jedijeb

Of course we all lose a little fuel mileage in the winter especially once the snow is on the roads, but for me it has been terrible this year. Both my 85 XJ and my 96 F150 are suffering. I have talked to others at work and they are complaining about it also.

My Jeep went from 18-20mpg last summer down to 12-14mpg this winter, with a 2.5L. The F150 normally gets 17-18mpg and now I am getting about 13mpg. This seems to have started around October and I would think it was just something wrong with the vehicle if it wasn't happening to both at the same time. That along with others having the same problems. What I am wondering is if anyone else has noticed a similar problem and if it could be due to the gasoline we are getting now?

I have tried both regular and plus grades of gasoline and get the same results. I also notice that the power in both vehicles seems much less than before. None of the stations have the pumps labeled as E15, but who knows maybe that is what I am getting now and that would cause some problems I think.

Bustedback

The government likes E10 and E15 because you get less miles per gallon and have to buy fuel more often, thus paying more in tax. It's not for cleaner emissions like Obama would like you to believe.

dmill89

X2, many studies have shown that oxidizers like ethanol do nothing for emissions on OBDII vehicles and only have a negligible effect on emissions on OBDI fuel-injected vehicles.


Aside from ethanol winter-grade fuel in general decreases mileage, and with this winter being colder than usual it takes vehicles longer to get to operating temp which will reduce mileage (especially if you take relatively short trips) as engines operate less-efficiently when cold.

Bustedback

The ethanol is not for tailpipe emissions, it's for evaporative emissions. Remember how fast gas would evaporate back in the day? Spilt gas will sit for a long time before it evaporates now and it is hard to ignite too. The guys that think running higher octane gas is better for performance are just wasting their money. All they're doing is taking a fuel that is hard to burn in the first place, and making it even harder to burn. Our government is really screwing us over by forcing us to use this highly corrosive crap fuel.

dmill89

Even then most modern vehicles have sealed fuel systems, so evaporative emissions aren't really much of an issue any more.

Bustedback

True, there are vapors that make it into the atmosphere when refueling though. But the real reason for the ethanol is because the corn lobbyists pushed for it. It's all about the money.

jedijeb

It is kind of ironic that they use CAFE to push auto makers to increase mileage yet force the oil companies to provide fuel that is inherently less fuel efficient. Our government working at it best that is for certain.

jedijeb

I expected to lose a few mpg on winter blend especially when it was near 0F outside, but to lose nearly half even when it was just in the mid 40s was unexpected, and on both vehicles at that. The carb on the XJ doesn't help at all, considering I leave a jet black soot spot every time I start it up lol. The surprise was the F150, even with the 4.9 I6 it feels like I am towing a full size travel trailer behind it now. Seems like this year the winter blend is just way worse than most years.

highmileage

Yeah I believe it was, unless I was on the HWY mileage sucked.

Tony_SS

My mpg sucks, 13-14. I'm hoping that will improve this spring with better fuel.

kgm

Corn lobby is strong!

Tony_SS

true that... corporate welfare = us taking up the cornhole

Ianf406

I have not noticed a decrease... Then again now that the roads have been ice for months, I am easier on the gas pedal. Plus we still have a few non-ethanol pumps and I use those if at all possible.

Caish

Its been a colder winter.
Part of it is the winter blended fuels but....
Cold air is denser and those needs more fuel to prevent a lean condition.
This is common occurance on HP engines more than out beloved 4.0's.
Like my old Taurus SHO, in the summer would get 30mpg but in the winter it dropped to around 20mpg. Just because of the denser air.

Twinfin

I noticed the gas pumps around where I live have 10% ethanol in them. Unfortunately I don't know if that's new within the last year or so or if it's been like that for a while. Not sure if that would even make a difference either. Two weeks ago I got 12.8 mpg's this week I got 15.8... Stays between those two marks though on the regular.