I was at a stoplight, the outside temp was around 35° F but only one car had steam coming from their exhaust pipe. Every car is “hot” as the engine is running and I don’t understand why every car doesn’t.
In: Other
Dew condenses in the exhaust pipe when you leave your car standing overnight. As you start the car in the morning, the engine heat converts that to water vapor and out the tailpipe. That vapor immediately starts to condense as it touches the cold air outside. That’s why you don’t see it in hot weather.
After you’ve driven for a while, all the water is gone from the exhaust and there’s nothing left to evaporate. The cars you see at the light with vapor coming out might have driven just a block before you saw it and the other cars have been driving for longer.
Cars parked in garages don’t have the same dew accumulation as those parked outside. That’s another reason why some cars have steam and others don’t
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