I have an automatic 2007 FIT since august 2006. When I first purchased the car, a full tank of gas could easily top over 450 to 500km (for less than 35 litre of gas). During the first winter, I never experienced any drop in the fuel efficiency. However, for my 2nd winter, which is now, I've noticed I have to re-fuel every 350 to 400km or so. For me, I think that's a pretty significant drop. I finally took the car to the dealership earlier today but the service rep told me if the engine light doesn't light up, there is nothing he can do for me for the diagnosis. I do not have winter tires on and i did check the pressure of the tires (@ 32 psi). Do any of you FIT owners notice this trend during the winter months? I live in Toronto btw

 

I am just down the QEW in the Hamilton area. I got my Fit in June 07 and would get 400km or so before refueling with 28+ or - litres.
I have the AT sport and had new (one size smaller) rims and Michelin XIce tires put on for winter. (first time with winter tires on any vehicle I have had and WHAT a difference!! Love 'em) But my mileage has gone down significantly.
I have had the car back to top of the nitrogen a few times and again last week when they removed a nail.

I don't know how much less mileage but I know I have to gas up sooner- it seems to vary. Perhaps related to our cold and warmer spells we have been having with winter this year.
p.s. Hope you faired well with today's snow storm!! I closed the office and made 21 people very happy!

 

I thought I just heard on these forums recently that they changed the
gas out by you guys this winter. If that is indeed true, I would imagine
that as a big contributing factor. (maybe do a search on here for ethenol
or something....) I hope this helps....if not...well you cant say I didnt try good luck...peace!

 

I just went to the gas station, AGAIN! and saw that the gas I usually get contains up to 10% of ethanol. Apparently Ontario government has began allowing gas companies to add up to 10% ethanol starting Jan 2007. However, that doesn't really explain why the sudden drop in my fuel efficiency since I still managed to last approx. 500km per tank in non-winter months. Ahhhhh~ frustration

 

When I mentioned this issue to my husband, he said a guy at work goes to a station in the city here and gets gas without ethenol (??)
I checked out a gov't of Ontario site and it says
On October 7th, 2005, the Government of Ontario filed Regulation 535/05, which requires that gasoline sold in Ontario contain an average of five per cent ethanol, on an annual basis, beginning January 2007.

As is stated in the previous post.

However, what do you make of this cut and paste from the same gov't site?

Regular Gasoline is Still an Option
The regulation allows for the sale of non-ethanol-blended gasoline. As the regulation calls for an average of five per cent ethanol, the regulation allows the marketplace to determine if it will be sold.

AND ANOTHER


Regular Gasoline is Still an Option
The regulation calls for an annual average of five per cent ethanol, so it is likely that consumers will still be able to buy ethanol-free gasoline, although the price may be higher in some areas.

I don't understand. The regulation calls for an average of 5%. So, perhaps a supplier will opt for ethanol-free in the warm months and 10% in the colder months? - therefore signage says UP to 10%??

Or can they opt for none at all.....ever??? This is confusing. I am going to visit some big name supplier sites for more information on ethanol content as I recently did for who carries Top Tier gasoline.

 

I always go to Shell and I did see that for Bronze (87) has 10% ethanol, silver (89) has 5% ethanol and the top grade V-power (91) has no ethanol. If you do visit other brands, please do report back on your finding

 

Never knew their where so many fit owners on this site from the Hamilton area.

I too noticed a drop I have a 5-speed, and in summer could get ~520km off 35L. But now I get ~520km off 40L. I looked into this as I really got worried that maybe something is wrong with the car and I do about 600Km a week, here is the reason, most car loose at least 10% fuel economy in winter months. There are many web-sites that state all the reasons but mainly because off open-loop (the time it takes the car to heat up (when the blue coolant light turns off)), tire pressure (it takes up to an hour for tires to heat up in winter (Nitrogen guys will take 20mins)), and A/C, (since most of us have the defogger on this turns on the A/C and sucks a little more gas).

For me I went from on average 35mpg-6.5L/100km to 30.5mpg-7.5L/100km. This is a little more then 10% drop but most cars do loose more. Funny thing is all my other cars where in the mid 20mpg-10L/100km, and I never seemed to notice. I guess after driving the Fit for a little while and getting used to paying less for gas it really shows.

 

Here is the reply I got from my email query re how much ethenol is in Sunoco gas.

 

Ok, I know I'm resurrecting an old thread, but I had to say something. None of the above explains why this owner's first winter saw decent fuel economy, while the second winter had those numbers go south.

But to touch on the general reason fuel economy in winter is typically worse in winter, the colder air is much denser than warm air. This means that if the fuel delivered to the engine were to remain the same across all parameters as that delivered on warm days you'd have an air/fuel mix that was too lean, ie: too much air, not enough fuel.

The mass airflow sensor senses the density of the incoming air and feeds this info to the computer, which then schedules the proper amount of fuel for that density, thereby correcting the lean mix.This of course means more fuel consumed.

"But wait", some of you might argue. "If the incoming air/fuel mix is more dense, doesn't that produce more power, making it more efficient and therefore canceling out fuel losses?"

Uh, not exactly. You still have the same gearing for a given rpm and selected gear. Also, there's all that slippage on ice and roll resistance in snow. Fuel economy cannot help but to suffer.

All of which still leaves the mystery: Why was fuel economy ok the first winter, but crappy the next?

Good question. Was the previous winter warmer than the most recent? Was more driving done at night or in early mornings, when the air was colder and perhaps the snowplows hadn't come through yet? Was the dealership passing the buck when they said there was nothing they could do, even though the problem may have been a faulty sensor, and failed to trip the "service engine" light? All of these variables are possibilities.

 

could be the winterized gas he got depending on the location he's at.

on top of the weather, how much defogging he needed to do which
runs the a/c compressor for more power consumption, temperatures,
how much he ate during xmas making himself fat and heavy, etc. etc.

 

Winter has always resulted in worse gas mileage for me because of rougher driving conditions it being colder so you have to wait for car to warm up etc.... also alot more stop and go traffic because of snow. So you should experience a drop in mpg.

You could check all of your filters see if any need to be replaced or do you need an oil change stuff like that. If one of those things is wrong or needs to be replaced then it could affect your mpgs.

 

Its fall right now, not winter.

 

The true reason why you get worse gas mileage in the winter is because of the changes they make to the molecular properties that makes fuel ignite or create combustion........A full article can be found here.......

THE TRUTH ABOUT WINTER GAS. BY JOHN HUNKINS

 

I read it, and it makes sense. These additives fall in line characteristics-wise with alcohol-based fuels. They boost octane (ie: the resistance to detonation characteristics), but there's less BTUs per volume, therefore less horsepower produced. Same goes for propane and natural gas. Have you ever driven a van that's been converted to run on propane? I have. The reduction in power is noticable. The fuel costs less, but you use more of it.

Another thing we see here in Canada is that little small-print sticker on the pumps at most gas station that reads "volume corrected to 15 degrees celsius." That's around 60 degrees Farenheit. Gasoline, like any other liquid except water, contracts (shrinks) when cold and expands when warm. So to correct this volume in winter the pumps WARM the fuel to approx 15C before it is delivered into your tank. Once in your tank, the fuel returns to ambient January temperature (ie: damn cold) and shrinks accordingly. So you have less fuel than you though you had. Therefore, fewer miles driven between fill-ups in winter than in summer. And our governments (who make a gob more in taxes per gallon consumed than the governments in the states do) are perfectly ok with this scam.

"But wait a minute" some of you might counter. "the fuel still contains the same amount of energy no matter what the temperature, therefore, no fuel economy penalty."

Well, sort of. True, the fuel still contains the same BTUs. But unlike air temperature and density changes, our engines' computers and sensors don't sense fuel temperature and correct for it. In winter you simply burn a richer mixture (ie: more fuel)than normal. This is why on many vehicles you'll see spark plug electrodes that are covered in greyish-black soot rather than the normal tan-colored deposits.

 

But normally the O2 sensor should be able to cope with this...

Check...
-Tires pressure...
-Air filter....

Try...
-Syntec Oil...
-Reset the car's computer...

If higher milleage car...
-Spark plugs...
-Injectors cleaner...
-Exhaust restriction...
-O2 sensors...

Marko!!

 

In winter you are going to lose 10-20 percent in mileage. 1. Heater and Lights draw on battery and cause more fuel to be burnt to charge battery notice your idle is 200rpm higher then when they are not on. 2. Colder air has more oxygen in it and your oxygen sensor is set for 14.4 to 14.7 fuel air mixture and your car adds more fuel to get it at 14.7. I use Premium gas all year and I only lost 5 to 10 percent. Ethanol is use here all year long but premium does not use that much or not at all due to fuel seperation. They use Ethanol because during warm up unburnt ethanol just evaporates cleanly into the enviroment plus you can get more horsepower but less torque from your engine. Torque is what moves your car and horsepower is how fast. I dynoed my car and torque was higher than stock and horsepower was right there maybe a point or 2 lower. Honda Fit is a good car that gets great gas mileage if you drive the speed limits and keep it below 70 mph.

 

most definitely winter is killing your fuel economy. cold weather rapes fuel economy.