Winter sucks, all time low so far

[bbjsw10]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Hmm? If your tranny is a standard, I'm pretty sure that bump starting gets around most concerns re. battery issues. I usually bump start in top gear so it doesn't spin the engine very fast. I don't need to let out clutch fully either - just enough so the engine starts spinning, then push down again. Then shift into appropriate gear for the current road speed.

Yeah I already bump start. The thing is though I drive to work in the dark and home in the dark, so headlights on whole time. I use a kill switch on shifter so ignition stays on, blower motor, etc. Add that all up it will kill a cold battery fast. I can't see the FE advantage being worth buying new battery for.

I had an alternator shut off switch I ran in the summer, I could go 100+ miles with it off fairly easily before my voltage would hit 11.9volts. But now in the colder temps I drops quite rapidly. That is the reason batteries are rated Cold Cranking Amps.

[IndyIan]

Maybe this is not practical, but how about walking to work? Or biking? 2.8 45 minutes walking each way, 10 minutes biking, saves going to the gym.
I use to have a 2 mile walk to work, you learn to dress for it, even in 0F 10mph winds its easy to stay warm when your moving.
Ian

[FastPlastic]

Well I think/hope tonight is the coldest were going to get. -18F(that's without the wind chill) Cold enough that I didn't scrape the frost on the outside, I had to scrape the frost on the inside of my windows. It never did defrost completely, even after several trips putting on about 15-20miles total. Now I'm really wishing I had some sort of block heater. But I guess as much as I hated seeing it I was still a little impressed that I got 12.3MPG on my long leg(it's been around 14-15MPG and as high as 19MPG in the summer). So far it's still above my winter goal of never seeing 10.9 on a tank avg again.

[GasGuage]

Man, winter does STINK! I just got my worse tank ever. After mods, adding a SG2, & driving like a granny, I sank from 32mpg down to barely over 26. I can't get over the difference. And that cold Canada air has just hovered over me in KY. I see where you guys are coming from now.

[FastPlastic]

I just had to watch the engine temp numbers go down before they would go up. Starting engine temp -8F. Got a whopping 10.3MPG that trip. The scan gauge isn't liking it either(It's got a really slow refresh right now).

[Vwbeamer]

Man it got cold down here in GA, and I was at 55 mpg for my tank on my scangauge, with all the cold weather the tank is now at 50.7

I live were it's mostly rural-semi rural two lane roads, so i can usually get greta MPG. But with the cold weather, the car doesn't want to coast. And when driving under load, it really burns the diesel.

[Otto]

Colder air is denser air, so is more draggy air.

Colder air makes for less efficient vaporization & burn of fuel.

Then, there's the whole warm-up thing working against you.

The winter blends of fuel may not be so hot, either.

Not to worry--Spring is coming.

[azraelswrd]

Yeah, I actually re-worked my schedule so I don't have to work until 11 to 12pm which means faster warmups, warmer ambient temps and less maniacs trying to race to their morning start times. When I can drive 55-60mph in the far right on a 65mph speed limit highway is a good day.

My first January last tank was horrible (~36mpg), but I did better with my last tank (~43 mpg). Nowadays, starting later is a good thing especially with fog coming back to California. Nothing worse than being part of the news and the latest pileup or zinger.

[Formula413]

I just made a 120 mile round trip, 110 miles of which was highway at 60 mph, and got 30.9 mpg. I guess good mileage will just have to wait until spring.

[brucey]

Ugh, I cant seem to break 29 mpg highway when this summer I was more like 32 or 33 under the same conditions on the same road duing the same trip.