TRE did timing and mixture about 8K ago right after I got the car. And yes, I assumed that my driving habits were somewhat to blame...that's partially why I posted...to get an idea of how others were driving theirs. When I first got the car I drove it like my 4-cylinder 4-runner...shift at about 3K, keep it between 2-3K. And I think I was close to 20mpg. But after reading posts here and getting the feel of the car, I figured that she wanted to run a lot harder, and that it was probably better for the engine. Since I end up doing some bumper-to-bumper during the morning commute, I feel like I should open her up when I can...and in deference to "da man", I'm content to do 40mph on city streets...but that means mostly second gear to get the engine tone I like :)

I use my P cars for fun only. The 930 is below 10mpg, the Carrera 3.0 is (was, before the big bang) at about 12 mpg, and the Cup 944 on track is at, gulp, 4 mpg..
GeorgeK

My stock SC, before rebuild, was getting ~12-14mpg in town, and 20+mpg on roadtrips/freeway driving. My city driving is a combination of sporty driving and just loping along, depending on conditions and my mood.

These cars should definitely be enjoyed, but I see no reason to constantly drive around at 4000 rpm. That doesn't really make any sense when going a steady speed, just a waste of fuel, IMO. One of the nice things about SC and later cars for city driving is that they are torquey and not peaky, you can drive it like any other car in traffic w/ good power and milage.

We'll see what happens after rebuild, milage should be a little better w/ SSIs, etc. :cool:

Bumper to bumper traffic on a daily basis seems like cruel and unusual punishment to a car built for cruising above 50mph. The Porsche is best suited for empty streets out of the left-foot downtown idleing. That spells carbon deposits, stretched cable, TO bearings and clutch cover finger wear to me. And a sore knee.

On the other hand, the '89 Honda Civic Hachback seats four, parks anywhere, carries my tool chest and compressor, has enough rusty folds in the panels to scare a minivan driver away, has a acceptable stereo, and gets about 37mpg.

I'd leave the blender for the the Martini's and smoothies and the chopper for the stir-fry.

Todd,
Just filled up last night after a week of mixed driving. Once engine is warm, never shift below 4K. Also about 3/4 of the tank was all highway at approx 80mph in mostly 4th gear (damn bursch is too loud between 3200-3800rpm). Did the calc and I got just over 19 mpg on 93 octane.

Ron,
Ok Indy sucks the big fat one almost all the time. But for the most part our gas seems to be decent and cheap. Still don't have to pay more than $1.50 per gallon for 93 at reputable national chains.
Oh, and if any of you SoCals have good ideas for a way out there... HELP!

Ok maybe not to helpful here Todd since I have a Carrera but I drive mostly freeway with about 1/4 of that time spent in heavy traffic. I drive 32 miles each direction every weekday. I consistently get 22-24 MPG and use 5th gear exclusively...that upshift light and all! Seriously though I also run the car through the gears every chance I get, except from standstill in 1st, and it sees 6000 RPM at least once everytime I drive it...usually in 2nd gear and sometimes 3rd however then I have to clamp on the brakes pretty good when encountering traffic. :D

Ryan, the local 76 station (not my car's watering hole) is getting $1.99 9/10 for a gallon of 91 Octane. The Chevron 4 blocks away is selling their 91 Octane for $1.83 and the last time I fueled up at Costco I paid $1.74 for the 91.

I had my engine out for C-2 cams, new clutch, aluminum PP & TB, I also took the throttle body to work and opened it up 3mm (which was way too easy, all done on a lathe), and installed the Carrera chain tensioners.

During the process I completely took the CIS apart cleaned and detailed it and reassembled it.

After putting it all back together I could not get it to run worth a crap, and started jacking with everything to tweak it, and even had a high-end gas analyzer to help.

I am very embarrassed to report what a dumba$$ thing I did, and what my problem was, but maybe others can learn from it. During the rebuild I installed the left cam dialed it in perfect, then did the right cam perfect, or so I thought.

Ever drive a three cylinder 911? I did.

I had it idling @ 1K fairly smooth, so I took it to the gas station to fill up, and was it a dog! When I got home I pulled plug # 3 idle got worse, but still ran on what was two cylinders. Same with plug # 2 then # 1. Then I went to #6 pulled the plug no change, with #6 out I pulled #5, no change, as well no change when #4 plug came out. I stuck plugs in the three wires and laid them on the A/C compressor. Fired her up and she idled with the three plugs firing pretty blue sparks.

WTF, did I break a chain, pulled a valve cover, and watched all the rockers rocking. The only conclusion I could figure was the cam was 180 degrees off, and it was firing on the exhaust stroke. Rotated the cam and now I have a flat six instead of a slant 3.

During my “jacking” process I had raised the sensor plate with the adjusting screw inside the air filter and richened the fuel mixture. It ran ok, but mpg were way down and she had a feeling opposite of surging, more like dragging an anchor, or maybe a parachute.

So continuing to “jack” with it, I went back in lowered the sensor plate, adjusted the mixture and now she runs like a dream. I am really surprised what a dramatic effect the plate had when it was not really moved very much.

As far a driving habits, she enjoys 3200 – 4200 the most, and that’s where I keep her. I don’t know if it is the cams or the weights in the distributor, but when she hits 3400 it’s like punching a nitrous button, and away we go.

I hope my pix come out, I guess we'll see.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/P1010029a.JPG http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/P1010031a.JPG http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads/P1010039a.JPG

I think it is cruel and unusual punishment to drive anything other than the 911. I commuted to work in the 4-Runner for a couple of years. That is a lot of boring to be made up for...

My K2500 7.4 Vortech Big ass suburban gets better mileage than my 2.2 E but like you said I idle around town in my Sub and buzz in my P-car

Nostatic.....there's a clinic up here in Vancouver that can remove some of the lead from your right foot...! LOL
Maybe that will improve you MPG.
Seriously...we have gasahol or whatever up here....mostly at Mohawk stations....and I find my Mazda Rx7 works better on it than regular gas....go figure!!
Prices run about Can$.86/litre I think that works out to about US$2.40/gal ... so fill up before crossing.
Bob

Nostatic,

I have a 79SC Targa and get about the same mileage as you here in San Diego. The car is tuned up well with CO set to 3.5% per JW's advice. I drive my P car exclusively back and forth to work (about ten miles). If I am just commuting I get in the 14-15 mpg range which is about 250 miles on the tank. I do notice a big jump in mileage if I cruise on the highway for more than 30 minutes, even just one time on a tank. That would ususally get me up into the 18-19 mpg range. Like you, I drive this car for the fun. If there is more wear and tear on it because of my commute then so be it. I just try all the harder to go for a fun drive on the weekends.

I wonder what we would get if we could get the good 93 octane gas without alcohol?

No worries. Your car is fine.

GB

In my 82 SC I get around 16 in town and low 20's on the superslab. I don't think that you are too far out off especially if you love the sound/feel/response at 5000 rpm.

Todd, it sounds like you've got the right spirit and attitude, and that you are driving your car correctly.;) I can heartily recommend the 20/21 cams (folks are probably getting pretty sick of me saying this), if your situation will permit. With these cams, power does not trail off at 5500 rpm, or any other rpm up to at least 7000, according to my experiments.:eek: More importantly, the car is strong well below 3000 rpm, stronger at 3000-3800 and still very exciting starting at 4000 rpm, and downright frightening starting at 5000 rpm. When you get tired of shifting to get power, consider those cams.

I had gotten as much as 24.5 mpg (tail wind, flat ground, 5th gear, 85-90 mph), but commonly I would get 17-21. Now, with the cams. I'm very lucky ot get 19. I still get at least about 15 or 16, though. Usually 16-17 since most of my driving has been city. I can't resist steering with the gas pedal.

The problem is not your driving or the rubbish petrol you have.

The problem is it's an SC and not a Carrera;)

I think that's the key because it's 3.0 is not a 3.2 which is perfecty comfortable running at 1500 rpm or off the line for that matter as it is at 6000 rpm. So I spend most of my time at 2000 rpm taking advantage of the low end torque without the need to take it high into the noise band resulting in 20 mpg in town and 30+ hwy.

Even my upshift indicator recommends shifts before 2500 rpm.

Cheers,

Joe

Ain't much mobetta wit a 3.6 in yer SC, neither....:eek:

I've had my SC for around 12 years now, and my mileage has always been in the 13-15 mpg range.

Like a lot have said, depends on how you drive the car.

Re: 14mpg? what am I doing wrong (or right)?
 

Why would you cruise in a higher gear than necessary..? You actually go down the freeway in 3rd or 4th....? Seems to be you mpg problem, and also a good way to impose more wear than necessary on the car. I find these motors to be plenty torquey for 2500 rpm cruising.

Sure, it makes sense to put upshift indicators in Carreras. Less sense for SCs. Do Carreras have tachometers?

Hee heee......LOL