MPG sudden drop on a short road trip.

[jediboytj]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm in South Florida, so i'm relatively unaffected by what the rest of the country calls "winter", and its very flat so there are rarely differences in MPG when driving one way or another.

 

I took a short road trip to Orlando yesterday, which I have done a few times in this car, and I usually average about 37-38MPG. On the trip up to Orlando, I got my normal 37MPG. On the way home, right outside of Orlando, I had to stop for a fill up (I was down to about 1/4), after that fill up I noticed that even going my normal 70mph on the turnpike, my average MPG was going down quickly. I did a reset of the average, and it was floating around 31-33MPG. That seemed like such a drastic sudden change that seemed to occur right after the fill up.

 

Now, my assumption is that the gas might of been the "winter blend" that I hear people talk about on here that causes a drop in MPG. My last fill up before that was in mid/late november.

 

Everything else with the car is fine, tire pressure OK, and the car runs smoothly and quietly as always.

 

Anything else I should check, or is it probably just the Winter gas?

[hybridbear]

Wind? If you were driving into the wind going home you would see that kind of drop in MPG.

[jediboytj]

I know it was kinda windy in Orlando, and a cold front was just starting to come through on my way home so there was a good amount of rain in the beginning. I dont remember feeling too much wind resistance on the way home, but i'm not sure.

 

Now that im back in town, my city driving seems to be unaffected now.

 

I dont recall ever seeing that much of a MPG drop in my old non-hybrid MKZ on road trips, I would always get a consistent 26MPG, with only maybe a .5MPG variation. Are hybrid cars affected more by things like wind, hills, tire pressure...etc, than non-hybrid cars?

[hybridbear]

I know it was kinda windy in Orlando, and a cold front was just starting to come through on my way home so there was a good amount of rain in the beginning. I dont remember feeling too much wind resistance on the way home, but i'm not sure.

 

Now that im back in town, my city driving seems to be unaffected now.

 

I dont recall ever seeing that much of a MPG drop in my old non-hybrid MKZ on road trips, I would always get a consistent 26MPG, with only maybe a .5MPG variation. Are hybrid cars affected more by things like wind, hills, tire pressure...etc, than non-hybrid cars?

Because MPG is higher a small percent variation looks huge in the MPG change. Since hybrids rely on turning off the ICE for fuel efficiency there is a big impact to driving with cross winds or into the wind because that added resistance is like raising your speed. Cross winds and rain are the worst. Hitting rain drops also increases drag and causes you to consume more fuel. Going from 25 MPG to 24.5 MPG is a 2% drop, sounds small, going from 50 MPG to 49 MPG is the same 2% drop. However, the extra fuel consumed at 24.5 vs 25 MPG is much more than the extra fuel consumed at 49 vs 50 MPG.

[lolder]

Temperature causes 2.0 mpg loss per 10º F. decrease. Wind costs 3 mpg per 10 mph headwind.

[corncobs]

Temperature causes 2.0 mpg loss per 10º F. decrease. Wind costs 3 mpg per 10 mph headwind.

Do you have this statement as a short cut saved somewhere. Don't get me wrong you are 100% right and I just find it funny how many times you have said that lolder.