ROCK COUNTY — There's a reason your car groans when you start it on an extremely cold day, according to the Service Director at Frank Boucher Chrysler Dodge Jeep Volkswagen. Russ Zimmerman says it takes a while for fluids and engine parts to warm up.
He says today's vehicles are much smarter because of computers and they can adjust to cold or hot weather automatically. But you are still responsible for maintenance.
The first rule of winter driving, according to Zimmerman, is to make sure you have a good battery. It's needed to get the engine moving on a cold morning. He says another tip is to never let your gas tank fall below a quarter of a tank when it's cold. That's to avoid condensation issues.
And finally, if you think your gas mileage goes down when it gets cold, you're right. He says not only does the computer in your car automatically feed your engine a richer mixture of fuel, but the fuel itself is blended to burn hotter in the winter. Zimmerman says gas mileage will drop between two to four m.p.g. in cold weather.