Anyone else getting less mpg?

[aspitaletto]

Originally Posted by Dairam

I am in the the high 37s low 38s for my commute during the winter (combined). Summer i'm at 39s-40s (combined). 36.6 miles round trip

The Winter Blend of fuel is REALLy hurting my MPG here.

I have lost a solid 3MPG since my station changed over to the Winter Blend.

Was getting mid 42mpg average this summer, now, nothing better than 39 average.

I will try heading over to Sunoco for this tank and see what happens, but i think its just the cumulative effects of winter driving that is bringing things down.

[dalegood]

Originally Posted by aspitaletto

The Winter Blend of fuel is REALLy hurting my MPG here.

I have lost a solid 3MPG since my station changed over to the Winter Blend.

Was getting mid 42mpg average this summer, now, nothing better than 39 average.

I will try heading over to Sunoco for this tank and see what happens, but i think its just the cumulative effects of winter driving that is bringing things down.

Since the winter blend has reared it's ugly head, I'm down about 4 mpg!

[steve2012se]

I've been getting 25.5 mpg driving fairly aggressively in L.A. traffic with 10 miles per day on the freeway, and 2-5 miles per day driven on the surface streets.

My on-board computer is in agreement with my iphone app.

[dirtyblueshirt]

Originally Posted by steve2012se

I've been getting 25.5 mpg driving fairly aggressively in L.A. traffic with 10 miles per day on the freeway, and 2-5 miles per day driven on the surface streets.

My on-board computer is in agreement with my iphone app.

You're about right. I have a similar commute and get 26-30 average.

[steve2012se]

My monthly fuel bill has been cut in half since I got rid of the 2002 Explorer Sport, and it feels like I'm driving a go-kart.

[aspitaletto]

Originally Posted by dalegood

Since the winter blend has reared it's ugly head, I'm down about 4 mpg!

I guess 3-4 Mpg is the Norm ..

A FAR Cry from my 2003 Escape Winter driving was giving me a SOLD 18MPG ... yuk

[Aglie]

I've had my Fiesta (5 speed hatch) for a year and a quarter now and 11k miles. More important than weather is your driving pattern, particularly how much time you spend at stoplights getting 0 mpg (unless, of course, you shut off the engine at long lights, which I do). For those reporting really bad gas mileage like 22, I'd like to hear what your average speed is, though that doesn't tell the whole story either -- going a steady 25 mpg would get you pretty good gas mileage, but mixing 70+ mpg with stoplights would be pretty bad.

In summer A/C makes a noticeable difference, but the effect is much larger if there are stoplights involved, as you are using more gas per minute stopped, and it can cost you multiple mpg. As your average speed goes up the cost of the A/C gets amortized over more miles, and the effect drops to less than one mpg on the highway. Generally with a small, efficient engine, A/C has a more noticeable effect than in a huge SUV with an engine more than twice as large, where just running the engine in idle consumes tons of gas, let alone trying to haul all that tonnage around.

I'm not noticing a difference due to winter blend where I am (Virginia). But there are other factors -- cold weather requires more time and energy to warm up the engine and catalytic converter, so short trips separated by an hour or more are kill your gas mileage. Your tire pressure tends to go down due to cold, so pay attention to it. Driving on snow or even rain is inherently less efficient. And the air gets denser, so more wind resistance at highway speeds, nothing much you can do about that other than to drive a little more slowly.

The very worst tank I've ever gotten was 30 mpg (horrid numbers of stoplights), the best just under 40 (mostly highway). I've never done a whole tank of highway, partly because that's a lot of miles on 12.4 gallons.

[dirtyblueshirt]

Originally Posted by Aglie

I've had my Fiesta (5 speed hatch) for a year and a quarter now and 11k miles. More important than weather is your driving pattern, particularly how much time you spend at stoplights getting 0 mpg (unless, of course, you shut off the engine at long lights, which I do). For those reporting really bad gas mileage like 22, I'd like to hear what your average speed is, though that doesn't tell the whole story either -- going a steady 25 mpg would get you pretty good gas mileage, but mixing 70+ mpg with stoplights would be pretty bad.

My commute is about 10 miles at about 70-75 mph followed by about 3-4 miles at 20-35 mph mixed stoplights, stop signs, and long queues of cars at the entry gate. Reverse that in the afternoons.

[Aglie]

Originally Posted by dirtyblueshirt

My commute is about 10 miles at about 70-75 mph followed by about 3-4 miles at 20-35 mph mixed stoplights, stop signs, and long queues of cars at the entry gate. Reverse that in the afternoons.

That sounds similar to my former commute on which I generally got in the low to mid 30s, except that my 10 mile stretch was at ~ 65 rather than at 70-75. What does your average mph come to? Mine would usually be around 28 mph average and that would give me about 34 mpg. If I had worse stoplights and 25 mph average, it would drop to maybe 31-32. If I had more highway and got up to 30 mph average, the mpg would be around 35-36. Of course if you are effectively mixing 75 mph with stoplights it'll be terrible for gas mileage, especially if you brake at the last minute and have a heavy foot. Where I live there is also a sharp dividing line for the police -- if you exceed 15 mph over the speed limit, you get ticketed, under 15 mph over you're almost always safe here.

[dirtyblueshirt]

Originally Posted by Aglie

Of course if you are effectively mixing 75 mph with stoplights it'll be terrible for gas mileage, especially if you brake at the last minute and have a heavy foot.

That's pretty much the case. The northbound stretch of Hwy 75 into Coronado has 3 stoplights at the 70-75 mph stretch, and there's 4 stoplights at the 45 mph stretch, one at 30 mph, the gate queue which can be anywhere from 0-1 mile at a crawl, and 7 stop signs at 25mph on base. The only difference on the reverse is that there's no stoplights on the 70-75 mph stretch on Hwy 75 going southbound.