Reasonable MPG or not?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by edmscan

Yup .. this is a standard method of operation for probably many thousands of Canadians. I have put cardboard in front of my radiator on all my cars for many many years. It just helps keep things warmer in the long winters. I just find it funny that everyone didn't know about this trick. Guess if you live in the southern states there is just no reason to do this.

Kinda like having AC in my yaris, I have never used it. But the heater is a different story. Use it often .. and in winter will pretty much leave it on. I just hope that it doesn't affect my gas mileage too much.

It's not just the Southern states. I grew up about 200 miles from Lake Tahoe (Sierra Nevada Mountains - straddles the California/Nevada border) and spent a fair amount of time there growing up, as well as in other parts of the Sierra Nevada Range. I remember people sometimes having trouble starting their cars or driving re traction, but the cold air hitting the radiator/fan wasn't an issue for people I knew, even though Truckee (the point on I-80 that is closest to Lake Tahoe at 14.5 miles) is occasionally the coldest spot in the U.S.

I wonder if the issue is living in a flat area that is close enough to mountains to suffer re how the wind comes from the mountains. I remember once going with my girlfriend to Reno, NV to celebrate the new year and intending to spend part of the time 35-40 miles away near Lake Tahoe skiing. I remember the wind got so bad that we couldn't leave Reno to ski. My friend who lived in Montana drove to California a few times during the Winter and each of those few times he tried the temperature was WAY below zero (he said at one point it got close to 50 below --- Fahrenheit of course, not Celsius) and he said he would pray that the cardboard would stay in place and he would check it (with leaving the engine running of course) whenever he stopped for food. I didn't ask him what he did re getting gas (car off=worry about restarting, but car on= dangerous,illegal). He lived just East of the Indian reservation that is next to Glacier National Park (Waterton on the Canadian side), so I wonder if the wind he experienced as he started ina SW direction toward California was similar to what I experienced in Reno during around New Year's day or what you might experience in Edmonton (with your proximity to the Canadian Rockies) or people in Calgary might experience. I remember reading long ago that Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population of over 500,000. I remember thinking a major factor might be that it is so far away from an ocean, but I don't know if there would be any other MAJOR factors that would contribute to Winnipeg having that status (and I don't know if it currently has that status). Obviously, I'm FAR from an expert re weather.

[rick996]

Originally Posted by roadrunner

No air ever
Roadrunner

I do use my AC, but only going down hills in DFCO. Leave it on recirculate and you can be much more comfortable. I also unlinked the AC from defrost.

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I remember reading long ago that Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population of over 500,000.

That is entirely possible .. the climate here is probably very close to Winnipeg, in fact we are further north than Winnipeg. This is the reason many Canadians travel south in the winter time. The rocky mountains are no where near Edmonton and they really don't affect our climate near as much as what happens in Calgary. But we do the cardboard thing in front of our radiators as it just makes our cars easier to start in the winter and makes them warm up faster.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by edmscan

That is entirely possible .. the climate here is probably very close to Winnipeg, in fact we are further north than Winnipeg. This is the reason many Canadians travel south in the winter time. The rocky mountains are no where near Edmonton and they really don't affect our climate near as much as what happens in Calgary. But we do the cardboard thing in front of our radiators as it just makes our cars easier to start in the winter and makes them warm up faster.

Interesting. It sounds as though re starting and smooth running that 'every little bit helps' and staying running or not isn't directly tied to the wind. Re listening to my friend's story, I thought the frequency and the speed of the wind might have a crucial effect on whether a car could continue to idle and run in an upper U.S. Midwest climate and parts of Canada north of that area with similar terrain. Off the top of my head. I remembered that there is quite a bit of difference between the Calgary to Canmore distance and the Edmonton to Jasper distance, but I had forgotten that the latter is over 3 times the distance of the former. Off the top of my head I would have been able to draw the 'sort of' triangle between Calgary, Edmonton, and Regina...and I would have been able to plot Red Deer at its location between Calgary and Edmonton and Saskatoon's location between Edmonton and Regina, BUT I wouldn't have been able to state what the latitude of Winnipeg is in relation to Regina and Calgary. If I'm going East I'm usually able to tell (without measurement) if I'm going SE or NE, but when driving from Regina to Winnipeg (for some reason) I didn't get any such feeling. I would imagine that during a winter in Canada it might be safer to drive in an urban area than it would be under the same conditions in a rural area because (among other reasons) there would more help for motorists. I would think this difference would be further exacerbated if the rural area was in Montana rather than Alberta.

[edmscan]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I would imagine that during a winter in Canada it might be safer to drive in an urban area than it would be under the same conditions in a rural area

Correct .. I don't mind driving in the city in the winter as help is never far away. But I really don't like driving in the country .. as it could be many miles (or km) to the nearest source of help.

When it is about -30C (-22F) or lower .. you will find another weird thing that we do. Yes we plug our cars in. I know that many cars in the US don't even have block heaters .. and thus don't plug in. It is something I learned from my ex-wife (who is from Oregon). She had never plugged in her car ever until she came to Canada .. so it is another interesting thing we do to keep our cars running. As you can imagine . . depending on the conditions plugging your car in can mean the difference between starting and not starting.

I don't know about my Yaris but my old Honda Accord would start in any weather (even -40C/-40F) , plugged in or not. It was just a real wonderful car in that way. Though I did have to put in gas line antifreeze in the gas tank .. as the gas line would potentially freeze even if the car would start.

So .. moral of the story. Stay where it is warm if you can at all control it. Though I was talking today to the former owner of my Yaris .. and he told me that I should expect a 25% drop in fuel economy during the winter compared to the summer time.