The REAL reason your fuel economy collapses in the winter

Uuuum, you're rolling many different things into one.

For example, high altitude aerodynamics pertaining to turbine engines and airfoils (Airfoils being the aircraft's wing).

The stalls and crashes in summer vs if it were winter.... Remember, you can get a stall at any...never mind all the technicalities. All you need to do is exceed the critical angle of attack.

You're kinda going down the right path, but in your attempt over simplify it/ make it fit this situation you have veered off course.

 

I hope they didn't buzz the tower.


Anther reason is the oil in the hubs, rearends engine and transmission is thicker and takes longer to get close to operating temps, thereby creating more drag = lose of fuel mileage. That's why you want to make sure your thermostats are operating correctly, if the engine runs too cold, 1. It doesn't combust fuel as efficiently. 2. The engine oil stays cooler, thicker and causes more drag in the engine.

 

and you don't know mine.

i don't knock yours down, stop knocking mine down.

 

i was talking more in line with the propellor planes. the dual engines can fly higher and faster then the single. but neither can fly as high as the turbines. or as fast.

pretty much about every crash we hear about around these parts. are single engines. with about half being breakdowns and half being stalls. with an occasional night flying crash.

 

I hear you. Starting out cold at 0F and below, it feels like your dragging an anchor the first 50 miles or so while the lubricants are practically like creamy peanut butter.

 

I'm smarter than both of you so stop the bickering.

 

Besides, he has all that red lettering up there...

 

...and a receipt from the Holiday Inn

 

Good old fashioned pissing contest... "I can pee further than you can!"

Something else to consider when it comes to your mileage is your tires and their temperature. The hotter the tire, the hotter the air. That means the air starts to "take up more space" as the molecules move faster due to heat. That alone can decrease your fuel mileage, but it isn't by a substantial amount. In addition, that also means that the colder winter air helps the tires and the air inside stay cooler. So the tire ends up being more efficient.

There is no one good way to nail down the cause. Even the naturally occurring and unpreventable exchange and loss of energy in the combustion reaction inside the engine is at fault.

If you're really hard up about it, then consider using new tires in the summer and older tires in the winter. Tires that have wear weigh less, and the grooves in the tire put up less resistance to the wind. Again, doing this won't increase your mileage substantially, but since engines and design has improved so much in the past decade, tires have become a much larger part of the equation!

 

When he said "you don't have a clue", he didn't mean this topic. He meant.....oh never mind.