Miles to Empty
4th Gear Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,305
From: Arlington, Virginia
I just have the base model so don't have miles to empty readout. But everytime I get gas I reset the trip meter. I drive a mix of highway/city stronger on the city part. And 9x out of 10 fill up right before the orange gas light comes on or very shortly after. Usually comes to around 13.6gallons put into the tank, and the trip meter around 285 miles/fillup. So if I had to guess once my light comes on I'm good for around 40-50 miles before running the tank "bone dry" which is a no no!
4th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,747
From: Portland, OR
I've only seen my guage turn red once. When I test drove it at the dealer, they had run it almost completely empty. I've got the 50 miles left message, but it wont turn red til you well below that.
4th Gear Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,465
From: Pensacola, Florida
The percentage of S197's (and just about most cars) with accurate on-board mileage data is very small. Aproximately 80% or more of the on-boards are off by about 2 MPG mainly due to their inability to properly calculate the amount of fuel used/remaining. IMO, with experience you can tell within 1 gallon what's in your tank based on the fuel gauge. As much as I'd like to rely mainly on the on-board, it's simply more inaccurate than my "guesstimate" based on the gauge.
I'm not saying there aren't any that are accurate. My g/f's '06 is nearly dead-on at each fill-up; gallons used and average MPG (compared to hand calculated). But hers is the exception based on all the input over my 3 years on this forum and others.
I'm not saying there aren't any that are accurate. My g/f's '06 is nearly dead-on at each fill-up; gallons used and average MPG (compared to hand calculated). But hers is the exception based on all the input over my 3 years on this forum and others.
Last edited by Unleashedbeast; Sep 21, 2010 at 09:41 PM.
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 240
From: Kansas
No. I filled up when it showed 36 miles to empty. It took 12.3 gallons to fill it up. That means I had 3.7 gallons left in my tank. I'm averaging 18.6 mpg. 3.7 x 18.6 = 68.82 miles to empty. That's roughly twice what the computer says.
The yellow pump turning to red? I really doubt that ever happens!