new owner of 2001 996 c4 arctic silver (oddly great gas mileage)

hi all. i was a lurker on this board for a while but decided to join after buying my very first porsche last week and introduce myself to the group. the car had higher miles, but it did pass the PPI from an independent porsche mechanic and the price was around $6k under kbb, so how could i say no? now i have the car of my dreams and am planning to use it as my daily driver. i even went so far as to put new goodyear eagle f1 all season to see how it goes during the tail end of winter (i'm in michigan) and through the summer. so far the only thing i've noticed is that it is difficult to keep a "light" EDIT: [I]right[I] foot. during my first day i got approximately 8 MPG. then i filled up and found, driving conservatively, that i'm getting 19 MPG anyway, looking forward to participating in this forum, and thanks to all the posters for helping me in my decision. EDIT: bowing to popular demand and peer pressure, i've added 2 quick pics from my iphone.

WELCOME ABOARD!!! You mean your right foot...correct? haha. Glad you are loving your car. You are lucky Tim over here is not chiming in as often. He'd scold you for not posting pix of your new love affair along with what options you've got. Not sure on your tire choice, but they don't last too too long on these cars. Lots of us, including me use our cars thru the winter, I have a dedicated set of blizzaks for the cold, they are awesome awesome awesome. I am now using Falken 452's for summer, the best bang for the buck I've used. Now get some more posts so you can post the pictures! One more thing......GO BUCKS!!!

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yes. right foot. ;P i'll get pics up as soon as i can. haven't had much time to clean up the car from the rain and slush this past week (just a light spray washing to get salt off). we'll see how long the f1s last, especially this summer. but they weren't too expensive, so i think the experiment is worth it. oh, and last thing. . .GO WOLVERINES!!! :P

Congrats and Welcome to Rennlist!

Welcome aboard - now where are those pics?

Congrats on the car! The mpg are pretty lousy for around town driving and especially for short trips during cold startup. But highway crusing in 6th even at 75-80+ is a 26-28 mpg event.

how the hell did u get 8mpg or even compute that?

Welcome! Pics? I'm getting the same great mileage you are but in my C2 tip in approx. 30% hwy, 70% city stop/go mix. Here in SoCal, hwy is just like city... errr more lotsa stop & slow roll and less go.

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i guess i've had quite the lead foot on the first day. but the tank is approximately 15 gal and i used 1/2 of it and drove 61 miles according to the odometer. 8 MPG isn't a "precise" measurement, but close enough for back of the envelope calculation.

must admit, I just picked up an '02 and the mileage is better than my 3 series BMW - not to mention it's HEAPS more fun to drive. it's Porsche # 3 for me, I love it. sorry Yas - I gotta say GO BUCKS!

Yasuro, congratulations on getting your dream car. It looks great with the taco tail and those wheels. Welcome aboard.

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i disagree. either get rid of the taco or add the front, side, rear bits of the aerokit. looks weird with a huge wing and stock body.

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I'm with you on this one Ben. The Taco wing is cool, as long as it's not sitting there all alone! If it was ME, I would sell the Taco wing for $$$, and use the money for tasteful upgrades and mods, etc. Either way, welcome and good luck with the car!

everyone has their own sense of aesthetics, but for me the aerokit looks too, dare i say it, rice-burner. i'm not crazy about the taco wing, but i'm not appalled by it either. by itself i think it manages to work. also, on a practical note, this car is my DD, so an aerokit + michigan winters = shredded aerokit (at least the front dam).

Since it's end of winter, go harvest those pumpkins. Think of the taco wing as "money in the bank", ha. Have fun.

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I think that I even manage 9mpg at the track... Those must have been some hell of "getting acquainted" miles. lol

Just did a run from Ramstein to Stuttgart today (120 miles) in 1 hour 33 minutes. MPG was 19.1 - average speed was 89.2. Was slowed down by construction on A8 for 14km. Highway mileage is much better but 8 mpg as indicated on the computer is simply a computer reset problem. Yes, this the econo car as described in the 1970's (might not be so great now).

Welcome aboard. Last week when I brought my C4S back from KY to NY, I averaged 23.5 mpg and 60mph (including many backroads) over about 850 miles.

Congrats on your new 996. I understand your apprehension re the winter time punishment on the full aero kit. But, I have to disagree on it being rice burner. And this is from a guy who really dislikes that rice burner look. Even so, what matters is what you like. That's a great looking Porsche you have. Enjoy!

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then take it off cuz your car looks "kraut-burner" in its current state with a big **** wing in the back than it will ever be with a full oem aerokit. like the other poster said, take the wing off and sell it and use the $$ to buy some new thongs or something. man some of you guys just don't get it. it's insane. you telling me your car looks better than this? pls don't insult yourself!

Yeah, gotto go with the resident designer BCCC on this one. He even threw out the RED card to erase all doubts. Kraut-burner though...sign of the dark side? Yasuro Your car is looking sweet even though not complete in my mind either. We all have our taste/ideas good and bad. The pumpkins do need to go, that is just a fact from one Michigan fan to another and yes, I am also a sorry *** high draft pick maybe next year is better Lions fan, sad but true. Congrats and keep that nasty salt off your nice ride BTW, pumpkin replacement is a cheap (<$40) 5 minute mod. The first I did, never looked back, cleans up the car/ties it in to the front lights better. Europe has is done correctly

i appreciate all the feedback. before i spend money on an aerokit. . .or remove the tail, there are some internal mods i'd like to do first. it's all a question of priorities. but i think the light replacement is high on the list. i really like the way it looks on all the p-cars i've seen so far. and Benjamin Choi: after seeing your red car, i see how low the front air dam is with the aerokit. definitely something i will not be able to have if i want to drive my car in michigan winters. thanks for the pic, if i lived in a more temperate climate, i'd go the for lower look that the aerokit brings. by the way, does anyone know if the aerokit is functional? i assume the wing is, to a certain degree.

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I get about that same gas milage around home, mixed city street and on and off freeway. On straight freeway crusing I get 26-27, so it's even better on long trips.

Congrats on your new car. I have always thought that the Mk1 tacos are beautiful and must say that I think your's looks amazing without the extra body kit. Others will chime in with more knowledge than me, but to my knowledge the wing is functional. So much so in fact that Porsche does not recommend installing it without the front chin spoiler as well. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

You might also consider getting your bumperettes painted by Eric.

Welcome. Enjoy your car. As the others have said, you should be getting 19-26mpg in mixed driving and short shifting at 3,500 -4,000 RPM. I get about 5mpg on a good track day 18 in the city and 23-16 on the freeway.

Willkommen! Gorgeous car, even though that wing it a bit overpowering, to my taste. I also noticed that I get better mileage from my 2000 996 than from my 1990 E30 BMW .... amazing but true. I'm sure you're gonna be very happy with it!