Why Do Cars Consume More Fuel in Cold Weather?

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 further increases the fuel consumption of cars.

According to the tests carried out, in the winter months fuel efficiency -5 degrees to 20 degrees approx. 10% more drop. 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 the cars move forward have to push the heavy air staying. 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 Multiple factors on cars due to cold weather combination affects fuel consumption.

So what are these factors caused by cold weather?

Fuel consumption increases as the engine warms up late

In cars, as in humans, a certain heat level there is. well the engine is more efficient at a certain temperature way it works. However, in the winter months, the engine of cars takes longer to warm up.

A little more than normal idle speed to allow the engine to warm up. running at higher speed. 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 too affects the way the tires turn.

So tire rolling resistance Fuel consumption is adversely affected in winter as the temperature rises and the warm-up time increases.

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 your car headlights, interior lights is used more often. Also because the weather is cold heater, seat heating Heating elements such as

Especially heating system from engine temperature It extends the warm-up time of the engine. Lighting system also from batteryfrom the electrical system it’s getting power. This affects the engine power and therefore the fuel.

Oil in the vehicle thickens, increasing friction

Decrease in air temperature in winter thickening of engine oil and transmission oil or cause a 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 wrote on their own, they are not noticeable, cause no 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, between the car manufacturer’s recommended kilometers regular maintenance must be done. ‘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.

• 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