The thread about 'what color TCH you have' got me to thinking. Does a light colored car get better gas mileage, compared to a dark colored car, during the summer because it doesn't take as long to cool the car off and it's less difficult to keep the car cooled?

If so I wonder what kind of mileage difference we are talking about 1-2 MPG maybe?

I currently own a dark blue car with darker interior and a white car with light interior. I can tell you during the summer time the interior of the darker car is much hotter. I just don't know if cooling a darker car translates into a significant loss in MPG...

 

Isn't that one of the uses for a moon roof? Open it and let the majority of the heat out fast. If it's raining outside I doubt if the sun is heating the car so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

Both of our vehicles have moon roofs and I find that on hot and humid days opening the moon roof doesn't cool it or let most of the heat out. I can also tell you that just because it's raining doesn't mean it isn't hot. It could be 85+ degrees and raining here

 

What was interesting in my Prius last summer, was that the car got hot, but the engine also didn't need to run as long to maintain it's operating temp. It only had to run to maintain electricity. The result was a penalty, but not as big as you might think.

 

I find when I get in the car after it has sat in the heat, open the rear windows 1/4 way down and it cools down faster than the sun roof.

 

LOL (I wish we had a laughing icon) Now that we've figured out how to cool down the car LOL. What do you all think about the question at hand. Do you all think a lighter colored car will get better gas mileage because the car might not have to work as hard to cool it down and keep in cool (in the cabin area)?

Personally I believe the amount of MPG you may lose by having a darker colored car is immaterial. I just thought I'd throw the question/thought out there to see what everyone thought

 

Oh ya milage, forgot about the original question, well yes light colored cars cause the brain to think tippy toe thru the tulips without stepping on them lol, dark color heavy foot.!!!!! = bad milage

 

LOL...I knew there was more to it

 

I surprised that nobody has mentioned how much faster they Magnetic Grey is than the other colors.

 

A clean car, especially one newly waxed, will get better mileage than a dirty car that has more wind resistance, regardless of color.