How low do you go

[Avoidin Deer]

I thought is was gonna be a poll on our morals.

 

[Kaps]

I just filled up 10.4 gallons and had a range of 50 miles so probably 10.8 ~ 11 gallons when light comes on and this is what I normally fill up.
Surprisingly as it was when I bought it up my real world mpg seems to be 0.4 to 1.5 mpg higher than what the car calculates. 28.8 vs 29.4 this time around. Total range is about 320 miles with around 29 mpg.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

I just filled up 10.4 gallons and had a range of 50 miles so probably 10.8 ~ 11 gallons when light comes on and this is what I normally fill up.
Surprisingly as it was when I bought it up my real world mpg seems to be 0.4 to 1.5 mpg higher than what the car calculates. 28.8 vs 29.4 this time around. Total range is about 320 miles with around 29 mpg.

I've kept track of my mileage (calculated and per computer) for every tank of gas since I purchased my car. My computer has always been--on average--0.5MPG lower than my calcs.

So I keep track of my actual mileage over time by using the computer's figures and adding that 0.5MPG to it. This eliminates individual variances due to imperfect fillups. It takes less than a quart of gas one way or the other to drive that 0.5 MPG difference.

 

[Sacandagadan]

I like To keep level above 1/3. Being in Northeast snow country and temps from the 30s to below zero. Also a bottle of isopropyl dri gas occasionally to avoid condensation. My fuel mileage over 4500 miles is 24.2 mostly rural travel.Winter blend fuel since Oct.

 

[Sacandagadan]

I've kept track of my mileage (calculated and per computer) for every tank of gas since I purchased my car. My computer has always been--on average--0.5MPG lower than my calcs.

So I keep track of my actual mileage over time by using the computer's figures and adding that 0.5MPG to it. This eliminates individual variances due to imperfect fillups. It takes less than a quart of gas one way or the other to drive that 0.5 MPG difference.

Curious what your overall mpg has been since new? we seem to have similar driving styles both with the wonderfull turbo..

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Curious what your overall mpg has been since new? we seem to have similar driving styles both with the wonderfull turbo..

I've run 3 tanks of 87 octane through it early on.
The remaining 21 tanks have all been 93 octane.

My to-date average (7,200 miles) is 24.1 mpg.
My best tank was 25.5 last November (bought the car in March).

I've made a few 80 to 100 mile round trips on a rural route that's a steady 55MPH. I've pushed 28 MPG there all 3 trips. The hilly windy roads I'm routinely on take the edge off my mileage (even with conservative driving), and 55MPH is close to the sweet spot.

Then there's the fact that I have stretches of some roads where I would occasionally put it into manual mode and really wind the thing out. That behaviour has now become the norm in those spots. It feels good to be shoved back in the seat, revving it up in 3rd gear, climbing out of a gully into sharp curve. And I think it's good for the car It, uh, prevents carbon build-up. And the car really seems to be happy.

So...Occasional Redneck+Wintertime=23.5 MPG. But I'm retired. I view it as a cheap hobby.
And it's good for the car...

 

[erhayes]

1/4 to 1/8. I did one check down to the warning light to see how much fuel remained. Ed

 

[Avoidin Deer]

1/4 to 1/8. I did one check down to the warning light to see how much fuel remained. Ed

I got low enough once to take 13 gallons and did not get a Low Fuel warning. I thought I was on fumes.

 

[murky]

I got low enough once to take 13 gallons and did not get a Low Fuel warning. I thought I was on fumes.

I very rarely put in less than 13 but usually less than 14. I wait for the light to come on before I start thinking about filling up usually though.

 

[Avoidin Deer]

I very rarely put in less than 13 but usually less than 14. I wait for the light to come on before I start thinking about filling up usually though.

Interesting.

I've never done this with a vehicle, mainly because I like keeping my anxiety level low.

And that was while living in the DC area, where the nearest station was always only a few blocks away and always open..

Someone on here once mentioned they habitually get that low so as to keep the number of refuels they have to do to a minimum.

 

[yrwei52]

I very rarely put in less than 13 but usually less than 14. I wait for the light to come on before I start thinking about filling up usually though.

Like you, I usually wait until the fuel gauge is in the red zone or the Low Fuel light is on, then thinking of going to the gas station. For my CX-5 I usually put 12 ~ 13 gallons in each fill-up.

I don’t buy the theory of damaging fuel pump if I wait too long to fill up the gas. My 1998 Honda CR-V has been using this practice on gas fill-up for 187K miles, and both fuel pumps are still working fine so far for that many miles of testing.

 

[Kaps]

It would be a dream if my CX5 took 13 gallons - its best is 12 gallons. 13 @ 29 would be 350 miles, still bad compared to many 500-600 mile per tank cars. Even the newer hybrids like Insight have a small tank - tank range should be more of a factor as it takes time to fill up and time is … money.

 

[7eregrine]

Came hoping for a funny Kaps comment. Leaving disappointed.

 

[lodisej]

I almost never fill-up until the Low Fuel warning and have gone DTE = 0 plus 20+ miles a few times and still can barely get 14 gallons at refueling. I live in an urban area with gas stations everywhere and have better things to do with my time. Those 10+ minutes saved add up over a lifetime
I've never run out of gas nor have had fuel pump issues in 30+ years of driving this way. My wife on the other hand panics at a 1/4 tank

 

[lodisej]

Here’s How Far You Can Actually Drive on Empty

 

[Avoidin Deer]

Here’s How Far You Can Actually Drive on Empty

Here's the chart from that article.

Data is based on MY 2015 for all vehicles.
CX-5 is 2nd from the bottom.