El Sapo

Just did 3000 miles through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Nevada. What a pleasure to drive the Macan. I had the 20K service before I left and my wife said she thought the steering and braking was improved. I got a follow up call from the service manager a couple of days into our trip and he said there were extensive software updates, ( 1/2 hour to load) so he wouldn't be surprised if some were noticeable. Overall I averaged around 29 mpg on the 4 cylinder engine.

The section of I90 and I15 freeway between Missoula and Pocatello are open for high speed driving.. They actually repair the roads up in Montana /Idaho, and the first section if I15 out of Helena was like driving on a carpet. Posted speed is 80 mph the whole way, I kept it around 100 mph for a good hour or more. I fought the urge to see what the top speed was. There was nothing limiting me but myself. The car was rock solid. I felt like the landlord. People know what it is when they see it coming in their rear view. I can only imagine what a GTS or Turbo would be like on that trip...…… Maybe I'll find out in a couple of years.

Found the most comfortable position for my foot on the gas, and the most quiet smooth riding speed for the car was 88 mph +

Jesus! what a machine.

PSEE

Um...

autobahn?

El Sapo

fixed it

Type 2

El Sapo, thanks for the posting regarding the 2.0L dealer software update and your mileage on a recent trip. What model year is your base Macan?

With our 2018 Macan S (3.0L), it has a similar sweet spot for speed on cruise, around 81 to 83 mph, with the miles per gallon at around 24.0 +/-on the interstates, and the PDK in Sport, in 6th or 7th. Our most recent trip was about 3,800 miles. Interesting enough, with the PDK -- not in Sport, our Macan S returns only about 22 + on US interstates, which is hard to explain or understand. Our lighter Porsche 2012 997.2 (3.6L) at similar speeds (81 to 84) will return about 28 miles per gallon with the PDK in normal mode (not Sport or Sport Plus).

Travel Safe, Type 2

Pavegeno928

With my 2014 911/50th which is essentially a 7 speed manual transmission RWD GTS w/3.8L/430 hp, I routinely get 29-31 mpg in normal mode getting up to 7th gear ASAP on highway trips over 100 miles. We are strongly considering a Macan S next summer when the 2019s come out and it seems odd that my 911 will get better gas mileage.

Todd B

Not odd at all, Macan weighs 1000lbs+ more then the 911.

rpm's S2

El Sapo

I have the 2017 Macan. I have to really drive hard around town to keep the mileage below 26. Is the computer just set for higher performance / lower mileage in the S and Turbo? Seems like they could tune them for mileage if they wanted, right? I once had a Dodge Durango and complained to the dealer at the first service that I was getting 11 mph. When I got it back it would get 19, and they claimed they didn't do any adjustments.....I heard they could switch chips, and I'm sure they did.

GrantG

Weight has a big effect on acceleration, but not on cruising economy. The 911 gets better mileage, because of less aero drag (punches a much smaller hole in the air - drag is Cd x Frontal Area).

The faster you go, the bigger effect the aero drag has on fuel economy. At lower speeds, the efficiency of the drivetrain is relatively more significant. And weight matters more for economy in stop and go traffic (acceleration).

JDailey

+1 this is spot on. In city driving, weight is the big penalty on gas mileage. But in highway driving, it's much more about aerodynamics. Any SUV has a much larger "sail area" and therefore is much less efficient. If I'm not mistaken, the drag increases with the square of speed, not linearly. So 55 is far more efficient than 70 even though it doesn't seem like it'd be that much of a difference.

-James
Seattle, WA