97 850R poor gas mileage or lead foot?

[tryingbe]

Koffin: lead foot. Normal numbers.

How do I train myself to not have a lead foot in a car like this??

You bought the wrong car? If you have to force yourself, I suppose you can disable the turbo...

[matthew1]

^ That. I have a manual boost controller on my '97, and I turned it way down to 4psi max (long story).

[RussB]

My annual average mpg is around 24, all driving combined with 10% ethanol crap they have here in the northeast. It has been the same for 12+ years.

If I wanted around 40mpg I'd buy a Prius

Do you drive in Econ mode or sport mode? And I take it you do mainly highway driving? The stuff here in virginia contains 10% ethanol as well. That plays a role?

Time and a lot of miles has shown no difference in MPG whether you drive in ECON or SPORT modes. I understand the theory behind it, and it's supposed to change the shift points, but there is very little difference between the two.

My car spent around 10 years with an MBC set to 12-13 PSI

My driving is mixed, and that average was taken over many years! Last couple years has me closer to 25mpg because I have about a 32 mile total highway ride to and from work each day, so my long term average mpg is creeping up a bit

Ethanol content lowers MPG and overall performance.

Sell your car to a Volvo enthusiast who will appreciate it for what it is...like me!

[matthew1]

Time and a lot of miles has shown no difference in MPG whether you drive in ECON or SPORT modes. I understand the theory behind it, and it's supposed to change the shift points, but there is very little difference between the two.

Yes. Sport lets the revs go 500 (?) rpm or so higher, but there is no extra power up there. If the power curve continued upward at a steep angle, sure, I'd use Sport. But at the shift point the curve is flat.

[rspi]

My driving habits have been manipulated by my ScanGauge. I do put my foot in it daily, maybe a couple of times, but not usually.

Boosting saves gas.

Average speed of 70 mph is hard to do. Next time, use your trip computer, reset at the beginning of the trip at home, drive the trip, at the end, check the average speed on the trip computer. If I drive 10 hours, trying to keep the car between 73 and 78, my average speed at the end of the day usually ends up being around 63 mph.

Pure gas gets me less MPG than the 10% crap does. In Oklahoma, lots of stations brag about having pure gas and every time I pump the pure gas stuff, my mileage drops from 27 - 29 to 23 - 24, every time. Maybe just my car.

Tunes usually get better mileage. I checked a guy's mileage that had a ARD tune in it and he was getting 25 mpg around here while I'm only getting 22. I just got a tune in the mail yesterday that I will install tomorrow. They claim that my mileage will go up as much as 7 mpg. I'm hoping to see 3 mpg, we'll see in 250 miles what it turns out to be.

S vs E... When in S, if you are not high on your throttle position sensor, the car will shift at the same points as the E setting. The difference is when you go maybe above 35% throttle. I like S because I want the car to be responsive when I need it, on demand. Never know when you need to get out of someone's way and in S you are always ready. If you are in E, you often don't get the kick down and spool up that you want/need.

[rspi]

I usually try to run my tire pressure on the high end, usually 2 psi above recommended.

[RussB]

Good point regarding tire pressure...

That, along with the tires themselves and proper alignment have an influence on MPG. I would lose almost 3 mpg when switching to my studded Hankook I-Pike snow tires in the winter months from the Falken 512's