How can I increase my winter mileage

You probably won't like these suggestions but, they seem to work pretty well for me. First, if there is any possibility of taking lower speed surface streets, that will help considerably. Also, slow down to closer to 60mph if you can't avoid the freeway. Next, try reducing the heat to closer to 65F or no more than 70F. Then finally, put the tires at max sidewall as a starting point and work from there. See my numbers in my signature for what these suggestions can result in.

 

DiamondLarrys suggestions are real and workable, but I have a sure fire suggestion that millions of car owners do every winter, it is guaranteed to increase your mileage radically and in fact use no gas at all..................................... It's called: "Push it".

 

Are you sure you're not burning some Ethanol? I've come across stations that have a message posted in some rather small print "May contain up to 10% ethanol" (definitely an mpg buster!)

 

Its probably your heater, set the temp at 69 or lower and preferable on AUTO A/C. Also make sure your tires aren't low because of the cold weather. I recommend 44 fr 42 rear, I wouldn't go over that though at least not in the winter for your climate because it will have an affect on performance if you run into an emergency situation in the snow. Another thing that possibly is affecting you is your oil. Make sure you aren't overfilled. What type of oil did you use last time you got it changed. The recommended viscosity is 5w30, but it is common for alot of oil change places to use 10w30 because its cheaper to buy in bulk. Personally though I am on my first oil change with 5W20 oil and I have had a noticable improvement on cold weather driving.

 

Have you used the search tool? There are several threads devoted to better MPG, especially in the winter.

 

You don't need to lower the interior car temp. You don't need to "push it".

First, increase your tire pressures closer to 40 PSI (I run 40 front, 38 rear). Check them monthly!

Next, Prius needs to warm up before it will give good mileage. Do this while driving it. Turn -off- the heater when you first get in (use the A/C Auto switch on the steering wheel). It won't blow warm air until you've driven a few blocks anyway, so there is no point in having the engine idle while stopped at lights (A/C or heat/cooling on can force the engine to idle at lights before the car has reached the magical stage 4). Turn the heater on after you have driven 3 or 4 blocks. Once the coolant has reached about 62C -and- you have exceeded around 40 mph the engine will shut off at lights, even with the heater on.

Ethanol fuel, in my experience and according to calculations, will only reduce fuel economy about 3-4%. It makes the car easier to start, and almost eliminates the possibility of a fuel line freeze-up. I use it whenever possible. It also burns cleaner, maximizing the engines ability to work "as designed".

You WILL get poorer mileage in winter. The engine has to do more work, warming up a cold car, including cold oil. The above will minimize the effects of the winter cold.

 

According to some knowledgeble posters, ethanol at the 10% rate is already in your gasoline. All over the USA! Please correct me if I am mis-quoting.

 

I hate to tell any Prius owner this...I've owned my 2008 since last November. And mileage is horrible in the cold weather. I live in the Boston area. Work swing shift. I usually get 42-44 in the winter. Summertime is much better. 46-51 mpg. Remember, let up on the gas pedal when you get to cruising speed. Then touch the gas pedal. Electric mode will work when cold. The batteries take longer to charge up.
Enjoy not buying gas!

 

From what I've seen, its pretty simple....put on your warm clothes in the house, and sit around for a few minutes absorbing some of the house's warmth. Then go out to your Prius and don't ever turn the heat on, lol. In any case, the heat won't actually be hot for the first five minutes or so, so you should leave it off until that much time has passed.

 

My 4+ years of data show the winter penalty. Last spring my combo of new tires and 10% ethanol addition to the gas really dented my mileage.



Here's the graph with temp on the x-axis.

 

The article is very helpful. I can do everything to prepare for winter except the engine block heater since my condo does not have electrical outlets in parking spots. The pipe insulation in the grill is well worth the time and effort. Four days a week I drive short mileage, 3 miles to and from work, and the MPG's in the winter is atrocious. When I drive to the suburbs once or twice a week the MPG's improve incredibly.
There are really no magical answers...Cold weather compromises the Prius MPG's despite the best advice. Today's temps were between the teens and twenty's F. Cold weather takes a toll on everything.

 

Cold weather reduces *every* car's fuel economy. You can compensate to some degree by adding air to the tires to bring them back up to the pressure they were at before it got cold and you can run your heater *only* after you reach operating temperature.


But no matter how you slice it, colder temps mean denser air and it takes every car more energy in the winter to push through colder air.

 

all above sugestions good. Speed up quickly then go to glide mode helps me . don't baby the ice but get up to speed quickly,use gas and hv both when accellerating.

 

Does anyone know what effect heated seats will have on MPG? I was thinking of adding heated seats to the pckg 4 I ordered (I am in Wisconsin). I thought that might be better than running the heat. And today I saw these battery powered socks at REI (for skiers). That would be nice too.

 

i have a question. I recently purchased a pk 6 Prius 2009. I've noticed when the car isn't warm and I just get in and go. I let off the gas coming up to a stop sign and the mpg actually goes down and doesn't hit the 99mpg. Sometimes it will just go up to 75 and will fall down until stop vs. when it gets warmed up when i let off it shows 99 and stays until completely stopped.

Any help would be great on whether this is normal or not.

 

Hopefully it only does this in your first 5 minutes while the engine and catalytic converter are warming up.

 

I have aftermarket heated seats that I use regularly and find the impact to be negligible. With an EBH installed and 95% bottom grill blocked, I am seeing a current tank average per scangauge II of 46mpg (I reset my MFD at each fillup so usually rely on the scangauge for accuracy).

With the heated seats on, I can comfortably delay using the heater until the engine is warm. This is what I wanted them for in the first place.