Summer VS winter MPG

[obi_waynne]

What is the difference in MPG between summer and winter driving?

A friend says it can be around 10mpg but that figure seems a little high to me, in my experience it is around 5mpg but I just wondered what you guys have noticed.

 

[Jakeymd]

When should i expect better milage??

 

[Loz]

When should i expect better milage??

Imo, Summer. In the winter the cooler air is denser so more fuel is mixed in, that's why your car feels a little more pokey on cold nights.

With my car fuel consumption is shocking all the time so I don't really notice. :amuse:

 

[HDi fun]

Summer is generally better, in my opinion not so much due to less dense air but because the warm up phase is much is much much shorter.

 

[Loz]

Ah yes that's a good point, a cold start will use more fuel won't it.

 

[gummy]

Would aircon make a big difference in summer if on?

 

[bigbadjoe]

Not for me. Its about 17/20 bashing about, and 30(ish) on a run.

I can't see why it would change. As your engine still has to operate at the same temp.

Although, in the winter, the cold air could help cool the engine, offering better preformance (like in the 70's the turbo cars could do better at lower altitude and colder races)

 

[Jakeymd]

i prefer driving in summer cause of the temperature in the engine before you turn the key. Cold starts worry me every day

 

[Zwaf]

It mostly depends on how long the trip is.
If your daily comute is under 10 minutes to the work and back the winter consumption will be skyhigh because of automatic "choke" most engines got. But if you go to the 5 hour trip, you will see next to no difference once the engine got hot. Tough, in hot climate your A/C could increase the summer consuption by 10% easilly.
Some lesser procentage is probably made because often winter tyres are narower then summer ones to.
That is in my experience and in my climate - winters to the minus 20 deg C and summers up to 40 deg C. So, in my experience it is pretty much the same or negligible for me.