Very common out west too. Spent lots of time in Texas and learned never to let my tank get below a quarter full. Walking to the gas station in 110 degree heat sucks.

 

Same here when not playing hard. I really haven't checked in over a year. There is no point as these are not hybrids.

 

I'm averaging an awesome 12.8mpg and 17mph. Courtesy of Seattle traffic.

I'll have to take your guys' words for it that this car is capable of better mileage.

 

Definitely no more than 230 miles on a full tank here

 

Thanks for all the replies...I don't feel so bad now...looks like my driving mileage is in line with most everyone.

 

Actually, an important reason to avoid running the tank dry is to avoid damage to the fuel pump. The pump is located inside the tank and it relies on submersion in fuel for cooling. The pump can and will overheat if exposed to air in an empty or almost empty tank.

I estimate that I get around 270 miles per tankful in my 2012 GTS.

Buyers in the UK (and possibly Europe) had the option of ordering a larger fuel tank in the 997, which held 19+ gallons.

 

Just north of 200 miles between fillups. I drive it like I stole it

 

I get about 17mpg in mixed city / highway. I find that I have to be 6th gear all the time to get decent mileage in city driving. at first I was getting 13mpg.

 

I drive almost 100% city and they are all small trips. So my normal range for a full tank used is about what you get, 230 miles or so. When I get on the highway I get around 23 mpg.

What is important to know is that a cold engine burns more fuel getting it up to temperatures. If you do the same exact 20min city run, one from a cold start and one from a hot start you will get better mileage from the hot start. So if you are like me where you do lots and lots of cold starts and small distances I chew up more gas than a normal driver would.

 

Recently filled my tank. 13+ gallons. Definitely topped it off to make sure I was running a full tank. I reset my odometer and ran the tank almost dry. (First and only time). Got 240 miles out of it with a full can of octane booster. 60% highway. 35% city. 5% idle. If you do the math that's about 18.5 miles a gallon. Drove it aggressive but not hard. Guess I'm happy with that?

 

~300 to ~322 if I'm good. ~260 if driving normal.

 

thats the way to do it....

about 260 here...

about 120 on the track

 

I drive it like it's my older (and much larger and armed) brother's prized possession and I still get crappy mileage. This seems to be its only achilles as a daily driver. Then again, how many DD's can do what a 997 does when you punch it.

 

I haven't seen the fuel tank/fuel pump setup in a 997 but I've seen the setup in my Boxster and the pump attaches via some twist/lock plastic bayonets right down almost on the floor of the tank.

The fuel pump intake is way down low with the fuel filter consisting of a very fine -- finer than that of a coffee filter funnel -- plastic mesh that the pump intake proper is directly above which it obviously draws fuel through.

Given how low the pump sits, how close to the bottom and with a low fuel level and anything but a trace of water in the fuel the water (probably partially mixed with gasoline) would be ingested.

But water in modern gas tanks is rare. When the fuel pump in my Boxster quit at around 200K miles and the pump was removed to replace the tech took a look at the tank at my request and reported he saw very little particulate matter in the gas tank and no signs of any water at all.

Roughly 8000 gallons of gas (one tank truck's worth!) had passed through that tank, through the filter and through the pump.

The real risk to running a fuel tank down real low is the pump runs hotter.

Some of the fuel the fuel pump pumps is routed through a small exhaust/outlet port that causes fuel to circulate between the large plastic housing the fuel pump is in and the fuel pump proper, which in the case of my Boxster is a heavy aluminum "can" about 5" long and this includes about an inch of some hard plastic at the very bottom which fits into the outer fuel pump holder housing and about 2" in diameter.

Up to you how low you want to run the fuel in your car's gas tank but except in rare cases I fill the gas tank when the fuel level gets down to 1/4 tank.

In fact with gas prices so high -- $4.399/gallon at a local Livermore Shell station -- I'm filling up at half a tank or so to simply avoid those $50+ fillups.

Sure the price of gas is the same whether I pump 6 gallons or 12 gallons but there's a psychological benefit of some kind to filling up tank before it gets low enough that it takes $50+ to fill up the tank.

 

I agree that you shouldn't run your tank down close to empty for various reasons, but doesn't the fuel pump always take suction from the bottom of the tank? If not, how do you ever get to the bottom of the tank, or even near the bottom if the pump is taking suction from the top of the tank, or say even midway in the tank? (Never mind this question. I just read some of the above posts that confirmed my thought)

I have owned three 997 S cars and averaged around 17.5 mpg with a mix of city and highway driving.