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winter in minnesota this year has been impossible for hypermiling. you may not all believe in climate change, but we have never had the constant high winds that we have experienced this winter. right now we are also going into the deep freeze for the next 5 days or so. i really dislike this, and it's killing my mileage. i had a recent tank that was only 45MPG. i don't think i did that badly the first drive i had.

i'm tired on winter.......sigh

Laurie,

Dallas has had the most ice and snow in about five years (and it will be a distant memory in August). My personal best on the early work commute is 88mpg, but at times it may have slipped under 70, and that's 25F or warmer.

There have been so many recent articles on climate change, one a day could be posted daily for the next week or two - major one. Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the issue. Another article declares virtually all the recent warming is man-made (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6321351.stm). There is controversey that government scientist are being told by the Bush Administration to understate their findings. Some of the models alledgedly do not account for the melting of the two largest sources of ice - Greenland and Antartica. This topic will dominate the meeting in Davos, Switzerland (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6280837.stm).

Hi Laurie:

___The winds have been horrendous these past 2 weeks in Chicago. We head down to – 5 tomorrow and – 1 Sunday night. I can just imagine what MN. is going though right now! I have been busting my hump to keep above 40 and now I see all that effort may be in vein with the upcoming even colder temps. I would hate to be driving your HCH-I past those miles and miles of open fields with strong winds and the temps you are currently experiencing :( Bundle up and stay home if at all possible!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

I'm still on the learning curve, so my worst tank was my first...last July. :D

I can sympathize, though I certainly haven't had to put up with the constant winds. My last tank was my worst so far, showing 47.5mpg on the MFD but going into the database as 42mpg since the swings from slightly above freezing to way below affect tank capacity so much. In reality, it was one trip against 20mph head and cross winds that killed the tank and it was impossible to fight back with morning temps in the teens. Of course, they're talking about more of those 0-10F morning lows over the next 5 days or so.

It has been a wild winter. Spring-like warmth for the first few weeks and now this, but still not a single snowfall worth plowing. If I had to measure our overnight precipitation the units would have been flakes per square inch. I wonder what the next big shift will bring?

Laurie,

It was hypermiling that kept me out of an accident on an extremely icy patch that had no less than six accidents lined up along the highway. For that - see Hypermiling Kept Me Out of An Accident This Morning (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/the-daily-grind/t-hypermiling-kept-me-out-of-an-accident-this-morning-3410.html)

Laurie,

We're supposed to see -10F in the next few days here, more wind than normal. My plan is to stay inside and take as few trips (and associated warm-up hits) as possible... I know that's only possible to a limited extent for most because of work commutes, but even so you can chain other errands to commutes. Not starting from air temp is huge too (block heater, garage, or both).

I shouldn't complain too much since this has actually been a pretty mild winter (only in the last few weeks did the deep freeze come), but I still *really hope* this is the coldest week of the year coming up. It's all uphill after that. (MPG-wise, that is) :cool:

I would not want to do it more than a week, but it would be interesting to drive in sub-zero weather (-20F or colder) to see how bad the FE hit would be, not to mention the strain on the battery pack.

Hi Laurie:

___The winds have been horrendous these past 2 weeks in Chicago. We head down to – 5 tomorrow and – 1 Sunday night. I can just imagine what MN. is going though right now! I have been busting my hump to keep above 40 and now I see all that effort may be in vein with the upcoming even colder temps. I would hate to be driving your HCH-I past those miles and miles of open fields with strong winds and the temps you are currently experiencing :( Bundle up and stay home if at all possible!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

wayne, that's just what we have up here, open fields and high winds....not a good combination. i generally take the back roads home after i go to the barn to ride, but last night i went out of my way to take the 4 lane, figuring it would be in better shape. the back roads tend to develop slick spots, too, since they aren't generally as well maintained. plus, going off one of the backroads might mean not being seen for a while.

sad story along those lines......a few years ago the best friend of a friend's daughter was killed in a crash when it was very cold like this. she went off the road late at night, on a place where there's not a lot of traffic, or even the visibility to see the car if it was off the road. there's a good possibility she froze if she wasn't killed in the accident.

we are supposed to have wind chills in the -40 range all weekend. i plan to stay home and hibernate, going out only to feed the critters. they will all be in the barn this weekend, with the possible exception of the sheep. after all, they do have a very thick winter coat.

It has been a wild winter. Spring-like warmth for the first few weeks and now this, but still not a single snowfall worth plowing. If I had to measure our overnight precipitation the units would have been flakes per square inch. I wonder what the next big shift will bring?

brick, that's another thing about this whole global change thing that worries me. minnesota used to be known for heavy snow in the winter. when i moved to the part of the state i live in, in 1996, i have photos of me at the end of my much shoveled driveway with my arms straight out to my sides, and that's how high the drifts were.

the last few years have been nothing to speak of. we are in farm country, and it's been tough for us to get one decent cutting of hay for our small menagerie. i am sure the real farmers are feeling it even more. this is just NOT normal. we haven't even used our snow blower yet this year.

I would not want to do it more than a week, but it would be interesting to drive in sub-zero weather (-20F or colder) to see how bad the FE hit would be, not to mention the strain on the battery pack.

LOL, i will let you know, chuck. i just filled up last night, and we don't expect to be above zero until tuesday........

brick, that's another thing about this whole global change thing that worries me. minnesota used to be known for heavy snow in the winter. when i moved to the part of the state i live in, in 1996, i have photos of me at the end of my much shoveled driveway with my arms straight out to my sides, and that's how high the drifts were.

the last few years have been nothing to speak of. we are in farm country, and it's been tough for us to get one decent cutting of hay for our small menagerie. i am sure the real farmers are feeling it even more. this is just NOT normal. we haven't even used our snow blower yet this year.

And the worst part of it is that the lack of snowfall contributes to global warming even more -- snow reflects sunlight a lot better than bare ground.

Same deal in Boston...we haven't had any significant snow yet this year, whereas Oklahoma had 17 inches before Christmas and a major ice storm after that.

Denver just registered the 8th coldest and 8th snowiest January in recorded history. It was the coldest January since 1979. We have already exceeded our seasonal snowfall average. In addition, we have had 43 days of consecutive snow cover. This ranks 4th in recorded history. During this time, many roads, including those in my neighborhood, have stayed snow covered. My commute this morning was 0F.

Also, during the earlier sunsets of winter, the traffic during my evening commute is horrible. I used to be able to time lights, now I have to sit through the same lights for multiple cycles. Needless to say, my FE has suffered considerably. For the most part, we have limited our driving as much as possible. However, we had to make an unexpected 2,000 mile round trip in our Odyssey last week. We did not really have the option of taking our time on that trip. Lots of subfreezing temps and fast driving killed the FE on that trip.

Anyway, I am so ready for Spring!!!

If you think about it, though, 45 MPG ain't bad at all. Probably compared to your past tanks, yes, but I certainly wouldn't mind it one bit. :)

it was a tossup as to which was hard to get moving this morning, me or the car. it was -23. just getting dressed is a challenge in this stuff.......long underwear top and bottom, turtle neck, corduroy pants, wool socks.....down jacket, wool scarf & hat, boots, can't get gloves or mittens that keep the cold out.....blanket on my lap in the car, several more in the back seat along with another coat.......

in the 40 miles i drive to work, i never got more than 4 bars on the temp gauge. generally, if i have to stop for a light it drops back to 2 bars.

i haven't really tried for decent FE, but the readout still says 45. i will be totally happy with that if and when this stuff breaks. i think our high yesterday was about -10.

all my critters are in the barn, except for the sheep.....after all, they have the best wool coats of all. the ducks and geese (even with their down) are sleeping in the stall with our mini horse.......