I am on my first tank of gas and doing good. I am at 1/4 of a tank but my miles to empty says 55. My average now is 35 mpg. Something does not compute. Is the needle going to start rapidly dropping after 1/4?

 

I disregard miles to empty as an absolute, it usually includes a safe buffer. On all of my last cars I have found that I can usually assume miles to empty then I still have 1-2 gallons beyond that. My TL said 4 miles to empty once and the low fule light was on for a bit and I filled up and still had about 3 gallans in the tank. I assume the number is a calculation based on the tank average and the more recent MPG weighed, but again they leave you a buffer.

 

Most posters that have let their TCH get to empty (myself included) have noticed that there is 3 gallons reserve even after the miles to empty reading says "0". By stupidity I drove 10 miles on vacation after the "0" mark and took 15 gallons to fill up. Several posters (look at old threads or edmunds forums) and you'll see this discussed.

I don't recommend the practice of running on empty but it's not imperative that you worry about filling up when your TCH hits the quarter mark.

 

So will it say 0 miles to empty before my needle reaches E?

 

It's been two months ago and only once, but if I rember right (and there are other posts on this) when it gets down to a point where the light comes on it may drop the miles to empty number. However I remember it getting to zero so I think I pushed one of the buttons to make the numbers reappear (getting me to zero).

I didn't plan on doing it but it happened and I was sure glad the reserve was there., although I find it a little frustrating that I'd like being able to get to 600 miles on a tank without getting below the ) to empty mark.

Perhaps some of the folks who intentionally tested this can give the specifics.

 

Thats what happened to me recently. I had a little less than 1/4 of a tank showing on the fuel gauge when the "miles to empty" displayed "0" and the orange warning light came (and stayed) on. I do remember that my overall mileage on the prior tank was not that great (lots of a/c and stop and go driving), the onboard computer may have used that last tankful to derive its mileage estimates. It is disconcerting when these warnings pop up, but as everyone here has noted - you can count on at least 2 gallons of fuel remaining.

 

My gage has been consistant in it's decline towards "E" with no sudden drops. When it approaches E, the light comes on warning of low fuel and if I remember right it's pretty close to the E mark about the same time the cruising range is at "0". The "reserve" is gas that is "below" the E mark. It's just there with no visible way of knowing other than when you fill up.

I didn't believe for sure that the tank was 17+ until some other posters intentionally ran their TCH dry. I'm not going to do that but at least two others have done it to prove they can get the 17+ gallons in an empty tank and that's good enought for me to feel comfortable. I've never had to go much over 15 gallons on a fill.

I don't typically wait that long anyway to fill up, but I've noticed many on the milage database do indeed go towards 600 miles before fillup. Probably more of a conversation maker than a hatred for stopping for gas??? It is pretty coll I guess to tell your friends you just drove 1800 miles on three tanks of gas. And then tell them it's only a 17 gallon tank!

 

I get about 100 miles from 1/4 to E. The miles to empty hits 0 about the same time as the gas gauge hits E. I find if I fill up at E, it will take about ~ 14.5 gallons. The gauge smoothly drops to E, and goes a bit below E if you keep going past 0 miles to empty.

This last tank I drove 713 miles, about 63 miles past E. It took 16.2 gallons to fill up, for a 44mpg tank

 

Driving into work this morning my miles to empty was below 40 and my gauge is closer to E than to 1/4 tank. I want to drive one tank where the miles to go indicator drops below 0. From what I've seen on this board there should still be about 3 gallons left, so I'm not worried about running the tank dry.

 

I'd fill it up right on E or when the milage hits "0" so you'll know exactly (and feel comfortable with) what your tank reserve is.