EvanZR1

So I've driven my Z06 100% in manual mode since buying it, which honestly, is the way I really feel it should be driven. But to do a comparison today, I threw it in Tour and left it in Auto and did a 70/30 highway/surface street drive to our new house. I then did the same route back in manual to compare the MPG, which was 1MPG less. The biggest difference was in manual, I was holding revs about 1000-1500 higher than in Auto, and downshifting much more aggressively. No real hammering on it, but a little more aggressive starts in manual.

The big thing is how sedate the Z06 is in Tour & Auto. I don't particularly like it as I want the Z06 to be an event when I drive it, but honestly, other than the stiffer ride, it was not much different than our 23 Stingray was. It's honestly boring after driving it in manual all the time. Anyway, I think it certainly could be used as a daily driver if you wanted, although it really defeats the purpose of the car. And if you can keep your foot out of it, the fuel economy isn't that bad.

LuckyCharmsYo

Your fuel economy is literally double mine lmao. Not sure if you drive super chill or if I drive too...excitedly.

Bluehinder

Then don't drive it in Tour and Auto mode. Daily it in track and see how you like it.

PuffC8

Lmao exactly this. Every time someone mentions C8Z fuel economy or complain about it while showing the MPG it’s always 12-17 MPG while I’m over here averaging 6-7MPG and could not care less. Lol you’re the first fellow owner I’ve seen with a similar MPG as myself. I know exactly how you drive it.. 😏

He wasn’t complaining about it…he was just acknowledging that the C8Z has alot more drivability range than some would lead you to believe.

23/C8Z

True OP. I just feel guilty using this car like it's a regular car. It's not. It's special. It's like having a caged Tiger and parading it around as opposed to letting it loose.

Totally different than the SR. Or even my C7Zs. That fpc and 8600rpm redline is just beyond stellar. I hate to sound this corner but when I drive this car around spiritedly, it remonds me of the scenes from Miami Vice in the 80s of the testarossa. Living out my childhood dreams

cars

many people claims low MPG, I don't see anyone posting that their Z avg in single digits the life of their car. You average 6 to 7 for the life of the car?

cars

I drive in manual mode but found I had to downshift alot due to the tall gears. The car feels more powerful in auto for me for street driving.

EvanZR1

To be clear, that MPG was for a very short (14 mile) window driving fairly sedately. My avg since getting the car is about 10-11. And yeah, I don’t actually ever drive it like this normally, just pointing out how sedate it can be. Time to go back to driving it normally for me, which is 100% manual mode, revving out to 8000+ every drive. I don’t want a “normal” car, I want an experience every time I drive it!

GatorsJMC

Had a C7Z & a '23SR also- I feel you LOUD and CLEAR my friend. The 5.5 FPC brings you into a new, visceral driving experience every time the start button is pushed. Have had my share of many top- flight muscle cars over the years. The C8 Z eclipses them all, hands down. One has to be very careful when driving this high-strung race car. It begs for trouble...

jswatek

The biggest problem with daily driving will be the frequent gas stops. My 911 that I drive daily gets nearly 600 miles on a tankful , probably 4 times what the Z will get.

Z0HS1CK

I only use auto mode when on the highway. Manual mode everywhere else. I still manage to achieve 15.6mpg. Yes i know i need to drive harder.

vrybad

Yea, my Turbo S was getting 27+mpg on the highway which I was very pleased with.

23/C8Z

arr you idling every where to your destination jeez. 15.6? You gotta get those numbers into the single digits or you're doing it wrong.

RapidC84B

I got 23 mph on way home from VIR w/ cruise set to 62 in a 55 along the stretch they love to ticket on 58. Normally on road trips it gets 21 going 8-10 over limit. I find ride comfort is very dependent on road surfaces. Decent roads and the car feels great. Shitty roads and it's not so great. We have a lot of construction around us and some of the side roads can be pretty bad and the car isn't great there. But get to a different section of town and it's awesome.

vrybad

23 is decent.
It's a fairly large NA V8 so it's going to drink a bit.

Z0HS1CK

Not really. Just the usual 3-5 minute warm up. Then minor city driving before hopping on a major highway like the turnpike or parkway. I do more highway than city driving though.

jvp

That has nothing to do with it. The gearing is what's causing it, along with the inherent inefficiencies of the DOHC engine. The frontal area isn't helping either.

Semifighter18

That's actually pretty awesome. What variant of 911?

Ragtop 99

I don't see the gearing as a primary issue. 8th gear is about the same as a C6 Z51 6th's gear (M6) and my car (LS3) got 28+ MPG on the highway doing 70 MPH. The C8 Z06 gearing is only 8% shorter than a C8 Z51 and that car (with AFM enabled) also returned high 20s at 70 MPH. The main culprit is having cams that allow the car to breathe efficiently at 8,000+ RPM don't work well at low rpm. It can be seen from the WOT graph. The car is horribly inefficient below 3,000 rpm, and to get decent mileage, cars need to be efficient at lower rpms. This C8 Z06 couldn't use a longer 8th gear except in the flattest of highways. At 65 MPH, it downshifts to 6th on relatively small inclines that my C8 Z51 would handle in 8th gear.

EvanZR1

I did notice in my short drive in Tour & Auto, that it wouldn't even shift to 8th until about 70MPH, and would downshift for even the slightest throttle input.