Boy has the cold weather affected my mpg...I was in the low 50's but now down to upper 40's.

But I have a couple of questions:

1. I've been running 36psi in the tires...do I drop that back down to 31 for the snow & ice?? I'm asking for the sake of traction & safety.

2. I attached foam pipe insulation to my front grill to block the cold air to my engine (as discussed on this site)...I've noticed that the air temperature reading seems to be a few degrees warmer than the outside temps. I assume this is due to the reduced amount of cold air blowing into the engine area...did I block the air temperature reader...is this OK or do I need to make some adjustments? I feel this has helped with engine warm up!!

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

I find the traction better with high air pressure. I'm running 41 psi. for ice and snow.H

 

Nita, Its been a while heh?

Regarding your tires & cold weather:

As you know, I am right in the middle of it as well. At the moment we are at -35C (-31F) without factoring in the wind chill (its warming up though).
Personally, I am running my tires at 48psi. The ones I have on are winter tires (Michelin X-Ice) and are rated at 51psi max sidewall.
If you are still sporting your OEM tires then I would view your current pressure as adequate while also leaving some room for safe experimentation.
While there are folks that swear the cold traction increases with lower tire pressures, there are also those of us who will claim otherwise - but hey, what do I know about snow and ice anyway ?.
In the end, I think it depends heavily on the type of tire you're using and the surface you operate on (ice or snow). Sadly the OEM tires are hardly the best tires.

On #2:
The HCH-II has several relevant temperature inputs that are worth manipulating for optimal operating temperature and higher FE.
When you plug the front grille, you influencing the oAI (outside air temp), the cAI (Ait intake temp) and also the cWT (water coolant temp). Because, you are retaining more heat in the engine bay, other downstream temperature sensitive systems (including the hybrid specific ones) will also benefit. The IPU, (including the module temp sensors on the battery pack as well), will benefit greatly since this in turn will reduce the duration of the heavier regen routine that is typical in colder weather.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Yeah. The temp sensor is directly in front of where you block the grill. The temp will no longer be accurate.

 

Nita,

I would highly recommend a block heater. Most dealerships in Oklahoma will act as if you are crazy for requesting it, but it really does wonders. I'm not so sure about MPG yet, I've not had the time to do calculations because I've only had it two days. I do know that autostop now works as close as 200 feet away from my house vs before block heater it was about 20 miles . Also because the engine (oil?) is warm you are able to kick on the heat a lot earlier and feel some warmth, almost instantly. I have not done the grill blocking yet, but that is planned for today.

Actually the dealerships here thought I was so crazy... Eskridge, Fowler, and Steve Bailey all gave me a similar response. "A block heater!?!? Why on earth would you want that? We don't live in the tundra here! [insert typing and clicking noises] As a matter of fact its on national back order and we're just not going to get involved in that, we'll leave those for people who actually need it." That was about two months a go. I don't know if it's still on national back order, but I picked one up from Jay Honda online. They confirmed the national back order, but accepted my order and it came in decent time (about two weeks, not bad considering it's out of stock all over). The transaction and communication with them was very good. I don't think they are the cheapest but they were a joy to deal with.

 

msantos, how well does the HCH start with that kind of temps. And how well does the climate control work under those conditions? Is the cab comfortable? Brrrrrrrr!!! H

 

Bobby in OKC

Who did you get to install the block heater(and what did it cost)...or did you do it yourself?

My auto stop doesn't work until about 5-10 miles and mpg drops in the meantime.

Hope you weren't hit too bad by the ice storm...we got hit here back in 2002 and it was horrible. No power for almost 2 weeks!! But we really dodged a bullet with it this time.

 

Hey MSantos!


I've missed ya'll too!! I've been trying to keep up my fuel postings and occasionally read the threads, but I've been mousing around more than typing lately....lame excuse but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

Thanks for the advice and I think I'll keep the 36psi, sounds like you've had enough experience with this for both of us. Yes they are the stock tires but we don't get quite as much weather as you so I'm not going in for the snow tires.


But I have been lovin' my car...it's nice to go somewhere and not worry about the cost of the fuel!

I told my friends it like driving a video game...I play the gas pedal carefully to earn points (high mpg). They just shake their heads...if they only knew!!!

Happy Holidays All !! Drive carefully...and have FUN!!!

 

I had it installed at Eskridge on I-240 & S. Western for $68.00. I choose them for several reasons:

• They seem to be a "lesser" evil among the dealerships, prices are usually low and the service is great (except for the experience of attempting to order the block heater, but I got the same response everywhere in town).
• I bought the car there and that whole deal was fantastic.
• It's right around the corner from where I work. I left the car there in the morning and a co-worker picked me upon his way into work. By lunchtime it was ready and a co-worker dropped me off to get it back. Very convenient!
• I have somewhere to take it back to if it's gone wrong at some point. Accountability and Warranty coverage!

I read the install instructions before deciding to have Eskridge do it and it seemed fairly easy. I just had more reasons (fears?) NOT to self-install it than to self-install it. I'll admit that the number one reason for having someone install it is fear of fault. If I messed up the install and something went wrong, who is to blame? What happens to my warranty as a whole? It involves/touches a lot of vital parts.


I had the best possible outcome with this round of ice storms, we lost power for about twenty minutes and that is it! No power in just about every direction, but we stayed online.


I feel very un-safe when driving with the OEM Dunlop tires when we have snow/ice/sleet but as you mentioned, we don't get enough for me to justify spending the money on a set of snow/winter tires. It works out to approx 15 days in a year where we have serious winter conditions, hardly worth it. I just drive even slower.

 

Harold:

It starts pretty well actually.
As long as the block heater is plugged in for an appropriate amount of time it just starts normally. If the block heater is not plugged in... and the engine temperature matches the ambient then say hello to the "legacy crank noise" from the fail-safe starter.

The climate control works pretty good too... again provided that the EBH is plugged in. Otherwise, you just have to shiver while it all warms up.
Again, judicious use of the EBH is key.


Nita:

Good to read you continue to enjoy yours. Happy Christmas as well!!!


Cheers;

MSantos