Drop in MPG

[Robert Caffyn]

Has anybody from the NY, NJ, PA and DE areas recently expirienced a drop in mileage? Was at Auto Zone and the counter man stated "some bad gas has been circulating in the area" and recommended some type of fuel additive. When pressed, he thought that more ethanol may have been added to the gas. Here we can't have over 10% EtOH in the gas, but have talked to several people and they have described losses of up to 12 mpg. I have lost around 5mpg to 13mpg. I know we use a summer and winter blend, but have not seen losses like this. Anybody? BC

 

[Woppy V]

13mpg? sooo your only getting 3mpg at times? if thats the case additive ain't gonna help nothing!





did you mean your loosing 13 miles per tank? I get about 350miles per entire tank. If your somewhere between 300+ you should be fine. imo

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Keep in mind that you are also using "Winter Gas" at this time as well.

You physically have less fuel per gallon due to the additives put in place in cold weather areas.



Thus, less MPG's...



I was at 17.6 MPG and now I get 16.7.

Once Winter Gas is out of here, I expect to see it increase again...

 

[Mark K 2]

I hate winter gas at most stations. They add 10% ethanol, which lowers MPG. That's why I only buy at BP. No ethanol and they advertise as such.

 

[chargedtrac]

My mileage has dropped from about 16.0 - 16.3 down to 14 - 14.2 at last check. I would have thought that with the K&N aircharger and colder air this time of year compared to mid-summer that my mileage wouldn't go down, given similar commuting\driving habits. I have a garage and don't let the truck idling really to warm up. The other thought on the mpg drop was to Bob's mention of "winter blend" out right now. All the pumps up here indicate 10% ethanol all yearlong. Would be nice to have some confirmed idea why the drop. I even tried different tunes on my SCT x3, going from my current 87 Performance to 87 Economy and even back to stock. Leaving at 87 Performance tune right now, as both Economy and stock tunes were slightly lower (but definitely not better)...from my unscientific experiments. :smile0004:

 

[swshawaii]

Bob C- Your mileage loss is pretty hard to fathom. 5 to 13 MPG?

No mention of towing, extreme inclines, or heavy footed driving.

Fuel leak would make sense, but no telltale leaks or fumes were described.



I'm baffled.

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Yep. I see about 2-3 MPG drop every winter. Mostly from the winter blend gas and also from having to use 4 wheel drive sometimes to get home. No additive will help. Trust me, I've used them all.

 

[Robert Caffyn]

Sorry guys, I should have said "that I have experienced a drop of 5mpg and am now getting 13mpg". BC

 

[bob k 2]

same here in nj, summer time about 17-19...now 14 -15..winter stinks

 

[Jim Cook]

I never thought about that! I went from 19mpg to 14.5mpg ...Thought it was caused by the fluctuating temperatures here in PA messing with my tire pressure. I'll have to look around for a BP I guess.

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

jimbo and Mark, BP here in Punxsy Pa has signs on their pumps that they contain Ethonal also. So probably no such luck there. I get the same MPG using their winter fuel as I do using the Exxon or Sheetz winter fuel in town.



On the other hand, I do get better MPG using BP's summer blend.

 

[Todd Cloutier]

Yep, winter blend gas. I'm getting 12.9 mpg according to the Scangauge II. Normally it's 15 mpg on NY gas.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

In the winter they add more chemicals to the mix to help the gas from freezing. Plus the cold temps play havoc with fuel mileages. You tend to run the truck longer in the winter months to warm it up and I know my '03 ST eats the gas up when it idles worse then if I were on the highway flooring it. I use Stahl fuel additive the my trucks in the winter every couple months to help flush the system and dry out the water in the tank.:smile0006::smile0004:

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

BP uses ethanol in their fuel, How do you think they "Guarantee"- No fuel freeze up!:smile0016:

 

[Mark K 2]

The owner of the BP station I always use doesn't have "may contain ethanol" stickers on his pumps, which are required by state law if ethanol is added. He told me the gas he purchases doesn't contain ethanol.



I can smell the alcohol in ethanol-added gasoline while filling up. The BP gas at "my" station doesn't smell like ethanol.

 

[Jerry Gerner 2]

Not sure how he's getting around that. It's part of BP's fuel to have ethanol in it. ??? My cousin haul's gas and that one of the company's he hauled for.

 

[EddieS'04]

Winter gas, mpg will drop. But the BS at AZ is a ploy. For the past month every time I walk into a AZ. They try to sell me one gas additive or another. The pitch is its' on sale right now. I live in Texas. AZ must have bought a warehouse full of gas additive, real cheap.

Now they are hopeing to make some big bucks. 99% of the cars on the road dont need gas additives or the high dollar fuel injection cleaning. There is big money in useless aditives.

 

[Dave Niederhauser]

I live in MD, but travel to PA and DEL daily. I seen my MPG drop about 4 mpg and I was just thinking about it....... THX for the info.....

 

[Todd Z]

And the gas from state to state is very different !!!!



I fill up in NY head to CT......... 21-22 mpg highway in the ST and 23-24 in the malibu...



Fill up in CT and head to NY...... 24-26 in the ST highway and 27-30 in the malibu...



IT is amaizing.... Same price per gallon too !!!!



they do it on purpose !!!



Todd Z

 

[Roger Batts]

I drive occasionally from Dallas to Shreveport to visit family. I usually get better gas mileage on the return trip than I do going out there! I really need to take the Trac on a road trip and see how it does on the highway with the homemade CAI in the Projects section.