how do you keep track of how many miles per tank you get?
do you have one of those spare gas cans and just drive and drive until you run out of gas?

i got 328 miles out of my last tank and when i filled up, i got 10.18 gallons. so i figure i'm getting 32.2 miles per tank. anybody else figure out this way?

or i've heard of scan guage, but what's the simplest way without having to buy something like scan guage

 

The way you did it is THE way to do it.

 

You can use a scangauge since it shows more info- water temp, air intake temp, etc. If all you care about checking is the gas mileage, I'd just fill up and reset the trip meter. Then the next time you fill up, divide the gallons filled by the miles on the trip. Not 100% accurate since pumps fill to different levels, but close enough to tell you if there's a problem or simple calc.

 

awesome!!!

all i care about now is the mileage, but i was thinking i'd get a CAI before the year is up, so a scan guage to know that extra info isn't a bad idea for the future.

going back to the primitive way; last night i knew i could squeeze more out of my tank, but was afraid of getting screwed in an area with no gas or really expensive gas.

on that note anybody have any idea how much gas you have left once the gas light goes on? or how much gas you have left when the needle is on e?

 

Don't run the tank that low. I know the new systems aren't recirculating so less chance you'd overheat the fuel pump, but I can't imagine it's good. You also get screwed if you're expectantly stuck in traffic or need to run out for an emergency. I usually don't let it drop below 1/4. Rather gas up when it's convenient than when I'm running on fumes and absolutely need to.

 

The low fuel light goes on when you've got about 20% of a tank left - about 2.4 gallons (9 liters).

Depending on how ****-retentive you want to be about it, always going to the same pump and pointing the same way will help reduce error in the numbers you get. So will filling up only when your tank is near empty, since the error should be a smaller percentage of the total amount of gas you put in.

I'm not that ****. I just fill it up whenever/wherever seems right, and write down the odo mileage and how much gas I put in.

 

Can you imagine going to a gas station and waiting for a particular pump when it's busy.

People'd be like: "Use that pump right there!"
me - " No, I'm waiting to use THAT pump, it's my favorite."

 

I do that in my small town but "my" pump is open 95% of the time.

 

I actually keep a lot of information about my mpg! I have a whole black book in my middle compartment dedicated to it. I keep a running tab of *pencils ready* :

Date
Corporation
Location
Starting Miles
Ending Miles
Gallons of Gas
Price per Gallon
Total Amount Paid
Miles per Gallon (tank)
Miles per Gallon (overall)
Total Gallons Purchased

I'm at right 15,053 miles right now. When I hit 20,000 I plan to compile all data to a spreadsheet and make comparisons.

 

stew32, i used to gas up with 1/4 tank left in my old camry, but when i'm trying to find out how many miles i can get out of a tank, i find myself pushing that needle as close to E as i can. know of a healthier way to test out how many miles i can get to the tank?

Gsnorgathon, i'm not **** enough to wait for a pump here in so cal. but i see what you mean. i do keep a tab of gallons/miles, but i don't have enough room on my notepad to fit all of xBbeatBox's info on there.

thinking out loud- you know when you fill up your tank how the needle always looks like its above F, and it stays above f for a good 50 or so miles. well, if that happens on the F side, wouldn't it happen on the E side and in that case have at least another gallon or so of gas left in the tank when you're on E. just speculating, but it would be neat to know how much gas i actually do have left when my tank hits E.

 

I've always wondered MPG and just finally pulled the trigger on the ScanGauge to use on boht vehilces in the house (you never fill the car to the same point each time so its hard to get accurate information).

Monday I should be rocking the ScanGauge.

 

Shouldn't matter over a long period of time Maria. It all averages out after a few tanks.

I'm looking forward to that 20K spreadsheet xBbeatBox

 

City driving, air conditioner on/off, window down/up, how hot it is. I just want the data on the fly and would rather have miles to empty then our OEM methods.

Preference

 

Huh? Maybe I'm missing something here... Why would you test how many miles on a tank? Doesn't mean anything unless you're planning to drive somewhere it's 300 miles between gas stations or maybe some sort of weird competition with other xB owners.

 

...and I thought I was OCD.

 

i seem to always get close if not just at the 30/31mpg range OVERALL when it comes time to filling up again. My only downside is that I fill up every 2, maybe 3 days...for instance, today I filled up the car and I am already at the 1 hash line below the ''full tank'' line. My trip meter says that today alone I've done 67miles.
So I do ALOT of driving but even with this good gas mileage, its the size of the tank that sucks for me since I fill up every 3rd day or so. Thats my only itch with this situation

 

wondered that myself. i dont care about how many gallons, just mpg......

and i learned this reciently. the way gas detects how full/empty it is is by a little device that is on top of the gas. it starts telling the needle that it is starting to run out when the ball drops. but since there is a little distance beween the object and and the lever arm, it doesnt start to drop right away! feel free to correct me if im wrong....

and some cars can go past "E" but i wouldnt test it. ever. im not joking either. its horrible for your car.

hope that helps!

 

i'm not planning on pushing my needle past E a bunch, but at the time of my original thought, just rather wondering how i close i am to the edge.
i kinda had that seinfeld episode in my head, where kramer testdrives a car, and him and the car dealer end up trying to see how far they actually could go.

 

Well I have about 4,000 miles left to go and I'll start making my spreadsheet. I imagined that there would be a good amount of interest in the results. I am anxious as well. Mainly to see the difference in mileage between companies.


As of yet, I haven't taken my car past the breaking point. I've had a few close calls where I get to the gas station and realize that I put in 11.172 gallons when our tank holds 11.2 maximum.

 

If I could just find a nice new fuel cell that holds maybe 14 gallons total....I could be filling up every week, if not longer once my commutes become less