Winter mpg

[Eric91Z]

I was wondering if others see a drop in their average mpg during the winter months? For the last month or so, my gas mileage in my Accord has averaged around 27.4mpg, where as all summer and fall, it was running right around 30mpg.

Now, I think I have a good comparison as 90% of my driving is highway driving and the same every week. Nothing has changed in driving habits, speeds, etc. The car is running great, no apparent changes in that. One change was new tires, but they are the same size as the ones replaced and have been watching tire pressures. And I drive 450+ miles per week, so I fill up about every 5-6 days, usually. So I check on a reegular basis.

Just wondering if others see this? The car does not sit and idle any more than normal, run my defrost when needed - but I was still getting no lower then 29.5mpg in the summer with the A/C blasting. So, any thoughts?



Eric

[GordonB]

Eric91Z,
I haven't noticed a drop off in mileage yet here in Wash/Baltimore area.
How you get 29.5 is beyond my comprehension. 23 - 24 I might understand on flat roads. Now if you run only 55, maybe. P,ls share your mileage secrets with the rest of us. I think I do well averaging 20.9 over the last 1472 miles with one 400 Mi. RT to Williamsburg VA thrown in at the beginning of that mileage calc.

GordonB.

[Eric91Z]

Remember, this is posted in the Lounge. I am not currently a MM owner, but do dream about them every day and night.

No, as I mentioned in the first paragraph of the original post, this is in my Honda ACCORD. The car is a 1992 Honda Accord with 5 speed and 270,400 miles on the original motor.

The car runs great and has given great gas mileage until the last couple weeks it has dropped off. To give an idea of how it runs, I raced a 1 generation model newer Accord that was also a 5 speed that got about a half car length jump on me at the "light", but by 3rd gear I was even and started pulling away in 4th without a problem. Although I did notice he was shifting sooner than I was.

All that is irrelevant to MM owners as even those of you stock would leave me for dead. And that is all I thought about messing around with this guy... "I wish I was driving a MM right now"

[Bigdogjim]

I notice no drop in the fleet of truck I manage or my personal vehicles

Might want to check something as simple as a fuel/air filter

[duhtroll]

Winter fuel was my first guess, especially in Iowa.

-A

[Eric91Z]

I had wondered if Iowa did winter formulation for gas, but have no idea. And I have used gas for 3 or 4 different places with same results. Guess I will have them give it a once over at the Honda dealership I used to work at next time it goes in for an oil change. I know the fuel filter was changed out within the last year or so, but will double check the air cleaner.

[QWK SVT]

As others have suggested, it's probably due to winter gas formula... Silly question, but are you letting the car run abit, to warm up?

Don't feel bad, my mileage by as much as 2-3mpg, by even slight changes in driving habit (not going crazy, just a few extra times passing a slower moving vehicle, with some authority)

[Eric91Z]

No, actually I don't let it warm up much at all. Although, I did talk to my mechanic today because I have an oil pressure problem that has not popped up and asked him about this and he did mention that the Hondas go in to a rich mode when this cold - kind of like a choke setup - that could be contributing as well. Especially if driving right away under those conditions.

And, at least with the Honda, a change in driving style has never had much of an effect on the gas mileage at all. The worst I had ever gotten prior to this past month or so was about 29 mpg.

[rayjay]

Here in upstate NY we get winter formula gas. It does not seem to effect my MM as much as it did my 4 cylinder cars in the past. As QWK SVT said, I used to see 2-3mpg reduction.

[Hack Goby]

With the cold weather plus my Chip and 4.10 I went from getting about 340miles a tankfull to around 275 miles.Damn!

[mymarauder]

Steve, I am interested if you know the part number for the rims you used for your winter tires, and of course what you chose for winter tires. We just had our first snow fall out here in Calgary, and I was slipping all over the road with the regular M&S tires that came with the beast.

When talking to a local Ford dealer they said they could not find anything in their system that would allow the brake calipers to function properly. Are they strining be a line or what...If I had a part number to take back to them I might be able to lead them in the right direction.

I kow the Tire Rack selss tires, but don't want to incur all that cost to find out they don't actually fit proper. Any suggestions to lead me in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

Joe in Calgary

[mymarauder]

Steve, thanks for the quick response. I guess I jumped on your threaad as it was the first one I came accross dealing with the subject. Have just spent the last while scanning other threads and have come up with millians(?) of additinal suggestions. Guess I'll see if the dealer can get the 03 interceptor rims for me and go from there.

Where should I start if I want to do a search on the cdn package that you speak of? Is that at Tire Rack itsalf or on some other thread here??

Thanks again.



Winter Tires

Joe, I'm working in Tulsa this week, and have about 30 minutes to find quick food and head back to work so I don't have time to do a proper search and provide you the findings, but there was/is a tire rack package that was put together back in 2003 or so. I bought the set used from an ex-member in NH who regretfully sold his car, and the set had less than 1000 miles on them so it was a good deal for me.

You're right, having them sent up from the US might be a costly affair (even considering the favourable situation with the exchange rates right now) but there was a Canadian package put together in conjunction with a Canadian company around the same time. The price was comparable... perhaps the best approach would be to grab the wheels off that site and buy tires locally.

I'm not sure why your Ford dealer did not recommend the Police Interceptor rims (2003+). I was afraid of caliper interference on my set, as it seems it is a hit-and-miss when it comes to clearance... thankfully, mine had no such issues (or perhaps the wheels were slightly altered by the first owner to fit, although I saw no evidence of such).

If you do a search, you'll see the Canadian package I was talking about (put together by MMM2003 I believe - Peter Dettmer) and I understand QWK SVT and other TO locals have successfully shod their MMs for the winter.

I agree... attempting to navigate on the stock tires through a REAL winter (not the dusting my parents had at their place on the south edge of Montreal, but a real snow dump that I got just north of the city) is absolute lunacy. M+S, my A+S+S!

[QWK SVT]

Where should I start if I want to do a search on the cdn package that you speak of? Is that at Tire Rack itsalf or on some other thread here??

So, I'm not sure of the "Canadian package" but here are some quick thoughts...

Try the dealer, for the PI rims, but sit down before getting the price (they're quite expensive for steelies). You may end up looking for another option, if the price scares you away...

Take a look at tiretrends.ca - you wont be able to use the search, cause Mercury Marauder is not an option, but you can find the Blizzak WS-50's, for a pretty good price - about $150CDN/tire. If nothing else, this gives you leverage, to try some local shops...

Front:225/60R16 Back:235/65R16

[TripleTransAm]

Sorry, was in a hurry to run out the door and get on-site...

There's a search function on this site that allows simple or advanced searches. You can do a search for "winter tire package" or "tire package" etc. and combine it with the username MMM20003 which is I believe Peter Dettmer's username. He did some legwork with setting up a package with some provider (Tire rack?) and there was a thread with all the details. Either in that thread or in a separate Canadian-specific-package thread, which Peter also did the legwork on. I recall calling that Canadian provider and for some reason $900-ish came to mind as a quoted price for custom steel wheels and Arctic Alpins in sizes that would not freak out the Traction Control. The dealer was quoting close to $1100 for Blizzaks and PI wheels. I waited out the winter (needed the cash for my new home) and panicked when I saw the Alpins were out of production and bought the used set I mentioned. Now there appears to be a replacement model for the Alpins, although I don't know if they have the staggered sizes we require.

The search function is up at the top right of this site, and the advanced search is there too. I'd run the search myself but I probably won't have a free moment here in Tulsa until tomorrow morning at the hotel (I'm on dialup right now on-site and just taking a quick break to download some work material from our home office). So please don't take this as a brush-off in any way...

QWK_SVT in Toronto has also had success with a tire package locally, which you can also do a search for, or contact him directly.

One approach I was interested in was the possibility of finding '03+ PI rims at a scrapyard (especially the way the local cops drive). In late 2003 I didn't find any (didn't search too intensely, either, to be honest) and hence parked the car for the winter. I wonder if I was to look now, would I come across any, one year later?

(you do need '03+ PI rims... the prior rims will stick out, and someone recently posted photos of this combination. They should work nonetheless, but will spray the lower body with more road debris than if the tires were tucked entirely in the wheel wells. Also, we wonder if there is an effect on handling).


edit: thanks for chiming in with more info, QWK!