I tested and when I got as low as a could and be near a cheap gas station.

So when I hit a "5 miles to empty" in the car I stopped and filled up. I even did something I don't usually do, the "top it off" thing where you try to get as much gas as you can in there without it spilling over.

What I got was:

Trip Computer - 5 mile range left
Gas To Fill Tank - 17.0 gallons

So does this then mean that when the trip computer shows 0 miles, you have 2.4 gallons of gas left in the tank?

I so wish some car manufacturer would one day make a car where empty means empty and leave out the "stupid protector" they always insist on putting in.

 

That matches up with my experience. If I fill up right when the low fuel message comes up in the MID, it takes 16 gallons to fill up. If I take it down to 0 miles left in the range, it takes about 17 gallons to fill up.

I recall reading something about this recently - car manufacturers are under the impression that Americans like a "buffer" when the low fuel light comes on whereas fuel gauges in cars made for Europe are allegedly more "accurate".

 

^^^^There is also a practical reason. Modern fuel injection systems demand high pressure, externally mounted mechanical pumps don't do the job. High pressure electric fuel pumps are now mounted in the tank, and depend on being submersed in fuel to keep it cool, to say nothing of increased physical safety concerns. In addition you never want to run the tank completely dry, because the pump depends on the fuel as lubricant, as well. Running an electric fuel pump "dry" will cause metal on metal rubbing which can lead to premature failure of the pump, or so my mechanic friend tells me.

 

I posted THIS a couple of years ago.

LL

 

Absolutely correct.
Why in the world with all the gas stations we have in this country would you try to run below the minimum that Acura sets, may be burn out a pump which would probably cost north of $500 to replace?

 

I've found about 3 gallons remaining at "zero."

 

Well, I'm certainly not looking to religiously drive down to -45 miles remaining.

If anything I prefer keeping it topped and not below 1/3rd a tank in case something happens, such as a natural disaster (hurricane, etc) stops the flow of gas.

But it is handy when road tripping. Being able to run an extra 20 or 30 minutes before stopping goes a long way. Gas stops, rest stops, food stops, those are the things that really slow you down when you're trying to drive a long road haul.

Or knowing that the next state line gas tax is $0.30 less a gallon, and if you can go another 30 miles you can get there.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=seinfeld

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=seinfeld

 

Yes, but it's still important to know for emergency situations.

If I happen to be lost, or driving through a part of a city that I don't feel comfortable getting off to get gas, I would much prefer knowing how far I can go to get to a safe place to get gas.

 

I simply was including previous discussions on the topic to make them inclusive information.

With new RL owners joining the fold, there are naturally questions raised which may have been discussed by long(er) term members and owners.

 

My bad, I interpreted your highlighting of the word "seinfeld" as having some intentional reason for being there.

 

I used 'seinfeld' in my search for those threads. I remembered joking that driving until the tank was empty reminded me of a Seinfeld episode where Kramer irked on a SAAB salesman to drive the car as far as they could with the low fuel light on. It is one of the posts in one of those threads.

There was nothing else there to extrapolate.

 

This one is nifty actually, because the trip system and the gauge don't work together. The trip may say zero, but the gas needle doesn't!

What i have noticed is that the gas light will come on when I have about 10 liters left, now in my cars that's about 150km to 80km depending on the vehicle...the needle will then hit E, and bounce up to 1/8th or wherever it's placement is. (Note: The needle bounces around for my EL, I believe the other 3 don't do this and just include the reserve tank in the gauge meter...I'll double check when I get some time.)

What it's actually doing is opening up the 10 liter reserve tank, which the computer does not actually account for, so when you see zero, the main gas tank is finished, but you keep going on the reserve the cars keep....was really cool when i noticed it and figured it out...


Edit: My Corolla doesn't do this though, when it's done...it's done, so it might be an Acura thing.