The Winter Rant Thread (and support group)

[RH77]

Please disregard if you live in a temperate climate.

After experiencing the past month of abysmal FE, I hereby declare this thread as a repository for those wintry blues, and a support group for those suffering from SFD (Seasonal FE Disorder).

Hi. My name is Rick, and I'm averaging 25.4 mpg this tank.

The first 100 miles of the tank looked great: about 30F and low 40's FE. Then it hit. +8F, cold start, 52 miles. 33 mpg isn't so bad, right?

Then it hits. 4-inches of snow. Not a lot, but enough to throw the entire city into mass hysteria!

Morning commute: Averaging 15 mph for 30 miles on the highway is good for 22 mpg. Yay. The bad kind of turtle folks...

Evening commute: It looks good! The roads still stink, but traffic is moving nicely. Oh no! An ambulance... fire truck... Nooooooooooooo! Some #$%# in a Hummer spun out and created a movie-grade pile up. Well, nothing else to do with the next hour but listen to the radio, then pulse-n-slide. 23.7 MPG over 60-some miles today.

Tomorrow's another day, but I have to fill. Likely the worst tank in the last 3 years.

So, bring your tired drivers, your huddled mass transit dreamers. For life, Liberty, and the pursuit of FE...

RH77

[Christ]

I'm done with winter. I love snow, I hate the cold... and there's an imbalance. Lots of cold, no snow.. just bad drivers.

And I loathe mass transit, as I used to use the bus every day. It took 40 mins to go a 15 minute drive away, and I had to change buses and ride another 15-20 minutes to my actual stop, which was only another 3 miles. It sucked. And it was dirty. Always so dirty.

And it was cold. At least the cold kept the smell from getting too bad.

*whack to the face* Sorry... winter is bad.

I haven't filled my car in nearly two weeks... I'm still debating whether to even keep it.

[cfg83]

Rick -

[cue world's smallest violin ...]

I've been getting stinky tanks too, but I have no excuse in LA. I think it's the combo of cold, some wet, and XMas traffic. I just switched from 87 to 89 Octance on the (remote) chance it will give me a boost (it's cheap!).

[/end cue]

What is snow? Do you mean shaved ice?

CarloSW2

[Matt Herring]

I filled up on Monday night...it snowed on Tuesday night...great way to start a tank.

Thankfully I only have a 4 mile commute...which resulted in a 17.5 mpg tank on the Scanguage this morning. Trip to PA next week...highway driving will hopefully save this tank...barring snowstorm (which is a predicted 6" for Sunday).

[tasdrouille]

Hi, I'm Martin, and I fell back into abysmal FE. I was clean for almost a year, was pretty proud of it, but now I just don't see the end of the tunnel...

The world isn't helping me either. I was back at my dealer last week, and while I was not looking, he bled my tires back down to 30 psi. As if it was not bad enough.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Rick -

[cue world's smallest violin ...]

I've been getting stinky tanks too, but I have no excuse in LA. I think it's the combo of cold, some wet, and XMas traffic. I just switched from 87 to 89 Octance on the (remote) chance it will give me a boost (it's cheap!).

[/end cue]

What is snow? Do you mean shaved ice?

CarloSW2

That's just harsh man . The traffic was indeed very LA-like, and I thought, "It must stink to have this year 'round". The biggest difference this time around was the lack of road treatment. The slow lane had snow plowed into it, 8+ inches of snow. That meant that the air dam was scooping up snow. Bad for FE, but an impromptu grille block for those 35 mph high-speed run-ups.

I too switched to higher-octane this tank. The highly calibrated butt-dyno noted that low-RPM power is up considerably since the timing is at full advance. It's just getting those IATs up or else it's for naught. There's a crazy scheme going on under the hood, with aluminum foil, to trap heat and direct it to the intake. It seems to work if headwinds aren't higher than 20-30 mph.

Originally Posted by Matt Herring

I filled up on Monday night...it snowed on Tuesday night...great way to start a tank.

Thankfully I only have a 4 mile commute...which resulted in a 17.5 mpg tank on the Scanguage this morning. Trip to PA next week...highway driving will hopefully save this tank...barring snowstorm (which is a predicted 6" for Sunday).

Same here -- snow/ice all week. I'm going to stretch the tank to another round-trip today in hopes I don't get that "red line" on my latest entry on the fuel log graph.

Best of luck -- hopefully the road trip will even-out your tank.

Martin- welcome to 'group'. I'm sure your extended season isn't easy. Any tips or coping techniques? Argh, why can't people leave people's tire pressures alone!

Hang in there, it will get warmer... sometime...

-Rick

[MetroMPG]

Wow, and it's not even officially winter yet. Astronomically, I mean.

[Tango Charlie]

Hi, I'm Terry, and I'm getting pre-ecomodder mileage.

Winter cost me my spot in the Ultimate Ecomodder Fuel Economy Challenge.

*sniff*

I really, really, really HATE cold weather. And snow. Other than that, winter is great.

Yesterday I popped in a CD and rock-n-rolled all the way home at 50 mph over snow-clogged back country roads. Passed a couple cars going 30. Saw a horse and buggy going the other way disappear in my plume of snow. ABS engaged at every stop sign. Some people engage in extreme sports for their adrenaline rush. I drive fast in the snow.

RH77; "pulse and slide" ! Now that's funny right there.

[Nevyn]

Hi, I'm Jeff, and I'm feeling the hurt. I was hoping to have a decent tank this round, something in the 26 MPG range. Then:

Wife's car battery died, and she drove my car.
MPGuino test run caused major fuel dump.
Jumping wife's car caused me to sit and idle more than once.
Alternator testing = more idling. Need new alternator.
Colder.
Rain.
Snow/Ice.
Passengers.


I'm feeling I'll be lucky to get 21.

[Matt Herring]

This probably falls under the "You Know You're An Ecomodder If" thread but since we're ranting about winter, snow and cold temps...

While driving home last night in the snow I popped the car in neutral as I approached an overpass because there was a 50 foot patch of clean, snow-less paved road protected by the bridge overpass above and I wanted to squeeze every last inch of possible coasting out of my commute. Needless to say when I hit the snow as I came out from under the bridge overpass...it drained my mph down to 15mph and sapped my coast. Like Superman with Kryptonite underpants...I was powerless.