955 Turbo MPG

[johnnym996]

6 years ago I purchased a BMW 730d as my daily driver and it's been a decent car. It's only got 60k on the clock and is still a decent enough car in my eyes. However, after 6 years I'm starting to get bored of it (even if I've added a 996 to my fleet). I now mostly work from home and only do between 4,000 and 5,000 miles a year. Most weeks I only do about 30 miles which is about 30% around town and 70% dual carriageway and A roads, currently getting around 30mpg.

With this in mind, I spend very little on fuel and only fill up every couple of months most of the time. So, I can get something less fuel efficient without depleting my bank account or killing the planet. I could sell my 7 series and buy a relatively decent 955 Turbo at no extra cost which would be better for lugging stuff around and a decent performance boost. However, with fuel rising rapidly I'd be interested to know how bad a 955 would really be. If it costs £150 to fill it up and I only get 200 miles out of it, that might be a step too far.

Real world MPG figures on Honest John suggests around 15mpg which would be OK but some horror stories have this around 10mpg which is 3 times worse than I get now. What do the owners of this parish get?

 

[YPVS]

I have 955 Turbo WLS (E81 Powerkit) as a daily driver and can squeeze 18MPG on a motorway run, but 15MPG if cruising around 80-85mph.

Around town, 10-12 MPG is about as good as you'll get.

I'm in the same boat as you. I used to have a Beemer E38 740i Sport with LPG conversion, so when I was doing the mileage, this made perfect sense.

Now I do under 5,000 miles a year, I'd rather spend more on fuel and travel in comfort, with 500bhp available if needed.

I fill up with Esso Synergy 99+ Ethanol free too, at around £1.65 a litre, but when a tank lasts me 2-3 weeks, who cares?

If you're looking for one, try to find one with the 19" front brakes and 20" staggered wheels. If they have these extras, there's a good chance it will have the E81 Powerkit, which is basically all the performance parts from a Turbo S, other than the TPS. I don't know how much the option was in the UK, but it was almost $20,000 in the US. When viewing, look on the sticker in the spare wheel well. If E81 is on there, you're on to a winner. Most owners have no idea what it is or means and just advertise them as a standard "Turbo".

Do a Google for Cayenne 955 WLS E81 Powerkit and there's loads of info on US websites claiming 520bhp, not the 500bhp Porsche claimed, to not tread on the toes of the Turbo S.

 

[johnnym996]

Thanks for that, but just one question. How many miles are you getting out of that tank? My guess is it's costing you around £160 to fill up each time?

 

[YPVS]

It's costing me around £130 to fill up, but I never let it get too low, and that's getting around 300 miles from it, of mixed driving, although more motorway of late.

 

[johnnym996]

Thanks, that doesn't sound too bad TBF. If it was £160 and 200 miles, that would be pretty hard to swallow.