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Saab 9-3 Real World MPG

41 messages,  Last post on Sep 23, 2009 at 4:46 PM

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What is this discussion about? Saab 9-3, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Coupe, Convertible, Sedan, Wagon

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#32 of 41 Re: Under 16mpg! [waterdr] by waterdr Jan 05, 2008 (2:54 pm)
Replying to: waterdr (Jan 05, 2008 6:56 am) BTW, problems with a car resulting in poor fuel economy can be readily seen by reading the air fuel ratio. For $60 you can toss the car on a dyno and have a technician read the actual a/f comming out of the tail pipe. Saabs, being turbos, are probably designed to run in the 12:1 range or something close to that. A poor O2 Sensor may cause a car to run rich. A wide-band O2 sensor such as that used on a dyno might show a 10.5:1 thus explaining why you might be using 15 - 20% more fuel.   Then, the next step would be to determine why it is running rich. Some dyno tuners can data-log sensor data while the car is on the rollers and he might be able to id where the problem is. A good mechanic could do the same with a road test, but he won't be able to tell you what the actually a/f is, just what the O2 sensors are saying it is.   O2 sensors on a car are of the narrow-band variety. They sens a voltage signal usually between 0.1 and 1.0 volts to the ECU depending if the car is running rich or lean. They can't measure the actual a/f, but only know when you are running rich or lean.
#33 of 41 Re: Saab 9-3: MPG Real World Numbers [1viking] by strikeman Jan 10, 2008 (9:49 am)
Replying to: 1viking (Jul 15, 2006 10:16 am) My '4 9-3 Arc Conv with 27k miles gives about 25 - 26mpg around the city. I think thats good enough for a sporty car. The Saab is not a "sports car" though - my Mazda is more fun to drive !!   I put Mid Grade. With regular I keep getting carbon buildup & the engine runs rough. With mid grade everything is good & mid grade gives me about 2 mpg more than regular. I have tried premium for sometime - saw no advantages over mid -grade (same mpg, no advantage in engine roughness or number of times I have had the carbon buildup cleaned).
#34 of 41 Re: Under 16mpg! [biggimp] by cb_saab Feb 22, 2008 (2:19 pm)
Replying to: biggimp (Jan 04, 2008 10:19 am) Hold the phones! I was getting very low MPG for my 2007 SAAB 9-3 SS, and then I re-read the owner's manual carefully to figure out how to reset the fuel average meter on the dash. Suddenly my MPG (as reported by the car) shot up to 28 - 30 MPG (I do mostly highway driving).   Apparently the SAAB gas meter is always calculating so if you leave your car idling for long, then your reported MPG drops like a brick. And my dealer must have done a lot of idling with this car before I bought it, because the car originally reported my avg. speed as 1 MPH!   The secret to reseting both is to enter the "SAAB Information Display" (SID) on the dashboard, and press and hold the"CLR" button on your steering wheel. (Not sure what this is like for older SAABs, but the interior controls are the same for 2008).
#35 of 41 Re: MPG [waterdr] by cb_saab Feb 22, 2008 (2:25 pm)
Replying to: waterdr (Dec 27, 2007 6:39 pm) It's not just the octane rating that matters. It's true that the owner's manual says the car runs fine at 87 AON octane. But it also says look for a cleaner gas, one that's "advertised to help keep fuel injectors and intake valves clean."   I recently decided to try 93 octane and definitely saw a boost in performance at highway speeds. But I also noticed a drop in my wallet!   Too bad fuel manufacturers aren't required to post the quality of their gas -- not just the octane rating.
#37 of 41 by rivets Oct 09, 2008 (5:29 pm)
We've had ours for about a year, and here's what we're seeing. Running regular UL. Fuel economy is very dependent on how driven. 2 adults, 2 kids, AC off, windows closed, 2 lane roads, 100 mile trip: 35.5 mpg 1 adult, 1-2 kids, ac, in town, mid-low 20's 4 up, AC, highway at 60-65 (mostly with cruise on) usually around 31-33, depending on hills. 1 up, some AC highway, 60-65: typically 35mpg, occasionally 37, rarely 38. 4 up, AC (hot day), 70-75mph, usually around 29-31 mpg. 4 up with baggage, 1400 mile trip at 65-75mph, between 29-31 (again), depending on hills and the right pedal. 2 up, 200 miles, 40% interstate, mixture of county & state roads, around 35-36mpg   Best so far: 1 up, rolling terrain, no AC, driving verrrry carefully, 100 mile trip, back roads, neutral going downhill, very light traffic, slow going uphill: 42.5 mpg. This was quite hard to do, at least for me.   Method: Mixture of SID and pencil/paper which seem to agree with each other within 0.5 mpg overall.   Car has about 54000 miles on it.   Bottom line: if we "just drive it" we'll see 30-31 on trips, and 22-25 in town. If we're a little careful, it goes up considerably. I'm sure we could make it quite low too. Replies to this message: adobefelix (Sep 22, 2009 12:41 pm)
#38 of 41 EPA ratings are worthless by saablcp Oct 10, 2008 (8:53 am)
My '08 Aero Automatic Trans.,2.8L. 255 H.P. V-6 is rated 16 city,24 highway.I am not a lightfooted driver by any standard.My daily commute is 22 miles and takes me upwards of 45 min.so it's a mixture of stop and go streets,some highway,and at least 8 miles of back country ,up and down hills, roads.I never avg. less than 20 m.p.g.The last trip of 120 miles on the Pa. Turnpike was an avg.speed of 73 m.p.h.and my mileage was 31.3! My car has 9,200 miles on it and I use only 93 octane.I don't see the point in spending $6,000.00 more to get the performance of an Aero only to compromise it by saving on average $125.00 a year in fuel costs!
#39 of 41 Re: Regular vs Premium gasoline? [paa] by haasker Jan 02, 2009 (2:32 pm)
Replying to: paa (Sep 17, 2007 6:03 pm) The 9-3 runs fine on regular, but I find it has more power using Premium, a little more get up and go for the hills, and passing power. I find just toodling around town, stoplight to stoplight, makes no difference. I do get slightly better milage with premium, but not enough to justify the difference in price. so it comes down to a little more poop off the pedal seems to be the difference.
#40 of 41 Re: [rivets] by adobefelix Sep 22, 2009 (12:41 pm)
Replying to: rivets (Oct 09, 2008 5:29 pm) We're getting the same in our 2002 9-3 turbo 5-speed 4 door. Cool weather (and perhaps denser air that comes with it) seems to be good for an additional 1-2 mpg on the freeway. Best for a 250 mile trip was 37.3 mpg at 75 mph with kids, dogs, and luggage on mostly flat freeways on regular grade gas.   And yes (off topic) it's faster from 40 to 70 mph than a porsche 911 turbo, and cheaper to insure than our '06 Honda Accord.   We LOVE this gorgeous, fun and moderately sporty car.   Far at the other end of the spectrum, driving uphill on a windy road at 20-25mph in second gear while towing a camping trailer nets about 10 mpg.   Felix
#41 of 41 Re: Regular vs Premium gasoline? [paa] by jski127 Sep 23, 2009 (4:46 pm)
Replying to: paa (Sep 17, 2007 6:03 pm) I have an '05 93 linear. I usually burn reg. gas 87 octane. I average 28.5 mpg combination city and highway. Over the road about 32. When I us unleaded Plus the mileage increases to about 29.4 and highway 33 - 34. The car has a little less pick up with regular. For the difference of $ 1.40 per tank I generally will use the plus.

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