Fuel Display Indicator

[beedeejay]

I went for a pretty good drive yesterday. Mostly rolling countryside with a some mountain canyon roads. Pretty much able to run at 60 - 70mph most of the time. Kind of fun to play with the 'current mpg' part of the computer display. Averaged 40.4mpg with myself and nephew. The computer mpg calcualtion and my old fashioned pen and paper calculation were almost exactly the same. Very happy! And I'm only about 1/2 way through the break in period.

Only 'concern' I've had so far with my new '07 MC is that the fuel gauge is not at all representative of what's in the tank. I went a 150 miles before the first light went out. Then another 80 before the 2nd light went out. When I filled up at the end of the day I took 9 gallons but there were 5 lights still on. So, with an advertized 10.6 gal tank I only had about 1.5 gallons left - but half the lights were still on (1/2 tank remaining?!). Hopefully this is something that can be adjusted at some point - but I will not trust the gauge to be any kind of true representation of how much gas is actually remaining.

Anyone else have this much of an indicator discrepancy?

[Bolomitch]

I have an MCS and the same thing happens to me. It takes a while for the first list to go out then a little less time than the first for the second one. Each light then progressively goes out faster.

When I fill up with 1/2 the lights showing the tank is actually approximately 1/4 full.

[Flyinace2000]

I have gotten down to one light before. SCARY! the car took nearly 9.8 gallons. :-D

[Böhme417]

I've been down to one light before, and it took 13 gallons (MC).

[beedeejay]

Another thread indicates that MC's coming to the US actually have a 13+ gallon tank (same tank as the MCS?). So I will have to investigate this further until I feel 'warm and fuzzy' about this possibly great news!

[lava]

I think the gauge reads reasonably accurate, but the graphics are misleading. The last two bars are the reserve - they turn red when you get down low. What is confusing is that when they read orange they appear to be part of your overall fuel supply. If they were a different shape or slightly smaller the gauge would read differently.

What goes on now is you think you have X number of bars, but you really have X-2 bars. So when you have half your bars left, you really have about 1/3 the tank left. There are 10 bars. 2 are reserve. 8 are your tank. When you have used 4 bars you are already under a half tank. By the time the fifth bar goes out - which looks like a half tank - you are below 3/8. when the 6th bar goes out you think it looks like just under a half tank, but you are really below 1/4 now.

So its a matter of perception led by a bad interface design. The reserve bars should be a different shape, or perhaps they should always be red - and then just the gas pump icon can turn red when you hit the reserve. But right now its just misleading people.

[Loony2N]

I have used my first tank of gas. I averaged 25.66 MPG, which is excellent considering the car is brand new, the traffic I was encountering and my sporty driving style. When the computer said I had 31 miles to go, I filled up with 12.9 gallons. This means, if driven to empty, I would have required 14.11 galllons. This sounds just about right, since the stated capacities in the manual do not include the filler neck and "air space" in the tank. $3.30 a gallon of premium is still a lot cheaper than using my wife's SUV.

[Loony2N]

You cannot assume the bars --- or any gas gauge ---- function linearly; they don't. This is not just a MINI thing. For psychological reasons, the gas gauges in cars are designed to react slowly for the first half of tank consumption. To catch up, they then have to react swiftly the second half. This is done because studies have shown consumers feel they are getting worse mileage than they are when the gauges move linearly. There was an article about this years ago, I am sure an internet search would find. So, when you get a tankfull of gas and notice the gauge sitting an or near full for a while, and then seem to go from 1/2 to 1/4 a tank in 30 miles, you are not imagining things. It's how they are designed. BTW, every car manufacturer existing and interviewed at the time of the article conceded its gauge worked that way.

[Jimbo94501]

I had the dealer drain the tank on my 07. they believe the tank to be at least 13 gal I still think it is more.

[Jimbo94501]

I had the dealer drain the tank on my 07 non S. They believe the tank to be over 13 gals.

[tswichert]

I had the exact same experience. Went to put the first tank of gas in my brand new 07 MC and with 4 lights still lit, I put 11.2 gal in a 10.6 gal tank ?? Has anyone talked to a dealer about this ? Mine just shrugs his shoulders and says "fill it up at the halfway mark" - not helpful !

[Rennie]

Glangford posted on another thread that MINIUSA has updated their website stating that the MC has a 13.2 gallon tank. Mystery solved.

http://www.miniusa.com/#/learn/FACTS...l_Efficiency-s

[beedeejay]

Now that I have put over 11 gallons in the tank (with 3 lights still on) I feel the new info out there that the tank is really 13.2 gallons (per updated MINIUSA website specs) is correct. Although I think the indicator is still a bit misleading it's not a big deal. I am VERY happy the tank is larger than originally stated. Actually I had considered getting the MCS over the MC simply because of the greater range - albeit at lower mpg. Now I have both of the things I wanted - range and mpg! And I'm more than satisfied with the performance. By the end of today I should have reached the magic 1200 mile point and can start having even more fun. As of now: 1049 miles/27.15gallons=38.64mpg with the OBC indicating a historical average of 45.1mph.

[MotorMouth]

The first bar also includes the gas you may have put into the filler tube - which could be a gallon or more hence the high milage before the bar goes out.