Conrad Posted December 20, 2021 Share Posted December 20, 2021 Maybe I'm wrong, but on a 3 hour drive yesterday to see family before the Christmas lockdown kicks in the day after tomorrow (my guess, but hope I'm mistaken), my mpg seemed even lower than it's usual climate-changing level. Also seemed to loose power sooner on even gentle hills. Just wondering if it's the winter diesel, occurs to me that if it was as good as summer version, why not just sell it all year round? Ford Transit based 'van. What do others think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 One of the factors probably. Winter tyres, wet roads, cold engine starts, AC to defog the windows etc. will all add up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conrad Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 A few possible, but none apply - normal tyres, roads dry, reset trip recorder after a few miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deneb Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Winter diesel has anti-gelling agents mixed in with the fuel, to prevent waxing and the possibility of resulting expensive blockages of engine components, particularly in direct injection engines. The low-sulphur content of modern diesel formulations also exacerbates the issue. The anti-waxing additives mean that you are getting less energy per gallon of fuel because a percentage of the energy (fuel) in every gallon is replaced by the additives. I used to keep regular checks of mpg in a diesel car I owned 20 years ago, and although I no longer have the list, it would only return about 36 mpg in the winter compared to 44 mpg in summer. Why would retailers sell a less efficient fuel all year round in countries where the environmental conditions don't demand it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 More bedtime reading about this here https://tinyurl.com/yc3yphzj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 The alternative view is, colder fuel is has greater density, hence the reason racing teams cooled their fuel before F1 regulations outlawed the practice. But as stated in the article, getting the engine upto temperature is heavy on fuel consumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aethelric Posted December 30, 2021 Share Posted December 30, 2021 I suspect its the winter diesel issue. I filled up in Cornwall and drove to Lancashire. I have done this trip many times and usually get around 30-31 mpg. This time I only managed 27mpg. I was considering putting the van in for a check up when I got back home. I filled up again in Lancashire and drove back down to Cornwall at the same unhurried speed that I drove up. Weather conditions were pretty much the same. I got 32mpg. 27 to 32 in two 350 mile trips within a few days of each other is a big .difference I ca only put it down to the fuel. Although I filled up at Tesco both times, I suspect one outlet was on winter diesel and the other wasn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 I don't know about UK but I doubt they'd have substantially different mix as it's probably, not going to be 0 in the north and 20 in the south constantly. They can't afford to count on it being warm enough weeks from now and for everyone that fuels up in their station like in your case but going the other way. At least around here the mix is seasonal,. It doesn't depend on the weather some particular week when it might be really warm like it is now (+15). For years I used to drive 270km of the same motorway almost every day (135km one way). I filled up at least twice a week and keep a log for over 10 years. Variation between fill ups could easily be greater than the average seasonal variation. The individual pump meter variation can throw it off by an mpg or more. Even higher flow at the pump will usually result in less fuel in the (full) tank before the auto stop kicks in. There are just so many factors that influence fuel consumption calculations that judging just from a trip or two is irrelevant. In my case I could do that trip at anywhere from 5.1 l/100km, to 6.2 l/100km. Overall the car averaged 5.7, summer average 5.6, spring/autumn without AC at 5.4, winter around 5.9. In the past year I've switched to mostly short drives around city and my average went up to 6.4. Do your own mpg calculations if you wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 Keep your fuel tank full when temp drops below zero. And forget all above which you can not control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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