Anyone else seen this big a drop in gas mileage?

[R18Civic]

I have a 2019 Malibu LT with the 1.5t engine.

Since it got bitterly cold outside (arguable, lowest temps we've seen in this area) with our nights being as low as 15 degrees are our days being as cold as 29 degrees outside.

I'm well aware of winter blend gas but I usually only see a drop of about 3-4mpg. I went from 30mpg to 23ish mpg during these bitter cold months of ice and snow.

Yes, I'm using remote start. Yes, The little engine is taking forever to warm up in in 20-30ish degree weather. This is the first car I've owned that took this big of a hit to the gas tank in winter months.

Lemmie know whatcha think.

 

[ClutchDisc]

Normal. Try doing that in -30F like I get to do sometimes...

 

[Rand]

whole car-- Transmission etc. has to warm up for fuel efficiency.

100% normal.

Throw in some warmup runtime etc.. and its even lower.

If you want to regain some mileage. Dont remote start. Give it 30s to warmup and go gently. (If safe ie windows clear etc)

 

[TnT_M]

I have a 2019 Malibu LT with the 1.5t engine.

Since it got bitterly cold outside (arguable, lowest temps we've seen in this area) with our nights being as low as 15 degrees are our days being as cold as 29 degrees outside.

I'm well aware of winter blend gas but I usually only see a drop of about 3-4mpg. I went from 30mpg to 23ish mpg during these bitter cold months of ice and snow.

Yes, I'm using remote start. Yes, The little engine is taking forever to warm up in in 20-30ish degree weather. This is the first car I've owned that took this big of a hit to the gas tank in winter months.

Lemmie know whatcha think.

I'll trade ya! Im getting ~11MPG in my Cummins powered Ram during this cold snap.

Just kidding I love my truck. Im not trading it any time soon.

 

[spasm3]

I have a 2019 Malibu LT with the 1.5t engine.

Since it got bitterly cold outside (arguable, lowest temps we've seen in this area) with our nights being as low as 15 degrees are our days being as cold as 29 degrees outside.

I'm well aware of winter blend gas but I usually only see a drop of about 3-4mpg. I went from 30mpg to 23ish mpg during these bitter cold months of ice and snow.

Yes, I'm using remote start. Yes, The little engine is taking forever to warm up in in 20-30ish degree weather. This is the first car I've owned that took this big of a hit to the gas tank in winter months.

Lemmie know whatcha think.

Sounds normal. Remote start, means 0 mpg while running. Colder so a richer mixture, also takes longer for the engine to get to closed loop, where the O2 sensor has input. That plus the winter mix fuel.

 

[KGMtech]

25% drop in fuel economy is perfectly normal in a Canadian winter, gets worse if your drive means lots of spinning of the tires to find some sort of traction.

 

[Leo99]

My in-laws texted my wife that their car won't move. It's frozen. It's outside 24 hours a day. It's like 11°F outside now. Whenever you have strange symptoms and extreme weather, I see a correlation. Wait for the weather to get to normal and then reevaluate.

 

[WA1DH]

Remote start is probably the major part of the drop. It's a small price to pay for clear windows and not listening to the kids whine about the cold for the first few miles each morning.

 

[Patman]

I’m getting way worse gas mileage this winter than in previous ones. I usually average 44 MPG in the Civic during the winter months but this year I’m only seeing 40. On the longer highway trips the MPG hasn’t dropped for me so nothing mechanical is wrong. It’s just so much colder that the engine is in the warm up phase way longer. Plus with all of the snowstorms we’ve had that combination of the snow on the roads and the higher winds creates more resistance and pulls the average down

 

[Speedy3861]

Here in Central Pennsylvania it hasn't been above freezing for over 2 weeks, nights are anywhere from 0f to 8f overnight, most days in the middle to upper teens. Our HRV which with normal temperatures averages between 28-33 mpg struggles to average 25-26. That's with 0w20 oil and Toptier fuels. My 23 Civic Touring 1.5t (recently sold) was worse, from an average 35 down to 28 last winter. I'm a 30-45 seconds from start, then gently go advocate.

 

[Propflux01]

I have a 2019 Malibu LT with the 1.5t engine.
Yes, I'm using remote start. Yes, The little engine is taking forever to warm up in in 20-30ish degree weather. This is the first car I've owned that took this big of a hit to the gas tank in winter months.

Youve pretty much answered your own question:

Remote Starting, small engine, and cold weather. I am assuming you're driving long enough to be fully warm, as well?

 

[ripcord]

Buy some gloves and a scarf and lock out overdrive if you can until the engine is mostly up to temp. Maybe consider partially blocking the radiator.

 

[R18Civic]

Youve pretty much answered your own question:

Remote Starting, small engine, and cold weather. I am assuming you're driving long enough to be fully warm, as well?

Not always.

 

[JimPghPA]

My normally asperated 2.4 liter Honda K24W9 earth dreams engine in my 2016 CR-V is getting terable gas mileage this winter.

Winter fuel + remote start several times to melt ice on windshield = very low MPG's

 

[road_rascal]

I have a 2018 Equinox 1.5 (FWD) that's been getting about 28mpg here in MN. The Nokian all weather tires 'may' have a factor compared to the Altimax RT 43's all seasons I've previously run. During warmer months this SUV usually gets around 32-33mpg but my commute is mostly highway and I rarely use remote start.

 

[vwmaniaman]

It has been under freezing here for over a week and when I fill up the 05 Yukon XL with the 5.3 that is before AFD the mileage is only 1mpg less than its normal 16mpg. Have had to use 4 wd just to get out of the driveway. 10 inches of snow with at least an inch of sleet.

 

[Propflux01]

Not always.

Okay...

 

[Arc]

I'll trade ya! Im getting ~11MPG in my Cummins powered Ram during this cold snap.

Just kidding I love my truck. Im not trading it any time soon.

I don't even check my mpg with the Hemi anymore. I know 11 mpg is the best it will ever get.

 

[Arc]

Normal. Try doing that in -30F like I get to do sometimes...

that makes me thankful to be retired. I can just stay in bed on those days.

 

[R18Civic]

I think I figured out another factor in the gas mileage drop, my battery was bad so the start\stop system wasn't functioning properly. Steering feels different too.