RE: Painting...and Gas Mileage...

[Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>]

On 24 Aug 2005 at 23:15, Steve Jackson wrote:

> Jim...one would think that cold winter air is more dense, therefore
> increasing efficiency with better volumetric efficieny (effectively more
> air less gas...). 

You're right, of course. But there's another thing coming into play at the same 
time. In cold weather, the warmup time is longer, with more time spent with 
extra-rich mixtures (either chokes or FI temp compensation), plus the fact that 
when the engine is extra cold the oil is thicker and extra energy is spent just 
turning bearings, etc. with extra thick oil in them.

On a long trip in cold weather I find my gas mileage is just fine, as long as 
the tires don't have to push thru ice and snow, but in local traffic the engine 
may not even get warmed up to its normal operating temp, and fuel consumption 
will be excessive.

If you're talking about riding your motorcycle in "cold" weather, I'm gonna 
guess that you mean 30-40F, which around here only qualifys as "brisk." Your 
engine is completely happy at those temps, and the warmup is not delayed all 
that much.

I had a friend here who rode his motorcycle thru the winter, but the cold did 
in a bunch of his oil seals; they just weren't designed to work at -20F.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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