snowy Mpgs
 

Hi,
I've been reading up on hypermiling and modding lately, and am interested in improving my MPGs. the problem is that I am a Yooper, (that means I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula BTW) and have to deal with large amounts of snow, and rain. we get between 120" and 200" of snow annually. sometimes more. I own a '99 Plymouth Breeze, and I plan on installing a block heater and an MPG gauge, I was wondering if anyone had any good suggestions for cold wet climates.

grille block, engine blanket, brush all the snow off it, keep tires aired up, don't idle "to warm up".

I'll add use good winter tires, as the less spinning of wheels the better. Drive in tracks already made where able, slow down as sliding is usually a waste of energy.

Install in addition to the block heater a circulating coolant heater and a small blowing heater to heat the cabin up before you start up. Run those for a couple hours before you drive. They can all plugged into a three way outlet that way you only plug in one cord, but be sure that the cord and the threeway is rated for a bit over the combined wattage of all your heaters.

The good news is that snow tires roll better than the average, so you can change them when it is mild. I wouldn't bother with interior pre-heat unless misting is the issue, and you want to get moving right away. Cabin heat is free when the engine is on. FWIW, "Underpowered" cars warm up faster.

a yooper. I'll have to remember this...

I too am in a crap hole for cars.

I gave up on grille block, keep heat rise away from exhaust,
strengthen fire and other old hot rod tricks, and away it goes...and never ever take away outside cold air into the intake..EVER.

the breeze always looked like it had tiny wheels to me, maybe step up the tire size, keep rpms down. the engine is a gigantic fuel injection, I am sure it could handle it.

Thanks to all. You have confirmed many of my suspicions. I'll be installing a block heater, and will go from there

I would add that the adhesive backed heating pads work great on your oil pan and transmission pan. Helps my ATX achieve Torque converter lock right away, instead of miles away. My motor doesn't rattle at all on cold starts because the oil is nice and warm.
Engine block heater is a great thing. It make almost a 3-4mpg difference for me on 20 degree days.

I would also suggest a grill block, I have one on my Matrix and have found that it adds significantly to my warm up times and therefor to my fuel economy. Over the last weekend I got 41.1 MPG.

Where in the UP are you at? I will likely be heading up there within the next 2 weeks.

Would those stay on if you're scraping the bottom on snow a lot? Not to mention the subzero temps that make most adhesives just fall off? I've never lived in the UP but I'm an hour south of the bridge, and I've visited the UP a lot.

I had thought of using salvaged heating elements and thermostats from dishwashers to put in the oil and trans pans. The elements and end fittings are leakproof. Trans pan would be easy assuming there was room for it. Oil pan might not be worth it if the engine has to be raised from its mounts to remove the pan like on my cars.

I would definitely add a block heater. If not for economy then for engine longevity!