I know I'm asking a lot of questions today..but do Northern States really get "Winter Gas". I'm in the Northeast. I usually seem to end up around 19mpg on the trip computer. However, this week...I'm at 17...to high 16's. Seems like big drop. I know mpg can be influenced by a number of things...but not sure what gives all or a sudden compared to last week.

What is "winter gas"? and is there less energy density in it?

Mike S.

 

"Winter gas" is a different blend of gasoline. Gasoline isn't just 1 thing, it's a mixture of a few different chemicals that gives it the right properties. Those properties include something called vapor pressure which is the reason for the change. Basically, winter fuel has more butane which is cheap and plentiful. That's why winter fuel costs less. It's cheaper to make. The main drawback is that it has less energy by volume than the summer blend.

You probably average the same miles per dollar all year around though. Don't think those oil companies don't know what they're doing.

 

where in northeast r ya?

 

Hate to say it, but winter gas started almost 2 months ago.

 

I know I get 10-15% worse mpg w/ Ethanol gas. Seems like it's getting very hard to find "real" gas these days and especially in the winter

 

try pump up tires back to spec? pressure decreases with colder temp in winter

 

I did notice a drop of almost 1 mpg with the gas changeover. I also changed oil at the same time, so I can't determine the cause.

 

I'm in Buffalo, NY. I did pump up my tires to 35psi on a 40 degree day a few weeks ago. All the gas I normally use has 10% ethanol already so it's not like I'm used to seeing mpg based on 100% gasoline.