Drove 2000 RPMs on the highway for 1 hour

[Perfectlap]

Originally Posted by bmussatti

Perfectlap, how fast were you going in 6th gear to only have 2100 RPM.

In 6th gear, at about 65-70 mph I am right at about 3,000 RPM.

The speed limit on the Parkway here in NJ is 55. I pretty much stuck to it (saw two people get pulled over by the troopers). It really amazes me how fast people drive while they cry about high gas prices. The average speed was 20-25 miles over the limit and I'm sure the passing lane was well above that.
IMHO opinion the Roadster experience isn't that much different at 60 then at 80.
As a matter a fact at highway speeds I see no difference between any rate of speed until you go over 90+. I guess driving faster than you need to is like passing by a free buffet after you had dinner at home, 90% of Americans will eat a sandwich off the buffet even if they aren't hungry, simply because they can.

Most of my miles are done on the Parkway, I think I'm going to employ the "sticking with speed limit" tactic and see how much less I'm spending on gas over the next few months. If I want to stretch the BoxsterS' legs I go to the autocross 10 minutes away. It would be great if the Boxster had an electric back up for highway driving that you could remove and go fossil fuel during real hp driving. I'm way to frugal to blowing $60 on a tank of gas. This bs is getting crazy.
And that's coming from a guy that only drives weekends.

[fatmike]

If you've ever driven a Prius -- you wouldn't wish for a battery hybrid system in the Boxster. The Prius is, without a doubt, the worst handling car on the road. The batteries add mass and moment of inertia that is borderline unstable.

I would rather see Porsche focus their efforts going forward on building a lighter car. That will result in both better handling and fuel economy. A hypothetical Boxster that weighed 2000 lbs would have excellent performance from a 2.5 liter Direct Injected engine. It might also get 35 mpg+ on the highway. That would make the ideal daily driver for me...

[rick3000]

They have (almost) already done that!
I've gotten my 2.5L up to 33MPG on the highway. And if you stripped it, you could probably get 35+ MPG.

I would dare to say that the most wasteful use of gas on the highway is used while accelerating. Cruising at a lower RPM might help on long trips, but I think the best way to save on the highway everyday is to stop enjoying the onramp and revving to 6000k.
Although, this hasn't stopped me, yet!

[NickCats]

Rick,

33 mpg ? Are you sure about that ?

Our 2.5L have a 17 gallon gas tank.

So, are you saying you can get around 500 miles on a tank of gas ?

Your car must be magic. I get around 300 mi before the light comes on...

Nick

[pbanders]

I would think that 33 mpg for a 2.5L being driven at 60 to 65 mph on a flat highway is not surprising. Of course, you might die of boredom, but hey, at least you'd be getting good mileage.

[rick3000]

I said I got up to 33MPH. It wasn't constant, but I have gotten 450+ miles out of a tank when it was 100% highway and a fairly flat road, plus a passenger and both trunks full, cruising at 72-75MPH in 5th.
My 99' has a 17 gallon tank, and I normally fill up at 1/4 tank left, but on the 450+ tank I waited until my OBC was reading about 12 miles left.

[NickCats]

Thanks, guys. Something must be wrong with my car then. Best I have ever gotten on a road trip is 360 miles to a tank :

http://986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5724&page=2&pp=20

Nick

[Samson]

Originally Posted by NickCats

Rick,

33 mpg ? Are you sure about that ?

Our 2.5L have a 17 gallon gas tank.

So, are you saying you can get around 500 miles on a tank of gas ?

Your car must be magic. I get around 300 mi before the light comes on...

Nick

Doesn't seem unrealistic. I've only had my '01 on one road trip so far, but it returned 31.4 mpg (miles driven / gallons used method), and that was with both trunks full and the top up/ac on at 74-75 mph with a few full-throttle toll booth merges.

[NickCats]

Samson,

So, on your road trip, you were able to get around 475 miles between fill ups ? How long can you usually go before you need to fill up normally ?

( Gas tank has a 17 gallon capacity with a 2.5 gallon reserve, so I am guessing most fill up about 15 gallons when they stop )

Nick

[Samson]

Originally Posted by NickCats

Samson,

So, on your road trip, you were able to get around 475 miles between fill ups ? How long can you usually go before you need to fill up normally ?

( Gas tank has a 17 gallon capacity with a 2.5 gallon reserve, so I am guessing most fill up about 15 gallons when they stop )

Nick

I filled up at around 350 miles on each tank, as the other car on the trip needed to fill up more often than I did. I typically had about 1/4 tank or more left, and the car needed around 11 gallons.

I haven't had the car long enough to fill up a "normal" tank, but right now it is sitting just below 1/2 tank w/220 miles. 100 of those were highway; the rest were fun (lots of redline and full-throttle).

I have noticed that the gauge isn't very linear, meaning it will drop from full pretty quickly and hover around half for a while.

[TriGem2k]

The 2.5L cars from 97-98 had 13 gallon tanks and 99 on have a 15.8 gallon if I recall correctly.

Originally Posted by NickCats

Rick,

33 mpg ? Are you sure about that ?

Our 2.5L have a 17 gallon gas tank.

So, are you saying you can get around 500 miles on a tank of gas ?

Your car must be magic. I get around 300 mi before the light comes on...

Nick

[NickCats]

James,

Everything I can find on the web says that the 1999 Boxster has a 64 liter gas tank, which is 16.9 gallons...

I have a MY2000 owners manual, and it says the same ( except I know that the 1999 is a 2.5 and the 2000 is a 2.7 so the tank might be different ).

Not trying to be difficult, just trying to figure out how you guys are getting 30 + mpg :

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/14812.shtml

Nick

[Samson]

Originally Posted by NickCats

James,
Not trying to be difficult, just trying to figure out how you guys are getting 30 + mpg :

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/14812.shtml

Nick

EPA estimates are to be taken with a grain of salt... they aren't exactly real world.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/28004-epa-fuel-economy-explained1.htm

I've had my IS for about 60k miles, and I've consistently beaten the EPA ratings. They say what, 16/22? I get 20/26, and I don't exactly drive like a grandma.

For the Boxster, I just turned on the cruise and let it do what it does. Nothing fancy there. The car just had an oil change, I replaced the air filter, and the tires were at 36/40 if I remember correctly.