstate.

[volkerc]

Originally Posted by deadring

hey no offense taken it's just that it is really hard on car to take off just like that... since your in gemany or somehwere related you understand more about the metrical system, we get -35 celsius and even some -40.. with the wind factor it's -50.. but thats doen't count since it doesn't effect cars only poeple, and in summer we get +30 degrees.. so you see, we get both extremes... oh and in winter, they put salt to melt the snow on the roads.. now imagine what that can do to a under side of a car ...cars here dont stay beautiful long...hthats why we rust proof them.. i do ever year.. they shoot antirust all over the place.

and the gas aint getting cheap to top it off,

ever heard of spikes in tires? we got that.. but were not that up north.. just 450 KM from montreal, quebec.

Deadring

We had spikes in tires also, but they made them illegal.To much road damage, and of course they use salt to melt the ice. Plenty of it, got a load on my car now. The coldest I remember it got here was like -18C, but that was quite some time ago. So I feel you when you say -35 or -40.BRRRRR. Shivering just thinking of that...

[kaspr]

Deadring, I feel for you! Here in Minnesota last week it got as cold as -35F, and we had about a week straight where it didn't reach 0. I affirm that you just don't start up your car and go; you have to let it warm up at least a few minutes. As to MPG, I think your 12 mpg is normal. Considering the all-city driving and warmup times, and the bitter cold, I think it's normal. The pcv might make a difference, but probably not much (They don't go bad very often; often 100K+ miles). It'll be interesting to see how much mpg improves when it warms up.

[deadring]

oh it should improve no doubt about it.. as of right now as i write these lines, it's -20 F BRRR is damn right

this morningi could hear the car flex and crack as i got out of the drive way, i got a BIG icy bump there and its too cold to get a shovel or something to flaten it, these temperatures are killin the cars

deadring

[lglm]

Originally Posted by deadring

oh it should improve no doubt about it.. as of right now as i write these lines, it's -20 F BRRR is damn right

this morningi could hear the car flex and crack as i got out of the drive way, i got a BIG icy bump there and its too cold to get a shovel or something to flaten it, these temperatures are killin the cars

deadring

my pa ultra ( 95) gets about 14 around town, using premium, and when it gets really cold here , there is no effect.. even all the way down to 45 or 50 degrees :>)