2 x bad news
First, winter is here. Even though I still haven't seen snow, the temps are noticeably lower, which shows up on the fuel consumption monitor, even with a prewarmed engine. Winter tires hurt more than the thinner oil helps. Today was the first time since May that I filled up with less than 1550km on the odo (only 1450km). Pure city driving, and towing my brother-in-law's car with a cold engine, didn't help. The effect is 4.0 l/100km instead of the 3.9 I almost got used to
Second, I lost the better part of my engine tray today
I was backing up when I heard a loud noise under the car, then saw a piece of plastic on the pavement. The rear part of the tray must have been hanging down and caught on something while backing up, snagging and breaking. The tray was already damaged when I bought the car - there was a hole on the right side. Now only the front (up to the oil pan) and a little of the left remains, about 1/3 of the whole. I have yet to inspect it closely, hopefully the oil pan heating pad is OK, but the tray needs to be replaced anyway (cost ~60-100€). I'd like to make a custom tray, but it won't pass inspection, so I'll have to settle for the OEM (or similar) version, with all its holes and bulges. Grrr
