Inconsistent mileage per tank

[MacMantis]

I'm from Quebec but I swear some of Dallas winters are brutal. They don't last long but there were several days were I was glad to have that FJ40!

One winter, something like 38 water mains broke and we lived in a condo. Our neighbor, who had an end unit was all packed up for movers coming the next day had a pipe bust in the wall. We came home and the poor thing had 2 inches of water on the ground floor. We went to help and I knew it was really bad when her cat food bowls floated by my feet.

I still think of those as being some harsh and icy days, even though I've been in New England for 15 years now.

Yeah we had one of those winter ‘21 and it was nuts. I was working on apartments at the time and had like 3 days working 12-14 hour days purely fixing leaks on several complexes. I kid you not, was in a boiler room, would fix one leak, turn it back on, and a new one would bust and it happened 7 times in a row in that one room. And the shut off was at the opposite end of the complex. Lol.

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[Joeiconic]

Letting it sit at idle really kills the mpg number. Letting it run to warm up, sitting at red lights or in drive-thrus, etc, all take their toll.

 

[MXGOLF]

Same here Connor. We're into that cold front heading across the country right now. It's been in the lower 30's the past few mornings and only reaching the upper 50's by 4:00 pm, toady's a heat wave at 38. lol I'm freezing here and my hands are like ice cubes and I'm wearing a hoodie in the house! ?

MEOW you must have had your meow mix for breakfast.

 

[Rhino]

Same here Connor. We're into that cold front heading across the country right now. It's been in the lower 30's the past few mornings and only reaching the upper 50's by 4:00 pm, toady's a heat wave at 38. lol I'm freezing here and my hands are like ice cubes and I'm wearing a hoodie in the house! ?

sooo out of curiosity since ive never lived in a place that has a hot climate year round do you all have heaters or is that something that is scene as not needed since its always warm and you mainly only need ac?

 

[Colo_Ranger]

I get 20-21 mpg during the summer. In the mountains of Colorado, with 34" tires. Right now, I am getting 14-16 with the winter blend, and nothing else has changed...

 

[AzScorpion]

sooo out of curiosity since ive never lived in a place that has a hot climate year round do you all have heaters or is that something that is scene as not needed since its always warm and you mainly only need ac?

We have heaters. Most are a regular air handler (gas forced hot air) up in the attic but I think there are some that have heat pumps too. The last couple winters weren't to bad with daytime highs in the low to mid 60's and nights in the upper 30's to lower 40's.

Funny because when I looked at my house it had a fireplace and I said to my realtor "A fireplace in AZ"? He laughed and said yes it does get cold in the desert and he's right. We use it all the time too! It feels a lot colder here than back east at the same temps because of the lack of humidity here. 60 degrees back in MA and I'm still wearing a short sleeve shirt while here I'm in a parka. lol

 

[Rhino]

We have heaters. Most are a regular air handler (gas forced hot air) up in the attic but I think there are some that have heat pumps too. The last couple winters weren't to bad with daytime highs in the low to mid 60's and nights in the upper 30's to lower 40's.

Funny because when I looked at my house it had a fireplace and I said to my realtor "A fireplace in AZ"? He laughed and said yes it does get cold in the desert and he's right. We use it all the time too! It feels a lot colder here than back east at the same temps because of the lack of humidity here. 60 degrees back in MA and I'm still wearing a short sleeve shirt while here I'm in a parka. lol

ahh interesting ive kinda always wondered it tbh since its warm year round neat to know!

also the reason its different now for you is your body adapts lol its use to warm and not cold so when that cold comes in it hits a bit harder! a buddy of mine moved out from Missouri and was in Hawaii for years on a marine base and came back last year i think? and all he could do was complain about how awful the cold is while bundled up like a marshmallow dude lmao meanwhile everyone is wearing a hoodie looking at him like whats the issue? lol

 

[Cabose-1]

sooo out of curiosity since ive never lived in a place that has a hot climate year round do you all have heaters or is that something that is scene as not needed since its always warm and you mainly only need ac?

I live near brownsville. Mcalken tx. Just a stone throw from mexico. We have heaters, but electric, just move our switch from ac to heater, and only use them 2 weeks out of the year. Most of the time we are ok with just closing the doors and using a hoodie. For the rare ocasion it gets below 40, we suffer from the cold. I have gortex and long johns from the military. Sobi am good. Snow, ice, the end of the world.

Fyi. I lived in fort collins Colorado from age 2 to age 17. So i know vlizzards and cold, used to wear shorts when it was 50 with sun and ski for spring break and build igloos and all that stuff. We never had ac in Colorado hahaha

 

[Rhino]

I live near brownsville. Mcalken tx. Just a stone throw from mexico. We have heaters, but electric, just move our switch from ac to heater, and only use them 2 weeks out of the year. Most of the time we are ok with just closing the doors and using a hoodie. For the rare ocasion it gets below 40, we suffer from the cold. I have gortex and long johns from the military. Sobi am good. Snow, ice, the end of the world.

Fyi. I lived in fort collins Colorado from age 2 to age 17. So i know vlizzards and cold, used to wear shorts when it was 50 with sun and ski for spring break and build igloos and all that stuff. We never had ac in Colorado hahaha

ahh interesting i figured you all would have it for a backup just incase but ive never been out that way haha

nice a buddy of mine lives out that way he is on this forum as well but not active lol

 

[Langwilliams]

sooo out of curiosity since ive never lived in a place that has a hot climate year round do you all have heaters or is that something that is scene as not needed since its always warm and you mainly only need ac?

I lived in Hawaii for 3.5 years while in the navy an our base housing didn't have a heater.

 

[Rhino]

I lived in Hawaii for 3.5 years while in the navy an our base housing didn't have a heater.

what was the coldest it ever got out in hawaii?

 

[Langwilliams]

what was the coldest it ever got out in hawaii?

I don't have a number but I never felt cold in shorts. When we left we flew to LA to get our car an drive to my next assignment. It was late Nov, maybe Dec, I figured it's SoCal it's gonna be ok. NOPE. We were freezing when we landed in the early morning. After getting our car we had to find a store to buy some jeans an coats since we didn't have any. We stopped in the high desert a few times on the way an man that morning air at altitude was COLD after leaving Hawaii. I went from Hawaii, to Northwest Fla to San Diego then I got out an moved back to Ohio. No problem adjusting to winter weather. I worked outside for 25 years here.

 

[CB750F]

Same here Connor. We're into that cold front heading across the country right now. It's been in the lower 30's the past few mornings and only reaching the upper 50's by 4:00 pm, toady's a heat wave at 38. lol I'm freezing here and my hands are like ice cubes and I'm wearing a hoodie in the house! ?

That's hot! Lucky you.

 

[CB750F]

I only get 340/tank (19 mpg) regardless of how gentle I drive. I complain about this terrible 2WD mileage all the time on here , and winter blends definitely make that frustratingly poor mileage sting even more...

@jblc
Me too I bitched, for 1,5 yrs, we had the same as you. This spring
when the gas went up, my wife changed her driving habits
a little. She is soft on take off & on cruise asap. We were doing 24mpg constantly this summer.
Back to winter gas. With all my other cars, from 1980 to 2000 I would lose 100km per tank, 60 miles, so it's normal.
As for why it drops, several reasons, just my thoughts/experience.
- Whatever they add in the gas(?) If they do.
- Remote start
- Wheel spin on snow/ice
- What I think most people don't think. The air is cold & therefore more resistance. This sounds a little weird I'm sure but for those
who ride. They can confirm or deny.
All I can say is when I ride & it's hot, 90F, I don't 'feel' the wind.
But when it's 40/45, man, it feels like I'm hitting a brick wall, quite a difference.

 

[jblc]

@jblc
Me too I bitched, for 1,5 yrs, we had the same as you. This spring
when the gas went up, my wife changed her driving habits
a little. She is soft on take off & on cruise asap. We were doing 24mpg constantly this summer.

1) Yeah, I think it's this vehicle and not the driver
For example,I got 27 mpg in my last ranger ('97) when the spec was 24.
My driving habits are good : I don't drive too fast, use cruise control asap, accelerate slowly, etc ... Because i didn't know what else to try, I even added a throttle controller I tried on very conservative Eco mode -- no difference in mpg when limiting the throttle to be as gentle as possible.
I hand compute each tank in cases where I'm driving 65mph, in low winds, on flat ground, with minimal payload (eg one passenger), as a good reference. I make sure I frequently change synthetic oil and that it's the correct level.
Always MAX 20 mpg both ways at constant 65 mpg, flat ground, low winds, etc. Sometimes 19.

2) I've also tried the opposite strategy that some people advised (accelerate quickly to use boost, then cruise), with no improvement (but slightly worse mpg)

3) Not sure what else is left...could my transmission be very inefficient for some reason? Etc
I wish the dealers would be able to evaluate, but this isn't something they'll look at, since the posted mpg is an estimate -- independent of the fact that the vast majority of people (eg this forum) are getting ~24 mpg.

I'm pretty sure i just got a lemon mileage-wise, which is frustrating.

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