grill block success

[dmafanp]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

One thing we need to recognise is that a lot of members here have to drive in temperatures that others never see. 25C below is around 45F below freezing, so about -13 Farenheit.

I saw a 20% drop in mileage here in eastern Va when we had temps down into the single digits Farenheit. Had they gone down another 25 degrees, I would have been in the same scenario as the OP. Only seen those kinds of temperatures once at a ski resort in 1966, 17 below with chill factors close to 40 below.

If you look at the OP's fuel log he has a few tanks at over 40 MPG, so when he saw 20, added a grille block and started using a block heater. Even with both of those mods, his mileage, at 30MPG is still far below the 40 where he has peaked.

Only a small percentage of us on this forum see a 50% loss in mileage due to winter temps.

I am not trying to argue that the claim of a 50% increase in mileage is due only to a grille block and it might have been better to explain this in the original post. I would guess that most of the improvement wasdue to the grille block, but the block heater use would be significant, especially if his commute is fairly short.

Success, however it is obtained is still better mileage. Instrumentation that provides instant feedback is great but the real goal is to lower fuel consumption.

Congratulations on your success.

regards
Mech

This is exactly my situation I believe the trip is 4.3 miles, thank you for explaining that,

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by Cobb

I believe his claims and thats a nice looking vw and matching grill block.

Those are pipe insulation you can buy at the hardware store.

I find my insight crashes its mpg when temp falls below the temp water freezes.

Our week or so of -20 to -~30 (with wind chill, temps were -4 to -~13) killed my mileage. Holding mid to high 50's, ~57 has dropped to 52. With the warm streak we had, it went to 54- but the 9 inches of snow we had has brought me back down to 52 lol

I couldn't imagine what it would be like without 100% grille blocking.

[user removed]

I have virtually an identical grille block (lower only) on my Fiesta. My last tank was 47.33MPG, best in last 5 tanks dating back to October, Only two better tanks dating back 8 tank fills going back to September. Beat my lifetime average by 1.5 MPG (45.2 vs 47.33).

This mod alone is worth almost 10%, with ambient temps in the 20-40 range, mostly lower. Seems to have closed most of the gap from summer to winter, about 60% of the difference. The rest would be higher atmospheric density due to cold temps.

I could see the OP tripling (30%+) that improvement in his much more severe temps and much shorter average drive. Remember a 33% reduction requires a 50 % improvement to be equal.

regards
Mech