ronmart

Try as a I may, I am not seeing the kind of great gas mileage that people have reported on this forum. I'm certain that part of the tax I am paying is for having a AWD and a Cabriolet, and more importantly the car only has 450 miles so it isn't broken in yet. However, I'd like some guidence for all of you C2S Coupe & Cab and C4S Coupe and Cab owners (without X51) about your driving habits that yield the best gas mileage.

1. At what RPM's do you usually shift for the best gas mileage? (I generally shift around 3000 - 3500)
2. What gear are you in when you are going 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, and 75 mph?
3. Do you ever use 6th gear when going 55 to 65 mph?

Thanks!

gota911

Ron - I don't have a 997 but I have an '04 996. When gas prices jumped up a few months back, I tried to move into 5th or 6th gear in the 45-mph zones. Prior to that I usually left it in 4th gear. I actually picked up a little over 1 MPG, doing just that. At 55 to 60 (which is not often), yes, I slide it into 6th. On the highway, I usually run at 78 to 80 mph.

crispenigl

use the onboard computer to help you

i would drive at certain speeds in certain gears for 5 to 10 minutes
with coasting and maintaing constant speeds

try it - it is really interesting what u will learn

Ian C

Sorry, but you buy a 911 to use it!
Please,please,please don't worry about how many miles you're getting to the gallon - just go out and enjoy the car.

p.s. we're paying $7.50 per gallon in the UK.........

ronmart

Overall I agree with you, and I will. I'm happy getting 8 mpg when I have the luxury of unleashing the car. I'm also fine with my 15 city / 19 hwy I get now, but when I'm travelling with the family in certain areas in the Cascade mountains the fuel stops are few and far between.

In those cases I want to know what I need to do to squeeze out that extra mileage because it will mean the difference between filling up at a nice clean Chevron or Shell versus some convenience store in a town with the population of 20.

This car isn't my daily driver and I didn't get it to save money, but I do want to figure this stuff out.

ronmart

That is what I am doing now, but the lack of instantaneous mileage limits this somewhat. I also avoid resetting this unless I am refueling so I can get data for each tank of gas, so the lack of "Trip 2" setting makes this troublesome as well.

erikjwells

I tend to shift when the engine screams its time.... and have no idea what mph it happens to be...

BUT --- I am still seeing 22mph or so on my long trips HWY and 17 or so CITY ...

06 Coupe, with sport chrono and PSE which always stay on.

~erik

ronmart

See, that is what I wish I could do. However, i tend to shift at 4000 RPM's more often (still break-in period for me) and I'm happy to get 15.5 mpg.

Once I'm out of break-in period I'm sure I'll live west of 4500 rpm's a good deal of the time, so I'll have a pretty short range.

Coochas

Ron -
When I'm driving all city, my mileage is around 12-14 mpg. There is nothing you can do about it!!!!! Admittedly, I always drive in sport mode (PASM nl) and rarely shift gears below 3500 rpm.
It is especially important during break in to avoid 'lugging' the motor (i.e. low rpm in a given gear).
1500 miles and stll grinning.

996toomey

I don't really care about milage. But I am pleasantly surprised to be getting about 20 to 21 mpg. That is a combined freeway and some around town and some canyon runs. My car has the X51 and I do not drive to help improve milage. My 02 model 996 got about the same. 1300 miles on the car at this point.

erikjwells

I was all concerned with break in period as well when the owner of my porsche dealer heard me talking about break in periods he came over and told me what the porsche engineers told him on one of their trips to the manufacturing facility....

the engineer said... do you honestly think that us germans follw a 'break in' period with the autobahn right there?? We design these engines to drive right off the assembly lines onto the track.... just don't redline it the first 2000 miles... try not to hold any one gear at a high rpm for a lengthy period of time and the cars runs beautifully.... he said if you baby them too much during the first 2000 miles... it actually takes longer to 'get them into their grooves'.

then the owner said... drive it like you stole it son... the harder you push it during break in.. the better it runs later....

so guess what... im 895 miles and following the owners instuctions

jcnesq

1. 3500-4000, usually.
2. 1st or 2nd
3. Generally no - use 6th typically over say 75-80, unless I'm on a long drive and just taking it easy.

(j/k about #2 - I may get into 2nd around 15-25, 3rd 40-50, 4th 50+, 5th when cruising 60-75.

I tend to average around 16mpg overall, combined city/highway. On some long trips mostly highway, I have gotten in the 22-25 range if I'm just cruising.

SrfCity

Yes. Life's too short

Pete Lech

Using synthetic oil as we do, I suspect the fuel economy will not max out until closer to 4-5K miles.

ronmart

God I wish I had that in writing and blessed by Porsches North American lawyers. I'd LOVE to have that philosophy.

I actually have had about dozen cases where I forgot how short that 1st gear was and got up to 5500