Hypermiling: Porsche Style
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Klaus Niedzwiedz, a former racing driver, took a PDK-equipped Porsche 911 Carerra out for a 400-mile road trip to see what kind of mileage he could pull from that bad boy. Turns out, he averaged a very impressive 35 mpg. The test was certified by Germany's DEKRA Car Inspection Authority and split into 3 sections to simulate everyday conditions.
As it turns out (which will be no surprise), keeping the engine between 1800 and 2000 rpm and averaging 52 mph were big factors in besting Porsche's published 27 mpg on the highway by 33%. Reminds me of a more realistic version of hypermiling in a car I would actually enjoy driving every day.
In Klaus' own words:
the result proves that with a lot of feeling and discipline you can even drive a 3.6-litre, 345-bhp sports car very economically. (Read More)
I can get behind driving with a lot of "feeling", but if driving with discipline means not accelerating, I'm out. I don't think I have it in me. Spirited driving is just too much fun.
I'm curious to know what mileage others have achieved in their Porsches. Reply in the comments with your best so far.
15 Comments on this post
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Casey W, said:
I know what you mean. I have tried this in other cars, but i always end up going too fast and ruining the whole thing. I would tell you the mileage in my 84 944, but the odometer no olnger works. I'm getting a new one soon, but until then i don't have the slightest clue of how much mileage i get.
April 17th, 2009 at 5:36 am -
mitchell said:
doesnt hypermiling defeat the purpose of driving a porsche? is gas mileage an important consideration for porsche drivers? i would think yes and no, respectively, though hypermiling in and of itself is fun experimentation for sure!
April 29th, 2009 at 12:08 am -
Brad said:
I do appreciate hypermiling……But thats for the Prius owners
May 3rd, 2009 at 6:43 am -
Andrew said:
Agreed. I think Porsches should get 15mpg MAX – all acceleration and hard braking. That's how they're supposed to be driven.
May 7th, 2009 at 9:46 am -
maria said:
nothing wrong with good mileage.and options.
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 pm -
Phil Schneider said:
Good gas mileage and a nice, silver Porsche.
What could better?June 3rd, 2009 at 8:40 pm -
Stephen said:
Sounds like this was highway mileage. Would like to know what he got in the city.
June 4th, 2009 at 5:59 am -
maria said:
not so much what you drive but how you drive.
July 5th, 2009 at 7:21 pm -
Stephen said:
Who wants to drive a 3.6-litre, 345-bhp sports car economically?
July 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am -
claire said:
beautiful porshe and gd gas mileage…wow
July 11th, 2009 at 12:15 pm -
maria said:
should test more cars.would be interesting to see results.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:30 pm -
lar said:
cruise control works great but would have a hard time setting it at 55.
July 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am -
maria said:
wonder how GT would do?top gear,low rpm…
July 24th, 2009 at 12:10 pm -
Kristina Brown said:
35 mpg on the 911 Carerra is very impressive! I wonder how many miles a new owner has to drive before he learns to drive with that kind of 'feeling'.
July 31st, 2009 at 4:52 am
[...] PDK also has allowed for some extreme fuel savings over previous models with manual transmissions such as Klaus Niedzwiedz's mini "hypermiling" experiment. [...]