mileage tanks in cold weather.

Colder temps have diminished my love of my Taco. First the dismal ABS action in snow. Now the mileage has tanked again due to cold weather. I was averaging 18-ish through the Fall months. Last couple of tanks with the cold it's down to 13-14 local driving. So now my Taco has 2 firsts for me, worst ABS in snow and shittiest fuel economy in winter.

 

sell it

here is my mpg by month since i bought in nov 05

Month MPG January 21.3 February 20.7 March 22.5 April 24.2 May 24.4 June 24.8 July 24.1 August 24.3 September 23.5 October 23.6 November 22.5 December 21.7

enjoy

 

They also have a different gas blend in colder months. This also affects MPG's

 

I never see that. Are you running the stock tire size? With stock tires (265/70/R16), I found my speedo to be off by 3 mph at 70 indicated (67 mph actual). With 265/75/R16 tires the speedo is now dead accurate. With stock tires you may have inaccurate numbers (assuming the speedo and odo are somehow connected), thinking you traveled further on a tank of gas than you actually did.

 

winter blend fuel always delivers fewer MPG's...add that to the joke that is Ethanol...

and the fed govt is doing their best to make you feel like you are saving the planet...while picking your pocket.

 

I usually average 19-20 highway in the summer at 70-75mph with Premium. 15-17 in the city. That will fall to about 15-17 highway and 12-14 city once the winter blend shows up and temps fall below 45. It sucks.

 

215/70/15 tires

mileage is as accurate as the odometer.

 

I've never had a vehicle that didn't tank it's MPG's in the winter. The 2007 Impala SS I had used to get 10mpg in the city during the coldest of days (meanwhile getting 25-30 on the highway in the summer haha).

 

Everything is against us in the winter, the gas blend, colder/more resistent air, longer to warm up not only engine but transmission and axle(s), maybe more idling, who knows, maybe even phase of the moon......

 

The engine sucks a lot of gas when the choke(computerized) is on, and it is on as long as the engine is cold.Thats another reason besides the winter blend and the ethanol.
I get 18-20 in the Summer, 16-19 in the Winter, stock with 4.0L.

 

Cold weather hurts.
Extended warm-up times hurt (do you idle to warm up? Chris found that driving, he was at 180 in 4 minutes, wasn't at 180 after 15 minutes of idling).
Lower temps keep the ECU in open loop, which dumps in more fuel.

And finally... local driving KILLS.
I'll be looking at mid to high 25's on my UG after 4 days commuting to work... roughly 280 miles. ONE DAY, 30-40 miles, local shopping with the wife can pull that down to the low 24's.