Wondering what MPG people are getting with this cold spell. It was 7 degrees yesterday and i don't think on my commute i saw over 30mpg while i see nearly 40mpg usually. i haven't seen those good numbers in a while...but it's not been over freezing in a while either. plus there are snow tires but still. what have people been getting?

 

Here in Northern VA it's been freezing all week as well. My MPG has dropped from 30.9 down to 30.0..but my Cooper is only 2 months old. Still, I have noticed it drop as well but not as much as yours.

 

I noticed my MPG has dropped 2 to 3 in the past 3 or 4 weeks. I am going o check my tire pressure after work, but i just put the tires on and they were at 36 then. I also switched to a different brand gas to see if that makes a difference.

 

winter blend gas...

 

1. Winter gas blend

2. Cold weather - car runs cold for much longer making it use more fuel.

3. Tires - if not properly inflated for the low temps will be sometimes as much as 4-5 lbs low.

4. Short Trips - In cold weather really can reduce gas mileage 10-15% easily.

Combine all of these factors and you could easily go from 40 to 30 mpg.

 

yea these are all things i thought of. just wanted to make sure i wasn't alone! we are to get 4-7in of snow in the next 36 hours.i'm pumped...blizzaks on the mini. makes the suv's and most everyone else look silly...unless i'm next to the wifes x3 with blizzaks haha

 

off topic here but it is fun to drive the mini in the snow got 15+ inches last saturday night in maine (i was there skiing) and it was a blast.

 

I've seen my MPGs go down a bit in this cold snap too. But that's happened with every vehicle I've owned. Winter-mix gas, denser air, etc.... It all adds up to fewer MPGs.

I'm looking forward to getting the Cooper out into the fluffy stuff over the next couple days. We always seem to get the higher end of the forecast snowfall up here in the Zionsville area. No Blizzaks, but at least my all-seasons are as new as the car.

 

don't forget, warming up the car in the driveway = 0 MPG. Mine has dropped from 36 to 33 MPG, and I'm sure most of it is due to the 5 to 10 minutes driveway warmup, on the move the mileage looks to be the same as warm weather.

 

Yep I was at 37-39.X now im seeing 32.X

And i hardly warm it up in the am.

And what the deuce is "winter blend gas"??

 

Ecu runs a richer fuel map when cold.

colder air is dense so the more air in the ecu compensates with more fuel so the engine does not run lean.

in the old days we leaned a carb in summer and in witer we would run a richer jet.

 

30.5 to 29 with Blizzak's and we haven't seen above 0 much lately in Minnesota.

 

http://ask.cars.com/2009/02/whats-th...y-cars-pe.html

http://i-r-squared.blogspot.com/2006...-gasoline.html

 

10% ethanol,aka corn squeezins, and dense air. I wish I could get the mileage you guys and gals are claiming. 35 is about the best real mileage I have had. 13K so I guess she is just getting broken in now.

 

Mine has gone down quite a bit these past two winters. I'd easily say it's gone down to 30.

 

what if i never saw passed 28 mpg, ever? maybe my car needs to be looked at

 

Its got to be the gas. My car is always garaged. I pulled out of my garage in NY and drove 3 hours to Providence, RI the other night. Avg outside temp was 28. I drive to Boston from NY on a regular basis for work. Last summer I usually got about 31MPG on a trip like that. The other night I only got 28MPG.

 

Recently on long trips, like over 50 miles, I get 28 or 30 mpg, but if it's less than 15 miles I usually get 23 or 24 mpg. Then again I do have an automatic and drive pretty spirited.

 

I'm down 2 to 3 mpg, most of it has to do with warmup time I think.

 

how was your morning? i went from a 45 min commute to 1.15 hr. car did wonderful. played going down through north penn from broadripple then had to deal with suv's and idiots through downtown and on i-70...drive home should be interesting

 

I work nights, so I commuted home at 10am. Chickened out, and took "The Batmobile" (a big, honkin' RWD Crown Vic) to work. I didn't want to get salt on my new MINI. Silly me... They hadn't touched the roads with a plow or salt! A 25 minute drive became a 45 minute slog, plus the additional time it took to clear the snow off the extra acre of sheetmetal on the Vic .

The better-half had her MINI out and commuted home (workin' nights too) at 8:30am, with no issues. Just gotta take it easy, and stay away from the idiots who are rushing to the scene of THEIR accident.

Be careful on the way home tonight. Who knows? The roads might even be cleared by then.

 

My computer shows about 25.5 but usually when I figure it out the old school way its around 27 mpg or so This is pretty much mixed driving too.

 

Called my dealership today about the same problem. Fuel companies are putting additives in to prevent fuel freezing, which is causing a decrease in MPG.