robert944h

I have to travel 200 miles to Tallahassee from Pensacola every weekend. With crazy gas prices what are some good tricks to improve gas mileage. This past weekend I hit my personal best at 30.16mpg. Thats with a k&n filter, bumping up my tire pressure to the max and sticking at 2900rpms in 5th. This is in my 89 944 na

jpk

In greatly simplified terms, the force of aerodynamic drag holding the vehicle back is a function of velocity squared, so slowing down will yield the biggest improvement in fuel economy. Try making the drive with the cruise control set at 60 and see what mpg you come up with.

Mamooguy

Having spent last summer driving across the country and back with my eyes pretty much glued to the gas mileage gauge, I can definitely say that granny-driving will save you tons of the black stuff.

Accelerate slowly, don't drive too fast ... basically drive it like it's your grandmother's Chevette and not a Porsche.

alordofchaos

+1 on slowing down being the #1 thing, plus making sure all your maintenance is taken care of, alignments, etc.

Assuming it's a K&N cone filter sitting in the engine compartment, replace it with a stock filter that draws from the fender.

Dunno what the gearing is like in an '89, but larger wheels and tires

Calmchaos

Never hit the brakes.

ExMainer

+1 on never hitting the brakes
keep your eyes on 1 or 2 miles ahead of you, if possible.
Its also nice having a car that doesn't need brakes on every turn, like most of the cars I'm behind on my commute.

and watch the diesel audi A8 top gear. Many good pratical tips.

zoltan944

DO NOT USE CRUISE CONTROL!
You can do much better by letting your foot roll into acceleration.
Accellerate down the hills for momentum for up hills
remove back seat and all other possible weight. Fiberglass rear bumper, remove spare and replace with fix a flat jack tools, any other weight possible.
you can draft semis
Stay in a economical RPM range. Not too low where you down shift for hills but not too high
Buy a piggyback to keep your cruising lean
be up on maintenance
lower your car
really light wheels hugged inside your fender well
im sure im missing something. I drive alot and have done many of these things. I get about 26-27 in the turbo, but the drive has alot of climbing so I used a bit of gas keeping it at 90

Spidey944

I agree on the cruise control. My g/f always get better milage than me when she dirves by 1-2 mpg by NOT using it. But you can always try these tricks.....

88BlueTSiQuest

Must be the aerodynamics. When I bought my 86 951, totally stock minus being lowered slightly and 17" wheels. I drove halfway across country, and averaged 28mpg.

My current driving which is mixed city/hwy, and probably being a little heavy footed, I average 22mpg.

Campeck

drafting semi's will save you HUGE... just dont follow TOO close. and sometimes the semi drivers get pissed....One tried to run me off the road on the way to Cali...

Mamooguy

Ah yes, that's a good tip about the semis ... however doing that really makes for a boring-*** drive.

Truth be told, even at my penny-pinchingest, I still like to put the spurs to 'er. I mean it's a Porsche, for God's sake!

951_for_John

Try folding in the pass side mirror, that may help some.(both will help more, but that wouldn't be legal....)
some narrow tires on an extra set of wheels (the flat "sewer lids" may also be more aero)
Lower the car some to reduce frontal area

and make smooth imputs to the gas, as has been mentioned, driving mods are the key.

it would be interesting to have some wind tunnel test results on our cars with different sets of wheels



my best in the 951 is 28 MPG running 90-110 MPH on I-80 from Reno to Elko NV. car in dead standard trim A/C on.

Worst is 10 MPG Running at Buttonwillow Raceway.

Avg. is 25-26 or so. although I just changed to a Vitesse chip and millage seems improved, but I really don't have enough miles on it yet to know for sure.

John.

Matt Sheppard

Not to mention they totally ROCK performance wise over Guru or (cough) Autothority. . .

gizmozoid

When my 951 was stock, I was regularly running 25 overall and 28mpg on the highways, topping over 30 driving cross country (also on I-80 in Utah). But after changing to Autothority chips, mileage has plummeted, I seem to average around 18-19 overall now, not including track weekends.

Anyone recommend any other aftermarket chips? How's mileage with those?

John_AZ

Thanks to the above posters for their realistic gas mileage numbers. On previous posts the mpg numbers have gotten over 40.
My suggestions:
If you use the modified throttle cam-go back to the original.
Clean your injectors. The kits cost about $4 each and DIY.
http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarti...ctor_clean.htm
I just read that if you put nitrogen in your tires your mpg goes up by 3%.
Try Lucas fuel/upper cyl lube- 2-3 ounces every other fill.
Slow down going up hills.

John_AZ
1988 924S + 1987 924S daily driver