So yeah I agree that it comes on earlier, but I bet you that many of the newer cars are soing the same thing now. It's a redundancy for the idiots that cannot comprehend the idiot light. They need an idiot gauge to see how far they can drive with the idiot light on.
Hmmm, we've had four cars built since the Gen 3 TL went out of production (1 German, 1 American, and 2 Japanese); not one of them have had the low fuel light and the fuel gauge so miscalculate the amount of fuel remaining, none of them were even close.
Hmmm, we've had four cars built since the Gen 3 TL went out of production (1 German, 1 American, and 2 Japanese); not one of them have had the low fuel light and the fuel gauge so miscalculate the amount of fuel remaining, none of them were even close.
I certainly wouldn't say it's miscalculated, as the light is on at the same time on all the 3GTL's, and is exactly the way Acura designed it to be.
I certainly wouldn't say it's miscalculated, as the light is on at the same time on all the 3GTL's, and is exactly the way Acura designed it to be.
Fair enough. That said, I don't think I'm going to give the Acura designers that much credit; I think it was one of those, "Oops! Well, good enough" scenarios.
Just a couple more data points... when I went to test drive the car (08 TL Type S), the needle was all the way down and the light was on. I asked the owner if we should get gas... checked the distance to empty, which was 0. We made it to the gas station a couple miles away with no problem (and I dunno how long it had been on 0). And for my last fill up, it showed ~1/8 tank, and it popped at 12.001 gallons.
I've gotten a few responses from my queries over on a Honda forum, one of them also directed me to check over on the honda-tech.com forum as well. After reading over several of the threads, it seems the Gen 7 Accords also have the issue of the low fuel light coming on and yet only being able to fill the tank with 13 to 13.5 gallons of fuel (one guy reported his low fuel light would come on and he'd only be able to put in 9 gallons).
Long story short, it looks like the whole early low fuel light is a fairly common issue for for the Gen 7 Accord as well as it's production line sibling the Gen 3 TL.
If 17.1 gallons is the actual fuel tank size, then my TL does the same thing as all others. I got my gauge as close to 0 miles as I could. Here is the before shot:
Here is a "complete" fill-up. It only took 14.6 gallons.
If 17.1 gallons is the actual fuel tank size, then my TL does the same thing as all others. I got my gauge as close to 0 miles as I could. Here is the before shot:
Here is a "complete" fill-up. It only took 14.6 gallons.
Today I ran my "Distance to empty" to zero miles and then drove an additional 8 miles.
Stats for this last tank of gas in my 2006 TL 6MT:
Total miles: 428.4
Fillup to click: 14.263 gallons of gasoline
Average MPG (OBC): 30
Average MPG (Calc): 30.04
Long story short, there was nearly three gallons of fuel left in the tank when I filled up, long after the low fuel light, gas gauge, and "Distance to empty" showed the car was out of fuel.
Today I ran my "Distance to empty" to zero miles and then drove an additional 8 miles.
Stats for this last tank of gas in my 2006 TL 6MT:
Total miles: 428.4
Fillup to click: 14.263 gallons of gasoline
Average MPG (OBC): 30
Average MPG (Calc): 30.04
Long story short, there was nearly three gallons of fuel left in the tank when I filled up, long after the low fuel light, gas gauge, and "Distance to empty" showed the car was out of fuel.
So you could eclipse 500 miles on one tank. Not saying you want to run the fuel tank that low but it is doable.
Oh I'm sure I can hit 500 with relative ease; I figure my forthcoming road trip from New Hampshire to western Michigan this October where the miles will be literally 100% highway should be able to snag at least one 500 mile tank even without running the tank past say the 15 gallon mark. As a point of reference, on my Honda Accord with the same size tank, the arrow on the fuel gauge doesn't hit "E" until I'm closer to the 16 gallon mark.