How Accurate Are Your Fuel Readings?

[linmk2]

I recently bought a new 2006 Solara and put my first tank of gas into it yesterday. When the "low fuel" light turned on, I changed the dash display to "Range". I was surprised to see that the display was reading 12 miles. I've owned a number of cars with these fuel information devices including one now. In most cases, when the "low fuel" light turns on, the device reads between 40 to 60 miles, never 12. When I filled up, the car still had about two gallons left in it. That is good to know, and follows what other cars I've owned have been like as well. When the light turns on, you still have about two to three gallons. Once filled up and home I checked the reading again to find it showed a range of 278. Based on fuel mileage, it should have been closer to 400. Are these the kind of reading you guys are getting or is something wrong? Thanks for your help in advance.

[sgunitkc]

when i fill my tank up...it goes up to around 340

[NABBUN SECHKIE]

my range is about 360+ and still rising. i've noticed my low level light going off when I have about 18 or so and when it reaches 6 it turns into this: "---" it freaked me out but I was fine.
Pimp, maybe the battery didn't have as much juice to provide for a clean spark??? totally pulling that out of my arse. but that's the reason why i'm so looking forward to the v6performance grounding wires + terminals. and i'm looking into a msd and optima dry cell

[Somedude]

when I fill up my tank, the little meter on the dash reads 450 miles. I calculated the true gas milage once, the gauge reads 32 mpg, when I did the math, it was 29 mpg. so I am assuming the gauge is off by 3 mpg.

[gone]

when i fill up mine it gets only 312 miles on a full tank (reg.gas) but ends up to be a little more in the end. last time i filled up it was around 340 which is much better, but when i got to like 15 miles left my light didnt come on. i was wondering when it was gonna come on now i kno it comes on around almost 10 miles left i guess

[michaels artic frost]

Well, my fuel range showed 340. I ended up getting 360 miles off that tank. One of my best since having my Injen SRI and my TRD exhaust. My driving style was sometimes agressive around town and on the interstate as well.

[Somedude]

I use regular gas. (87 octane)

[silversurfer220]

From what I was told, and its pretty much proven to be true, the more miles you have on the car, the more the vehicle is broken in, the higher the range will go up when you fill it. When I first bought my car, it would top off at 220, now its up to 300ish- but I only have 10,000 on my car. Apparantly, as a vehicle is broken in, the fuel mileage improves, thus causing the range to go up as you get more miles on it. I use PREMIUM fuel in my vehicle- the most expensive one I can put in the car.

[PhreakdOut]

I suspect the car will keep a running average on your fuel economy so it can calculate the range. I noticed shortly after getting the Injen intake, my range dropped to around 325 with each fill up. Of course, with the new intake, I was driving like a mad man to enjoy that new part. Eventually, the range kept increasing towards 340. (Where it is now.)

BTW: My wife drove my car down to Tenn last weekend. She was getting 410 miles on 14.5 gallons of gas. (28 mpg Hwy) Not bad.

[linmk2]

In regards to the best mileage. For many years, I worked in dealerships and one of our biggest complaints made by new owners was the fuel mileage. Most were upset because their mileage did not match what the window sticker said. The window sticker is a guide only. The calculations are made in a lab, not on the highway or city streets. According to just about every factory rep I've met, that includes Ford, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Jaguar, Acura, Chrysler, and VW. The magic number seems to be about 3000 miles. Until that point, your mileage will not be as good. On my new car, I was surprised that when the low fuel light turned on, the display read only 12 and when I filled up, the range was much less than the amount shown as average MPG vs tank cap. Based on the avg MPG, the range should have been in the mid 300's. That's why I asked just how accurate are the reading you guys are getting. Thanks to all that have replied. I guess I will hold off taking it "in" until a few more fill ups.

[KansasSolara]

Man, I have that same problem with the RANGE gauge, It doesn't quite match the AVG MPG info. My theory is that this is happening because the car is so new and the computer does not have a lot of info on your driving style, the accuracy should improve after a few 1000 miles.
I'm getting about 20 MPG on my V6 so with an 18 Gal tank that should be a range of 360 but the range gauge usually reads 270 when full - but I barely have any miles on this car (500 or so).

[NABBUN SECHKIE]

ok. I'm driving in NJ with 93 oct. Super from Exxon.
My avg speed is 22.6 mph and avg mpg is 21.5.
on a full tank, my range reads 360.
I have the '04 v6 with almost 21k miles on it.
i used to have a heavy foot in the beginning but now i take it easy because of the gas expense and more highway miles than before =)

[linmk2]

I'm still on my second tank. Total mileage is 489. Average is 21.2 the range is currently showing 133. I guess I'll wait for a few more tanks to see what happens. Thanks so far for all the input.