So that you can get an indication or trend of what is going on with my engine over the same conditions.

I even did so with oil consumption on my oilhead BMW motorcycles. They tend to use a lot of oil when new and it takes a long time (over 10K miles) for oil consumption to cease on most of them. I kept track and was happy to see the liters/1000 km decrease in time.

 

I check mileage every time I refuel anything I'm driving or riding. I just jot down the mileage on the gas slip and work it out later. I enjoy doing the calculations, but I can see some people not caring less.

A few years ago, I noticed my Subie was using about 2 mpg more than usual, took it in, and they found a bad oxygen sensor. I used to ride a 60 hp BMW R100RS, and its mileage was all over the map. When I got a 95 hp R1150RS, the mileages were very consistent. So you can learn something from fuel consumption numbers.

I am impressed with the efficiency of the 993, which is attributable to its low weight, efficient engine, low Cd, and tall sixth gear. In urban driving, the efficiency is less, in part, because you've got a 3.6 litre engine idling away for much of the time.

For an AWD 993, I would expect to get about 2 mpg less than a 2WD in urban driving, because of the slightly higher driveline losses.

 

Sooo...I guess if you were to attempt say, a vacation trip, like the 2 week run I just came home from, bringing a spare drivers licence along with a lottsa gas cards would be something to consider.

I enjoy my car at both ends of the driving spectrum, I just pick my 'driven aggressively' times carefully.

Especially here in the land of 'Radar Detection Devices are Prohibited'

Jim

 

I have a friend who used to get these mileage figures:

22.2 mpg at approx. 100 mph avg on highway.

18 mpg at approx. 120 mph avg with 160 mph blast and many 130-140 mph runs.

 

I "gauge" my mpg very informally, albeit with reasonable accuracy every time I top up. Everytime the gas light comes up, the tripmeter reads around 300miles; top the tank and it's at 16 gallons or just shy of it. So there you go: around 19-20mpg every tank, and this for the now 11 years I've had it, all daily driving of mixed streets/fwy, always spirited.

The point of noting mpg for a maintenance standpoint is an excellent one: if your mpg drops substantially over time, there is likely a problem. I gauge all the family cars'mpg by the tankful as a sort of quick-glance on their general health.

Edward

 

Yes, precisely the way I look at it. I"ve owned sports cars all my life. Tracking average mpg is just part of the routine 'checkup' I do on the car to make sure it's still healthy and there is no pending problem. The same goes for checking the oil, tire pressures, etc....

I don't think the fact that it's a sports car should preclude you from checking the efficiency of it, but to each his own. Certainly nothing wrong with driving it like you stole it and having not a concern about how much gas is burned. We all know it's not a Prius and trying to hypermile it is ridiculous as there are many other cars well suited to that type of driving. For me, tracking efficiency is a tool that allows me to better understand it's norms and idiosyncracies. In the event that something is trending from average, I may have a better chance of diagnosis/repair. That's been my experience anyway. Anyone have an alternator go bad from not monitoring the voltage?

Like I stated previously, I'm getting ~14mpg with what I consider average DD commute duties. I used to get 18-20 in my BMW (M Coupe) running the same route (it's also rated at similar power, weight and city/hwy FWIW). I don't expect exactly the same efficiency here given the differences, but it seems like some folks are getting my mileage when 'running it hard' so it does lead me to believe there may be something a bit off on my setup. I don't want to check this to just get better mpg, but to also restore some perf/snap to the engine if that is a little off as a result. Say my dist cap is worn. Replacing it may help mpg, but also make it rev a little better. Bad mpg seems like a reasonable enough reason to check it.

Of course, YMMV.

 

7 for the yellow car ($1/mile!), 20 +/- 1 for the 4S no matter what. And understand "no matter what" is 90+% freeway commute speed. I'm not sure I've driven the car in a "spirited" manner since the last time it was a track rat about 3 summers ago. No place to drive fast around here, no reason to expose yourself to the risk--physical or financial.

(To tell you how nuts it is in the Bay Area, yesterday the bank teller told me she got a using-the-phone-while-driving citation to the tune of $400 while in a traffic jam on our notorious Hwy 4 in Eastern Contra Costa County. She has Bluetooth, but the officer cited her for touching her phone on the console while driving.)

 

NEVER buy a Turbo

 

OK guys, take a deep breath.

Of course I watch oil and fuel consumption and know generally how many miles I get on a tank. I'm just not into dealing at the second decimal point level here nor interested in figuring out how to jigger out an additional mile per gallon.

It all just seems a bit much given that we bought these cars for their intended purpose and that is not saving an extra spoonful of gas.

 

You're all going to have to...when it runs you $190 to fill your tank from empty.

Thats what it would have run me last June if I had my 993 instead of my motorcycle on my tour.

 

IXLR8
Glad to see some members have a grip on reality Alex.
Whilst members seem to object to thread topics.
I just wanted fellow members real figures to compare with mine, never been a fuel cautious driver, which is why I have 2 993 cabs but in present climes it pays not to throw away money unless you have to and fuel figures do, as said, give a good indication of a cars efficiency.

 

Next week I am heading to Salt Lake City for a PCA event at Miller Motorsport park (1800 mile round trip), I will be checking my mileage down and back and of course on track, I will keep everyone updated, I will be travelling with a friend with a 2010 GT3, will be interesting to compare the 2 cars.

 

15mpg around town
21-23 on the highway depending on speed
96 turbo

 

I've been checking the fuel consumption on my recently acquired MY95 993 coupe. It has an ECU upgrade, exhaust, and airbox mods. I get between 16 and 18 mpg combination of mostly city, and some interstate. Some weeks of 50/50 city-and-interstate, I get between 18 and 19 mpg. I've not seen 20 mpg so far. This car seems thirsty given that I drive the car reasonably (I don't race the engine).

My '97 3.2-liter inline 6-cylinder BMW E36 4-door M3 with similar mods netted between 21 and 22 mpg city-interstate.

My '88 Carrera 3.4-liter DE car got between 16 and 17 mpg city-interstate driving.

My hot rodded '93 Mazda Rx7 Type R1, 1.3-liter rotary with Japanese-spec twin turbos, street ported 13B-REW, intake, full exhaust (no cats), and fully programmable Apexi stand-alone ECU got between 16 and 17 mpg, city-interstate.

Seems the '95 993 lies somewhere between my '93 Rx7 R1/'88 Carrera "beasts", and my mildly tuned E36 4-door '97 M3 in fuel consumption?

 

Good Lord...

We are driving 993's - when I have time to take mine out for a quick spin the least thing I worry about is fuel consumption. That will change as soon as decide to trade the 993 for a Prius...