throwing around an idea here: my car gets terrible gas mileage in any weather below 60*f and where i live the winter is usually below freezing and always below 40. so i was wondering if anyone had any thoughts about covering the radiator or intercoolers with cardboard or plastic to limit the freezing air getting in. kinda like on a diesel truck or school bus.
anyone have any experience with this? on an audi or other car? would it do more harm than good by restricting air flow? any suggestions?

 

I don't recommend that. The intercoolers need air flowing through them, no air leads to poor performance and worse mpg. The radiator needs air as well, no air means potential engine overheat and transmission over heat. You could cover the GRILL so air still flows through the rad somewhat, but its not going to help you much in the MPG section. Diesels cover the grill or they have mesh covering the grill. How bad of MPG's are you talking? The fact of the matter is, yes the colder it gets, the worse MPG everybody gets. And the fact that there is usually ethanol added to gas in winter doesn't help. I live in WA state and our winters are constantly below 40 degrees too and my car still gets 27 mpg. Maybe it's your elevation?

 

yea sorry i didnt explain it right, but you got the idea. i know the engine still needs plenty of air flow, i was just wondering if there was anything i could do help with the freezing air. i live in central NY and luckily use non-ethanol 91, but the temp and snow fall kill the MPG. if the outside temp is 55-60* i can get 30-32mpg depending on cruising speed. but in the middle of winter i get 26-28mpg. even in the summer with the AC on, i can get 28-30mpg. ive done throttle body resets, and keep the car well maintained, but it sucks when winter lasts 5-6 months and im wasting money on gas. ugh.

 

yeah I hear ya on getting worse mpg when you know it can do better. But honestly, its the nature of the beast living in a cold climate. You can have a tip top car and it's still gonna get worse mpg. When its cold out, the fluids are thicker and take longer to warm up thus making the car work harder and using more fuel, idling your car to let it warm up equals zero mpg, air is thicker causing more drag on the car, your tire pressure decreases causing more rolling resistance, using heated seats and defrost etc uses more power that your engine has to produce, your battery gets weaker in the winter time causing the alternator to work harder and your engine works harder to keep up with the alternator...a lot of factors will caus eyou to lose 12% or so in mpg. I'd say just live with it and be happy you still get good mpg. You can try covering your grill with something, but that's will look horrible in my opinion.

 

yea **** it, i guess ill have to live with it.