With the temps here in the South plummeting to the teens & 20's at night, naturally I find it more difficult to keep the average MPG high.

Last night when I got home at 3:15AM I watched the news and saw how parts of my home state of Minnesota recently had a low of -52F. It's been more than 20 years since I've experienced that, and I can only imagine.

For those of you who live and drive in the frozen tundra my hat is off to you and deserve a big bow. (Hear the round of applause)

For those of you who drive an HCH in these severe minus conditions, I was wondering how long it takes for your car to warm up.
Here is what I find with my unmodified HCH in the cold:

a. Startup is of course the worse MPG possible.
b. 3 Miles and the Temp gauge shows normal (half), MPG has improved a little.
c. 7 Miles and noted improvement.
d. 20 Miles after startup another improvement.
e. 25 Miles and about 35 minutes later it seems completely warmed up, but about 4-5 MPG less MPG than warmer weather.

I keep the cabin temp set to cold until I reach (d), where I set the temp to the 4:00 position. The fan control remains off. This lets warm air passively flow in, relieving "nip" out of the air while not robbing the engine for precious heat.

Of course the heat is on if I have passengers but I don't mind solo, as I dress for the occasion. I'm not sure if my heat control pattern transfers into improved MPG but I like to think so.

Ideas?

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT