Quote:
Originally Posted by puddleglum
I disagree, you still take a hit with cold starts and short trips. Even if you can beat the EPA, you won't beat it by as much as if you had longer trips and a fully warmed up engine.
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Now you're talking about the difference between a 'reason' and an 'excuse'. Most of what people put down to 'cold start' penalty is more about maneuvering out of your driveway/ parking space/ waiting to turn onto the main road etc. If I reverse out of my drive, it's not unusual to see 100-200l/100km on the SG. That takes a while to average out. If I park in reverse, on a 0*C morning, I can see 5.5 within 1 km in a 2 ton van!
That's also why the Prius does so well on short trips, the EV mode eliminates the "parking maneuver" penalty. 12 miles isn't what I'd call a short trip.
For above freezing, the cold start penalty is fairly small in my experience - even smaller if you have a grill block.