gas mileage worse in summer?

teekadog · Jul 29, 2009

I thought I'd always heard you get worse gas mileage in the winter. But last September we took a road trip to the NE US in our Mazda5. This July we took a road trip to the SE US in our Mazda5 and averaged about 2 miles less per gallon. What gives?

4boysmom · Jul 29, 2009

evaporation?

Amaris · Jul 29, 2009

Was there possibly more weight in the car? Or maybe there was more going uphill last time?

unityco · Jul 29, 2009

Air conditioning.

teekadog · Jul 29, 2009

Yeah, I wondered about evaporation and air conditioning (we used *a lot* of a/c). If anything the car was lighter this time. Thanks for the help.

southpawboston · Jul 29, 2009

evaporation, not a chance.

A/C, definitely.

more weight in car, definitely.

different tires and/or tire pressures, definitely. (and did you check the pressures before your trip???!!!)

different terrain, cruising speed, etc can all make a difference. was this trip more hilly?

agurlsride · Jul 29, 2009

Definitely the A/C..possibly tire pressure too with the heat.

teekadog · Jul 30, 2009

We used A LOT of a/c.

The car was packed lighter.

We had just bought new tires and had the car aligned (checked the tire pressure, too, of course).

I would say that this trip was more level, and that we averaged a slower speed.

I'm really hoping it was the a/c, and not the new tires...

southpawboston · Jul 30, 2009

XmasEve said:
I'm really hoping it was the a/c, and not the new tires...

our winter tires deliver a best recorded mileage of 29, while our previous summer tires delivered a best of 32-33. we just bought new summer tires, and we're seeing 33-34. so, just switching brands of tires within the same class of tire (summer, all-season, performance, etc) can make a difference, although probably not as large as different classes of tire (for example, winter tires are softer rubber, so there is almost always more rolling resistance and hence, worse economy).

A/C also seems to make a difference of 1-2 mpg for us.

how different were your two averages???

joolsplus3 · Jul 30, 2009

I just got new tires and we took a long trip...I got better mileage than driving in town, even with using loads of A/C...I bet it was the tires (in my case).
(don't try to pin me down on details, I need to fill up after 250-300 miles in town on old tires, made it to 325 on new tires on the freeway going way too fast with A/C blasting...)

teekadog · Jul 30, 2009

southpawboston said:
how different were your two averages???

My dh figured it... I think 24mpg last September and 22mpg this July? Not very good, but you have to take into account the roof top cargo box. And that these are averages over 4-5 days. Driving on SUPER windy Oklahoma highways one day and stuck in NJ traffic 2 days later really messes with your mileage LOL.

gas mileage worse in summer?

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