Winter Fuel Economy

[drift7one]

now I know that there is presumably a drop in fuel economy, with the change over to the winter formula that the companies produce. But I was just curious, how much of a drop are any of you experiencing, or should I expect?

my last (many) tanks of gas, prior to what I assumed is a formula change, I was getting between 300 and 320 miles on a tank of gas. The way I always saw it, was that every quarter tank got me about 75 to 80 miles.

however lately, just commuting to and from work as I always do, I've been getting between 45 and 55 miles per quarter tank. And I'm struggling to even get near 220 miles on a tank of gas.

I don't remember anything like this happening last year at all. And maybe some of it is contributing to the fact that I do now have a remote start on my car, however I don't let the vehicle run for more than about 5 minutes before I get into it.

[gweg_b]

This time of the year, I usually average 19mpg mixed, whereas in the warmer months I get closer to 25mpg mixed.

Doesn't help on days like today where I'm warming the car up for 15 minutes or so because I'm too sick to stand outside and scrap ice off the car. Hoping the internal temperature will melt it for me.

[repinS]

I would say a lot of it has to do with your remote start. A cold engine will run quite rich.

I've been using remote start as well and as of the start of November, my commute has been reduced to about 2 miles - so lots of idling and short trips on a cold motor. I'm barely getting 10 mpg.

[95se]

I went from 25-30 to 17-21 but ive got remote start and i use it very generously!

[00Beast]

I've dropped about 1.5 MPG, from around 20 to 18.6 in the G8, so about 7%. That's remote starting as I walk to it (remote distance is pitiful), and getting it warmed up all the trips I drive it. Also a mix of traffic, open freeway and around town, being about 60% highway, 20% traffic and 20% in town.

[92BonneSE]

Ive dropped about 4mpg avg (15-20%) in my non-bonneville. I was very surprised because I havent looked at it in awhile and didn't think it would drop that much. Also use remote start a lot, not sure if the car factors that in when displaying mpg

[00Beast]

I log every tank in fuelly, that's where my #s come from.

[gweg_b]

Speaking of, I have an entry I need to make from last week.

[00Beast]

I do it on the spot, otherwise I forget, etc. lol

[KelvinVV]

Is that what that is? Thank God, I thought something was wrong when I noticed I was getting a little fewer miles per tank.

[nos4blood70]

Mine always drops like 2 MPG

[1oldman]

If we were being sold real gasoline, the '92-99 NA Bonnevilles would probably be getting 23-24 mixed, 26-30 highway, at least that's what the old '92 I'm driving got before we were forced to burn the current form of 'gasoline' we have now. I though it was the car at first, but back in '09, the wife's new '09 CTS got the same mileage the Bonneville did, 15.5mpg. That is sad. I just wonder how much less gasoline would be used if we had the 'real thing'. - BC

[haro1225]

Im getting 16 mpg this tank with the GTP. I don't work very far away so the car is barely warm by the time to get to work. I usually get 20-22mpg, 28 on the Florida trip.

[Saturn Simon]

My economy does drop very slightly during the winter but I never put this down to the fuel. I always assumed it was because the engine was running richer for longer due to taking longer to warm up, and because you use more accessories during the winter, such as the heater and heated rear window, which also impacts on economy.

Also, if you are in the habit of leaving your engine running to warm the car up before you drive it away in the winter that will also impact your economy as at that point you are getting 0mpg.

[dangrus4060]

I just logged 13+ on my last tank...remote start, cold temp, only 6 miles to office, no interstate travel anymore...8 stoplights...some i have to set thru 2 maybe 3 cycles... and i hate winter.....

[human]

I'll admit I know next to nothing about fuel formulations here in N.C., but my fuel economy actually goes up slightly in the winter, which I've always attributed to not running the A/C constantly.

In my Aurora (4.0L Northstar V8), I'll get about 17-18 around town in the summer and 18-19 or better in the winter. Although it prefers premium gas, I run regular with a bottle of octane boost from the Dollar Tree. In my LSS (3800 Series II V6, naturally aspirated), I get 18-19 in the summer and 19-20 or better in the winter.

Because the winters are mild here, I don't bother changing to 'winter tires', but run the same tires year round.

[repinS]

FYI - that bottle of octane boost is good for "one point" of octane boost as advertised. As in 0.1. So you're really running 87.1 octane when you should be having 91 or better!

[MrJiggy716]

I'm getting about 16 MPG on my 00 SLE in winter on a good day. It has new tires and plugs/wires needs an alignment and a new cat so that may be effecting the MPG's. However I live In Buffalo, NY so during winter you can expect at least a 20 minute start up to get the car warm so you don't freeze you junk off on the first ten minutes to your destination, while you brush it off and dig out. We just got around 4 feet in two days with temps at 01 with a -15 wind chill and your more likely to see the Hulk fighting Spider man then a plow most of the time. Needless to say it gets nasty here at times. While the car idles I can see the MPG continue to drop on the DIC, lol.