is the cold good for my car?

[omega]

i have a 2.1 diesel d8 and this cold weather is fantasic for my fuel consumption as its gone up by lots!!
now you could argue that ive been driving slower but i dont think so my route to work is 5 percent side roads,35 per cent dual carrigeway and 60 per cent moterway.
so the main roads have been clear just the side roads a bit tricky and my journey time has been the same , but i still have lots more fuel in the tank than normal.
now i know that race engines have a cold air intake but they are petrol so does the same thing work on diesel?

[steve_earwig]

Well yes, cooler air is denser air, so more goes in your engine. It's what intercoolers are all about.

[HimBigChief]

More air requires more fuel though...

[Welly]

I would say that it's more likely down to lower average speeds - I think we're all holding back a bit, braking less, keeping a distance etc etc.

[steve_earwig]

Engine management will adjust the fueling. The best kind of air for your engine is cool and damp, hence all those water injection gizmos a few years back.

Welly has a point though, economic driving is not just about not using the loud pedal overmuch, it's also about braking as little as possible - all the fuel you used to get to that speed is just turned into heat (and in mjb's case noise ) by the brakes. Then you have to use more fuel to get back there again. Not so easy when there are cameras every 6 feet though.

[mjb]

all the fuel you used to get to that speed is just turned into heat (and in mjb's case noise ) by the brakes.

Bah you're just jealous because you don't have the fun of Brembo callipers. You all secretly wish you could be like me and have huge unwieldy things which need £90 brake pads, 2 bleeds per calliper, constant maintenance and make such a screech when braking that would put the fear of god into any lurking banshees...

[Welly]

You know, normally if you beef up the fronts brakes of a car you should also uprate the rears for balance. You can have a situation where so much braking effort goes to the front that the rears get left out and get lazy.....hard braking can get tasty if the rears aren't doing much making the car snake about