Winter kills fuel mileage
 

It has been consistently zero and below here for about 5 weeks. It is really killing the fuel mileage. I normally get 23 in mixed driving and 28 on the highway in the summer. We've been getting 17 in mixed. Took a 200+ mile highway trip yesterday and got 22 mpg at 70 mph. Zero degrees and a hellacious cross wind. When we short-trip, the engine never gets to operating temperature.

It is normal for all engines in the world

Imagine your sadness if you were driving a five year old Jeep Cherokee instead....or a PT Cruiser, etc. etc.
Perspective is everything! Cheer up! :D

this is not something new. it has been around for ages. Winter = longer warm up time because we all cant stand sitting in the cold for a long time.

Don't forget that the winter blend of fuel has less energy.

Seasonal fuel blending, longer engine warmup time, letting the car idle longer to warm the interior before driving off, along with colder air density and snow on the roads increasing rolling resistance. Ice and snow on the car kills aero too. Plus many of us run winter tires which have a tad more rolling resistance. Those who don't run winter tires probably are running under-inflated all-season tires ;)

In Florida, I look forward to "winter" for gas mileage:

- Turn off A/C
- Cooler, denser air going into the engine intake
- Cooler fuel more efficiently dissipates engine heat

Yup, just the way it is. On the brighter side, 17 MPG still beats walking...

I don't pay attention to my gas mileage in the Q, but in my other car I get 16 mpg in the summer and only 13 mpg in the winter. I think the 4WD kicks in a lot more in the winter which also causes a drop-off in fuel efficiency.

When I was a kid my dad bought a new 1995 Grand Cherokee. I always remember him cussing it out. The first day he brought it home after work he was so happy, but never again. The next day he drove it to work and it broke down on the highway. He never broke 10mpg on any fillup and his commute was all highway. The transmission eventually crapped out at 100k miles and he junked it for $500. Imagine a $30k car going down to $500 in a span of less than 10 years ... sucks!