Winter/all year riding??!!

[rjs987]

I have noticed over the last 20 years of riding in winter weather that mpg drops a lot in very cold air. Maybe more HP, but you'll burn more gas for the same miles. Still way better than the cage. All gas engines burn more gas in cold air vs warm or hot air for the same speeds and miles. Some of that has to do with the "winter blend" of fuel that is brought out just for that season.

[Neil955i]

Significant Bob?  Or just a handful of mpg?

[randyo]

I remember my old VW bus being significant, from high 20s to sometimes single digits, but it had a gas heater.

typically between 5%-10% is what I tracked in my company vehicles, colder temps are worse, more warmup times, maybe engines don't need it, but seats/cabin air does, more idle time at jobsites, etc, mighta had a tank or two going to 15% in freekin cold sub zero, more rolling resistance, 4wd use....... hard to say what part the fuel formulation plays

[rjs987]

Significant Bob?  Or just a handful of mpg?

Both my Burgman 650 and now my AK 550 will drop from between 55-60 mpg summer time riding to 47-50 mpg winter time riding with temps going from 75F-95F in summer and from below zeroF to around 25F in winter. I've seen a similar difference with all the bikes I've owned over the last 20 years.

The biggest surprise to me was my 2017 Subaru Legacy. That car is claimed to get around 30 mpg. In warm to hot summer it does just that. But during all of last winter in cold weather it was a struggle to get it better than 16-17 mpg!!! My Rav4 did a lot better and almost stayed the same regardless of the temps running in the low to mid 20s mpg but still a little higher when warm and a little lower when cold.

[Neil955i]

Thanks Randy / Bob, that's more than I'd have thought!

[randyo]

one thing I noticed, the smaller engines lost more mpg, for instance, the cast iron 325 V8 in my Silverado still gets 20mpg, but not quite 21 in the summer, My 4.0 V6 Tacoma drops from 19 to 17.5, I remember an old 1.9L I4 Isuzu I had went from near 30 to the teens  all rough figures

[Stig / Major Tom]

MPG's are the last thing on my mind when riding in the cold.
Agree~! - keeping my core warm is critical to my comfort - cold face and legs - no problem - but I ain't going far if my hands are cold!

Stig