Snow, rain and cold weather in winter worsen the roads, making driving difficult. Moreover, the cold weather, which gives car drivers a difficult time, also has great damage to the pockets of the drivers. Cold weather increases the fuel consumption of cars even more.
According to tests, fuel efficiency drops by about 10% in winter months at -5 degrees Celsius compared to 20 degrees Celsius. In addition, tests show that when driving below a certain kilometer, fuel consumption increases by 20% if the temperature is below 0.
According to experts, this situation, which is encountered even in the least burning cars, is quite normal.
Because in the winter months, the weather gets even more intense with the falling temperatures. As a result, cars have to push the heavier air to move forward. At the same time, cars spend extra energy to move on deteriorating roads. As a result, fuel consumption increases even more.
However, the cold air itself is not the only thing that affects fuel consumption. Although the biggest factor is cold weather, the combination of multiple factors that occur on cars due to the cold weather effect affects fuel consumption.
So what are these factors caused by cold weather?
Fuel consumption increases as the engine warms up late
As with people, there is a certain level of heat in cars. In other words, the engine runs more efficiently at a certain temperature. However, in the winter months, the engine of cars takes longer to warm up.
The engine is running at slightly higher than normal idle speed to warm up. This increases fuel consumption.
Cold weather lowers tire pressure
Even a 10 degree change in air temperature causes tire pressures to drop by an average of 1 PSI. This affects the way the tires spin.
In other words, as the rolling resistance of the tires increases and the warm-up time increases, the fuel consumption is negatively affected in the winter.
Frequent use of heating and lighting elements is another factor affecting fuel use.
As you know, in winter the days are short and the nights are long. That’s why the car’s headlights and interior lights are used more often. At the same time, since the weather is cold, heating elements such as heaters and seat heating are used more.
Especially since the heating system takes advantage of the engine temperature, it extends the warm-up time of the engine. The lighting system is also powered by the battery, the electrical system. This affects the engine power and therefore the fuel.
Oil in the vehicle thickens, increasing friction
The decrease in air temperatures in the winter months causes the engine oil and transmission oil to thicken or decrease in fluidity. As a result, it becomes more difficult for the engine oil to circulate in the engine. At the same time, the friction of the transmission system to the moving parts increases. As a result, more fuel is consumed.
All the factors we have written are actually visible on their own and do not cause major changes. But when combined, cars consume 10% or 20% more fuel in winter compared to warmer months.
In addition to all these, the most important factor that increases fuel consumption is the lack of maintenance of the vehicle.
Regardless of the weather conditions, regular maintenance is essential between the car manufacturer’s recommended kilometers. ‘So what should be done to prevent the increase in fuel consumption during the winter months?’ We give a few simple tips for our readers who will ask.
- When you start your car for the first time, you should keep your car in a closed garage to keep the temperature constant and prevent it from running at high speed at idle. In this way, the load on the battery is reduced, the engine oil remains liquid and your car warms up normally.
- Do not leave your vehicle idling for too long to thaw frozen windows and warm the interior. Instead, you can use an ice scraper or defroster.
- Using winter tires and using your tire pressure at the recommended PSI will prevent your fuel consumption from increasing.
- Using high quality engine oil suitable for your vehicle also prevents excessive fuel consumption.
We talked about the factors that increase fuel consumption in winter and how you can prevent them. You can access our other content about fuel saving below.
10 tips to save almost half your fuel, whatever the weather conditions
Our content where we tried all fuel saving methods
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