Winter is tough on your car. It is tough on your fuel economy too. In order to keep your fuel economy good in the winter you need to make some adjustments. These adjustments are to both the way you drive and the way you maintain your car.
The first thing you need to do is to make some adjustments to your car. Start with your tires. As the temperature drops, the air pressure in your tires drops. If your car's tires were at the proper inflation level in the fall, then they will be about five pounds low in winter temperatures
Use a tire gauge to check the air pressure in your tires. Low air pressure will rob you of good gas mileage faster than anything else. Inflate your tires up to the recommended level. You will most likely have to add air to all four of your tires.
Another adjustment you may have to make is to change the oil. As the temperature drops, your oil gets thicker. Oil that is thicker is harder to move through your engine. It is harder for the engine to run with thicker oil and it will require more gas to run until the oil warms up.
You want to use a thinner grade of oil when it is cold out. If you use a single grade of oil you should replace the oil with a winter grade. You may not need to make this adjustment if the type of oil you are using is a multi-grade oil. Check with your car dealer or with your mechanic or auto parts store. They can tell you if you should make the change.
The biggest thing you can do is to change the way you start your car in the winter. Most people think they need to start their car and then let it warm up for a few minutes. This is the biggest mistake most drivers make. All you are doing by warming your car is wasting gas.
Your car should need no more than about 10 seconds to warm up before you can start driving. Anything more than that is just needlessly burning fuel. Think about how much gas you might be wasting.
If you warm your car up for five minutes when you start and you do that twice a day, that is 10 minutes of idling. If you do that 6 days a week it is equal to an hour of idling per week. Over the course of the winter, four months, it would be the equivalent of running your car for 16 hours. Can you ever imagine, letting your car idle for 16 hours?
Your fuel economy will suffer during the winter. If you do these three simple things you can go a long way to getting your fuel economy back on track.
The first thing you need to do is to make some adjustments to your car. Start with your tires. As the temperature drops, the air pressure in your tires drops. If your car's tires were at the proper inflation level in the fall, then they will be about five pounds low in winter temperatures
Use a tire gauge to check the air pressure in your tires. Low air pressure will rob you of good gas mileage faster than anything else. Inflate your tires up to the recommended level. You will most likely have to add air to all four of your tires.
Another adjustment you may have to make is to change the oil. As the temperature drops, your oil gets thicker. Oil that is thicker is harder to move through your engine. It is harder for the engine to run with thicker oil and it will require more gas to run until the oil warms up.
You want to use a thinner grade of oil when it is cold out. If you use a single grade of oil you should replace the oil with a winter grade. You may not need to make this adjustment if the type of oil you are using is a multi-grade oil. Check with your car dealer or with your mechanic or auto parts store. They can tell you if you should make the change.
The biggest thing you can do is to change the way you start your car in the winter. Most people think they need to start their car and then let it warm up for a few minutes. This is the biggest mistake most drivers make. All you are doing by warming your car is wasting gas.
Your car should need no more than about 10 seconds to warm up before you can start driving. Anything more than that is just needlessly burning fuel. Think about how much gas you might be wasting.
If you warm your car up for five minutes when you start and you do that twice a day, that is 10 minutes of idling. If you do that 6 days a week it is equal to an hour of idling per week. Over the course of the winter, four months, it would be the equivalent of running your car for 16 hours. Can you ever imagine, letting your car idle for 16 hours?
Your fuel economy will suffer during the winter. If you do these three simple things you can go a long way to getting your fuel economy back on track.
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