edcaravan | poor gas milage in the winter ?
 

:cowboy:dose this engine always get poor gas milage in the winter

Welcome to the forum first off. I guess before responding a bit more info is needed, what sort of mileage are you getting now, and what are you comparing it too? How many miles are on your HHR, have you changed gasoline brands recently, when was it last serviced, and has it dropped off suddenly? You can see a small drop off in mileage in extreme cold weather, but its usually 1 to 2 mpg at most.

Welcome to the forum.....

I notice a small drop in mileage during the winter...... about 2-3 mpg.

Welcome & enjoy the ride!

my hhr has 10,ooo miles on it .in this chicago weather yeah it droped 1 to 2 mpg i put some new plugs in and chanegd the air cleanr evn gas stations hoping for a change,well somer is right around the corner ha ha

KANNAPAPOLIS NC , home of the EARNHARTS COOL

With only dropping 1 to 2 mpg I wouldn't worry. Cold weather can account for that kind of mileage drop off with no problem. Once you factor in the temperature, changes in gas blends for winter, increased rolling resistance with the cold, and other things...dropping some mileage is the price we pay while waiting for spring.

Thank you, ggood to know

Yeah, you picked up on my hometown. I've known the Earnhardt clan since I was in diapers, such nice people. People always ask me if I root for Junior, I tell 'em that I remember him as a baby...kinda freaks them out.

Another thing to remember is that the percentage of ethanol keeps going up and that lowers the mileage also. I read somewhere that they are going to start going to 15% (up from 10%)

I would not doubt it.

Considering many modern cars can run on e85, things like this in smaller doses work fine.

I notice in generall all my cars are effected for 2 reasons.

As coolant temps take longer to heat up so the engine can go into "Closed Loop" and start using the MAF to trim down fuel demands either we are using the remote start and allowing it to heat up idling or just driving and with the cold air. The car will use more fuel in that period of time.

Supposedly fuel injected cars are supposed to be more efficient with cold air. You must also add a few pounds to your tires in cold weather, as the pressure drops a bit.

I guess they use funky winter additives to lower mileage. I know in NJ, they used to use "oxygenated" gas. It cut your mileage by 10-15%, and made your car run like crap, with the exception of carburated cars, they liked it for some reason.

The aditional additives in better gas seems to get me about 3 to 6 more mpg Arco premium cheep gas 20mpg Chevron or Shell 5more cents 23 to26mpg the math say's more expensive gas is cheeper to run and it's got to be better for the injectors

My car loses BIG time in the winter. I get about 330miles to a tank in the winter, whereas I get about 420 miles to a tank in the summer. BUT, I remote start it everyday, more than once...that doesn't help. I am usually a little heavier footed in the winter (to warm it up faster).

Compared to Connecticut. We took a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 with the Small v8 from Central Conn down to English town NJ. I think we averaged something like 14 MPG (not towing anything, 2 seater truck). Gased up down there and averaged 16-17 mpg on the way back. My father in law is always down there in AC and goes to the Borgata and sees similar results.

NJ gas may get worse in the Winter but still far better then the garbage we get up here.

Also I was going to remark about the tires. Just a FYI, Nitrogen does not change in pressue. I get my filled for free but its a cool process to watch someone swapping it over.

Here's mu take on it.

Winter time mileage is always worse for me. I'm in Western NY. There is warm up and defrost time to consider. Your car is running, but just sitting there while the windows are defrosting, ans snow is being cleared off. This destroys your overall mileage.

Summer, you can hop in and go, no wasted warm up time You can sit in your driveway while the car is warming up at any time of year, and have your "Average MPG" on the display. If you zero'd it out recently, it doesn't take long to see it start to drop. , if you are not moving, you are getting zero miles per gallon. It's as simple as that.