Running low on gas

[LeeMaster]

Originally Posted by jmaryt

slush,or stick?

stick

[fistpoint]

Originally Posted by Tucson FR-S

Driving the desolate stretch of I-10 between California and Phoenix the other night, I missed the last gas station and ended up running maybe 60 miles right around EMPTY. The last 20 I slowed down and drafted off a truck, which was giving me mpgs in the mid to high 40s. I ended up going 408 miles on 12.16 gallons. Lots of leeway!

On a related note, I see that the car's computer overestimates average mpg per tank by about 5%. Sound about right?

Sounds about right from the few tanks I've filled up so far. No car has a accurate dash mpg display, they are all wrong and always overestimate.

It's a useless feature for the brain dead of society, like the TPMS thing. It also makes the "green weenies" feel good about themselves.

[reeves]

Using Torque app and the custom 'fuel remaining' PID, I ran my gas tank down to 0.2 gallons, before filling up on E85. I was on my way to dyno tune my car, so I tried to get the best "pure" E85 fillup as possible. Ended up filling my tank with 13.01 gallons of E85.

[Dustin]

Originally Posted by civicdrivr

And that damn instant fuel economy reading is a joke.

Depends on how you use it. By monitoring what I do in the moment, it helps keep my overall mpg up. For instance, the route I took tonight and given there was little traffic, after a 15 mile drive, my average mpg according to the readout is over 50. Now that requires a very gentle foot and careful monitoring but it shows what can be done when you watch how you drive.

But to the OP's question, this was how low mine was tonight. I will try to see how many miles I can get out of this tank with careful driving. Not that I ever really do careful driving but it'll be fun to see how far this tank will get me.

[Lonewolf]

Always running your gas tank near empty is a good way to mess up your fuel pump with sediment...

[Lauren]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Always running your gas tank near empty is a good way to mess up your fuel pump with sediment...

That is an urban myth I'm afraid.

I've had fuel tanks out of 20 year old cars and not found a grain of any sediment on the pick up gauze. It's also notably been the only part of a 20 year old car that still looks absolutely brand new.

[KritiK]

Originally Posted by Lauren

That is an urban myth I'm afraid.

I've had fuel tanks out of 20 year old cars and not found a grain of any sediment on the pick up gauze. It's also notably been the only part of a 20 year old car that still looks absolutely brand new.

well don't know about gas in USA but in spain I work as mechanical and need to clean some tanks cuz sediments from people that should run almost out of gas, that's why I always fill up when I'm 1/4

[Ryeong86]

Every time that gas light comes on when driving to work, I say "challenge accepted" lol. I know I can drive at least 40 miles more before having to go into panic mode for a gas station.

[civicdrivr]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Depends on how you use it. By monitoring what I do in the moment, it helps keep my overall mpg up. For instance, the route I took tonight and given there was little traffic, after a 15 mile drive, my average mpg according to the readout is over 50. Now that requires a very gentle foot and careful monitoring but it shows what can be done when you watch how you drive.

I get that people use the instant readout to show them how much load they're putting on the engine (I do it occasionally as well), but the average readout is always wrong. Even though it was showing 50mpg, in the real world, you were actually getting less then that. At the pump:

Miles driven / volume used = miles per gallon

Granted, no fuel pump is 100% accurate, but that is going to get you the most accurate numbers.

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Lauren

That is an urban myth I'm afraid.

I've had fuel tanks out of 20 year old cars and not found a grain of any sediment on the pick up gauze. It's also notably been the only part of a 20 year old car that still looks absolutely brand new.

Urban "myth" backed my anecdotal evidence in my case. My buddy always drives on/near empty and he has needed to replace his fuel pump twice in under 80K miles on his Stang and his mechanic told him to stop running the damn gas tank so low all the time because of sediment and pressure issues.

Is this proof? No, but it seems logical and I'll listen to an experienced mechanic any day...

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by Lauren

That is an urban myth I'm afraid.

I've had fuel tanks out of 20 year old cars and not found a grain of any sediment on the pick up gauze. It's also notably been the only part of a 20 year old car that still looks absolutely brand new.

This might also have to do with where you are...the quality of your gas is much better than what we get (and don't forget how well most stations maintain their tanks/lines in Europe due to regulations) here in the States...

[civicdrivr]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

Urban "myth" backed my anecdotal evidence in my case. My buddy always drives on/near empty and he has needed to replace his fuel pump twice in under 80K miles on his Stang and his mechanic told him to stop running the damn gas tank so low all the time because of sediment and pressure issues.

Is this proof? No, but it seems logical and I'll listen to an experienced mechanic any day...

I've heard similar stories (in fact my pump in my other car died after about 55k miles).

I've also heard that the fuel in the tank cools the pump, and when the pump is no longer submerged, it can overheat. Not sure how true it is though.

[Hownet]

Originally Posted by civicdrivr

And that damn instant fuel economy reading is a joke.

The fuel economy reading is always off 1-4 mpg, I only see it as a reference. I have same problem with my Honda Fit.

[civicdrivr]

Originally Posted by Hownet

The fuel economy reading is always off 1-4 mpg, I only see it as a reference. I have same problem with my Honda Fit.

I've never been in a car that has an accurate or under-estimated fuel economy reading.