Measuring your ride’s fuel consumption at every fill-up is fun, easy and very informative. Measuring your tank-to-tank mileage is a great practice that can reveal a habit that’s costing (or saving) you money. It can also uncover a steady increase in consumption that could represent a problem.
If you track your mileage, either in your head, on a notebook, or with an app like Fuelly, you’ll also notice that, in winter months, your vehicle uses more gas as it moves through denser cold air, and as you make more frequent use of electrical accessories which trim away at fuel mileage. Things get worse if you have a remote start system, winter tires, and a ski-rack clamped to the roof. Add in the extra weight of snow and slush-goblins stowing away beneath your ride (and their negative effect on aerodynamics), and it’s easy to see why consumption spikes when temperatures drop.
Thankfully, some easy maintenance tips can help combat these negative effects.
