Ask the Car People.SM


Saab 9-3 Real World MPG

48 messages,  Last post on May 19, 2013 at 7:53 PM

You are in the Saab 9-3 Forum.

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

Messages Page 4 of 5

#28 of 48 Need to make a correction by waterdr

Dec 28, 2007 (10:59 am)

BTW, the 1996 - 1998 Mustang GT's were slow. They suffered from a bad head design. They were 15 second cars and the 2005+ V-6's are quicker then most of them. Many owners have upgraded the heads, but running into a 1996-1998 GT especially with an auto would be an easy match for a 9-5 or 9-3 Aero.
 
The 1996-1998 Mustangs are the biggest misstake since Ford introduced the Mustang II in the mid 70's. Not to mention this was the first years after Ford dropped the much loved 5.0. It was a bad time to be a Mustang fan.

#29 of 48 Under 16mpg! by biggimp

Jan 04, 2008 (11:19 am)

I have about 1000 miles on my 2007 9-3 Aero Sportcombi. I've been averaging 15.8 mpg in a mix of city/highway. I've been driving like a wuss, not accelerating hard, etc. so I have no idea why my mileage is so low. I'm worried something is wrong with the car! Any thoughts??

#30 of 48 Re: Under 16mpg! [biggimp] by charden1

Jan 04, 2008 (12:55 pm)

Replying to: biggimp (Jan 04, 2008 11:19 am)
Wow..thats so low.
 
When I first bought my 2007 9-3 SS, I was averaging slightly under 20 mpg city/highway. But, I was also using a low grade gasoline from the grocery store (Safeway) because it was about .15 cents less than other gas stations! I quickly found out that Safeway gas was really bad for my engine. At one point, my car wouldn't start b/c my plugs were so dirty. So, I think my poor gas mileage was due the gasoline I was using.
 
Now, my car has about 5k miles on it now and I use a 91 grade only. Also, I set cruise whenever I can and currently Im getting around 25 mpgs city/highway.
 
I think it takes about 3k miles or so for your car to 'break in' so maybe the mileage is lower during this initial phase?
 
Try running a 91 or 92 grade and setting cruise at 65 or 70mph. If its still that low..I would take it to the shop...thank god for the warranty. (My car has been in 3 times already!)

#31 of 48 Re: Under 16mpg! [biggimp] by waterdr

Jan 05, 2008 (7:56 am)

Replying to: biggimp (Jan 04, 2008 11:19 am)
Some causes of low fuel economy:
 
1 - Stop and gop traffic....drivers forget about how bad that is on fuel usage.
 
2 - Poor O2 sensors. The O2 Sensors determine the air fuel ratio.
 
3 - Under inflated tires, though not a big hit.
 
4 - Using inpropper fuel. If teh car is designed for 91 octane, you will see a hit with 87.
 
I don't buy the cheap brand issue with fuel. It ALL comes from the same place. Anyone remember the Simpsons and the Duff Beer? Fuel is pretty much the same. HOWEVER, if you a r running an Ethanol blend (15%), you will see a fuel economy reduction too.

#32 of 48 Re: Under 16mpg! [waterdr] by waterdr

Jan 05, 2008 (3:54 pm)

Replying to: waterdr (Jan 05, 2008 7:56 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 48 Re: Saab 9-3: MPG Real World Numbers [1viking] by strikeman

Jan 10, 2008 (10:49 am)

Replying to: 1viking (Jul 15, 2006 11:16 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 48 Re: Under 16mpg! [biggimp] by cb_saab

Feb 22, 2008 (3:19 pm)

Replying to: biggimp (Jan 04, 2008 11:19 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 48 Re: MPG [waterdr] by cb_saab

Feb 22, 2008 (3:25 pm)

Replying to: waterdr (Dec 27, 2007 7:39 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 48 by rivets

Oct 09, 2008 (6:29 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.

Messages Page 4 of 5

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement