How's the Cold Weather affecting your Fuel Economy?

[Jessica Smith]

Texas is finally seeing snow, and the Ram does not like cold weather.

I average about 16-17mpg quite consistently with a predictable commute, but at half a tank so far its showing me 11-12mpg even though I had compensated with tire pressure for the weather. I have been blasting heat, defrost, heated steering wheel, heated seats, etc.

The little turbo 1.4L Fiat we have though is still averaging ~32mpg, same as always, and feels peppier in the cold weather once warmed up.

 

[dhiller123]

Texas is finally seeing snow, and the Ram does not like cold weather.

I average about 16-17mpg quite consistently with a predictable commute, but at half a tank so far its showing me 11-12mpg even though I had compensated with tire pressure for the weather. I have been blasting heat, defrost, heated steering wheel, heated seats, etc.

The little turbo 1.4L Fiat we have though is still averaging ~32mpg, same as always, and feels peppier in the cold weather once warmed up.

Here's my input from Wisconsin....

Mine's a '14 Crew Cab with a Hemi and 3.92s and stock size mud tires (20s). Lots of idle time (pizza delivery guy) and remote starting. Holding a solid 15.5 average. Summer months, that number is normally in the high 16s to low 17s with the same kind of driving. Our fuel is "reformulated" with 10% ethanol.

Temperatures have been warm, mostly in the 20s outside with a couple nights dipping into the teens and even single digits.


Diller
'14 Outdoorsman CC

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View attachment 233646

 

[Burla]

winter gas, really shows up in v8's over 4 banger.

sept 15 to like march/april.

 

[NJMOPAR]

'Fuel economy' and 'Hemi' are two terms I've never put together.

FWIW since I did the muffler-delete I'm pretty sure mileage has gone down but 'smileage' is WAY up!

 

[JF19Longhorn]

Dropped roughly 1 1/2 mpg since they switched to winter fuel.

 

[danoday]

I still freeze my #ss off pumping fuel!

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[Fatbob Frank]

Winter blends + remote starting and a 3-4 min warm up = -3mpgs on average.
FYI- OEM diff fluid is super thick in the cold too.
When it gets below 20F it feels like I'm pulling extra weight.
After switching over to full synthetic fluid I noticed a big improvement.

 

[caulk04]

My average has been 17-17.5, dropping to 16.5-17 or so now that it's colder. Haven't had a lot of snow to drive in which will drop it quite a bit, much more rolling resistance. I run E15 all the time, so my fuel doesn't change blends in the winter.

Keep in mind though that your 09 truck doesn't have a trans warmer (not that I'm aware of) and it also has power steering fluid to warm up when it's cold.

Your mileage drop seems a bit excessive, are you letting it warm up a long time? A minute or two is nice for being kind to it, but I generally get in and go (gently) and only remote start for a few minutes if it's down to 20 or below.

 

[LoadedExpressRam]

Here's my input from Wisconsin....

Mine's a '14 Crew Cab with a Hemi and 3.92s and stock size mud tires (20s). Lots of idle time (pizza delivery guy) and remote starting. Holding a solid 15.5 average. Summer months, that number is normally in the high 16s to low 17s with the same kind of driving. Our fuel is "reformulated" with 10% ethanol.

Temperatures have been warm, mostly in the 20s outside with a couple nights dipping into the teens and even single digits.


Diller
'14 Outdoorsman CC

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View attachment 233646

"Temperatures have been warm, mostly in the 20s outside"

Sayyyy Whatttttt?

 

[dhiller123]

"Temperatures have been warm, mostly in the 20s outside"

Sayyyy Whatttttt?

Crap, I still drive with the window open a bit if I get too warm.

Thinking back about 8 years ago, I would get up in the morning and the outside temperature was -32. We live about 5 miles from Lake Michigan. Had to drive 25 miles inland for work. Temperatures were between -38 and -40 when I got to work. My car didn't have remote start, but did have heated seats.

20 above is almost shorts weather here in Wisconsin!


Diller
'14 Outdoorsman CC

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[LoadedExpressRam]

Crap, I still drive with the window open a bit if I get too warm.

Thinking back about 8 years ago, I would get up in the morning and the outside temperature was -32. We live about 5 miles from Lake Michigan. Had to drive 25 miles inland for work. Temperatures were between -38 and -40 when I got to work. My car didn't have remote start, but did have heated seats.

20 above is almost shorts weather here in Wisconsin!


Diller
'14 Outdoorsman CC

Sent from my SM-G988U1 using Tapatalk

Man i put a jacket on just to read that message. Stay safe out there.

 

[Jessica Smith]

Your mileage drop seems a bit excessive, are you letting it warm up a long time? A minute or two is nice for being kind to it, but I generally get in and go (gently) and only remote start for a few minutes if it's down to 20 or below.

Not more than a minute tops, not sure if its true but dad always told me its better to let the engine warm up quicker by just cruising really slowly, so that's what I do and just creep along the first couple of miles.

 

[turkeybird56]

I always remote and start: Summer/Winter. Spring, late fall run for a minute. So, with the snow, and deice, prob down to 16 mpg, instead of 20 on highway. But alas, U not really dropping Hwy mileage, just Overall Mileage.

 

[caulk04]

Not more than a minute tops, not sure if its true but dad always told me its better to let the engine warm up quicker by just cruising really slowly, so that's what I do and just creep along the first couple of miles.

I'd agree with that. Let it idle down then set off but keep the throttle light and RPM around 2k till the temp comes up. Must be a reason the engineers chose to not show oil temp below 122.

 

[MSgtZ]

I notice mine went down a bit in early Dec before we started to get cold by Texas standards, I blame it on the winter blend fuel. Otherwise truck is performing just fine. Difference is about 1.5 mpg over what I was getting in warmer weather for the most part.

 

[Texram155]

Avg 15.5 in the summer and now I’m at 13.5 avg. sucks.

 

[RLJ10X]

I have good advice that I'm pretty sure no one will follow.

Check your fuel mileage a couple of times in the summer, just to see how "healthy" your truck is.

Other than that, just let it go. You're not going to save any money by aggravating yourself. I love my truck. But owning it has not been a money making proposition.

 

[dhiller123]

I agree. I didn't buy this rig for fuel economy,I bought it for utility. It's in my driveway to surve a purpose. I'm a landscaper during the summer months and the truck suits me well (next one will be a 2500 or 3500).

The truck it replaced was a '12 Grand Cherokee Overland Summit. It was equipped with the 3.6 and 3.21 gears. I put a set of 32" Ridge Grapplers on it to make it a bit more useful. In the long run, with the improper gearing, I was hardly getting better fuel economy. Worse yet, the truck wasn't fitting the bill for what I needed.

All said, buy what you need. Having the right tool for the job makes life MUCH EASIER!

Diller
'14 Outdoorsman CC

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[BWL]

I warm up the truck until heat comes out of the vents enough that I can see out the windows. MPG does drop for me by a couple mpg in the winter between the fluids being thicker, winter blend gas and the extra resistance of snowy roads and extra warm up it just isn't as efficient as summer.

 

[Doug Ram]

Cold weather?!
WHAT cold weather??

We got 6 inches from a pre-christmas storm that gave some folks in a narrow band to our south up to 40, but it was mostly gone by New Years.
I am sitting here at 2 am in upstate NY and it's 30F, down from 35. Here in the Finger Lakes of NY we have been in a warm, cloudy, snowless funk for a month. We haven't seen the sun for more than a couple of days since November and haven't had more than 48 hours in a row of below freezing temps since March. Normal highs in January are mid 20s, night time lows around 15. In an average winter, we'd have had 50 to 60 inches of snow by now. But this year has been the warmest and least snowy winter I can recall in my 58 years.

And more rain is forecast for later today. No snow below 3,000ft, means only the Adirondacks may get white. Today we got some lake effect... rain and sleet! If we didn't make snow, there would be no skiing.

Boring.