I typically let it get down to around 20-30 miles to empty around town since I figure the less gas I'm carrying around the lighter my car is and thus the better it should perform (as well as get slightly better fuel economy). On longer trips I refuel at around the 50mile mark although I've found I need to stop and stretch my legs more often than the MINI does.

 

I recently let it get down to something around 62 miles remaining. When I filled up, it took 12.379 gal. So, that seemed about right. Unfortunately, those 12.379 gals. were $3.79 ea.

 

I know this is not the best thing to do for the fuel pump but I have made it to the gas station with 10 miles left on the OBC, freaky...

This last time I filled w/ 20 miles left on the OBC and pumped 13.52 gal.

 

I agree with lightyr. Many years ago I was caught with a low gas tank and a power outage occurred. All the gas stations closed! I had barely enough fuel to make it home. Now I try to never let the tank get less than half full.

This is just another aspect of earthquake preparedness, for those of us who live in a seismically active area.

 

I usually won't let it go lower than a quarter tank before filling up, so I never let it get below 100 miles before filling up. That still lets me ride 3-4 days on a full tank.

 

Not 400... Not even 40... but FOUR miles ?! And she was too busy ?

Now, before I just to conclusions and ask you if she's still your wife, has she warned you before about running your car so low on gas ?

 

+1 Modern K series BMW motorcycles run the pump in the gas tank. Running the tank dry will smoke the pump. I'd imagine the car will do the same.
Unless I'm traveling, I always keep my tank pretty close to full on all my vehicles. I'd never consider running a tank down to the last gallon or so if it could possibly be avoided. If they're sitting for more than a few weeks, gas stabilizer is in the tank and the engine. It's all cheap insurance imo. To each his own...but I can't view this tank rundown as good.

 

Can I get a count of gallons put in when you've run those low numbers (MCS only)? Andyde, you said 13.52--what say the rest of you?

As for long waits on the freeway, when hurricane Rita was expected in the Houston area (it was right after Katrina and people were scared), the freeways were unbelievable--8 lanes wide when they finally opened the southbound lanes up to those fleeing north. Stories like 14-20 hours to get 40 miles were common. As it turned out Rita went east, and the next day I saw dozens of abandoned cars on the side of the freeway. And this was after the National Guard went to drivers having problems, offering free emergency fuel.

Around here the flashing sign boards tell you to keep fuel levels up during hurricane season. It's common sense when there's a storm on the way.

 

General rule i follow is if it's down to a quarter, i fill up the tank or put in 6 gallons(~half the tank - also used to give me a rough idea on the mileage on an average in lesser cars). Last night, the MINI was down to ~90 miles with 3 lights remaining and i filled it up. One less thing to worry about with my steadfast rule

 

Wow, and I thought the $3.56 around here for 93 octane is bad!!!

 

I've fit 14.1 with no bars left and the mileage indicator saying "----"

 

11.9 gallons with 2 bars showing, no idea how much was filler neck.

 

I filled up this morning with 3 bars remaining and it took 11.4 gallons to fill up. The owner's manual says the fuel tank capacity is 13.2 gallons, so if I assume that's correct, then that means I had about 1.8 gallons left in the tank while my fuel gauge showed 3 remaining bars. That sounds like something is not right. I thought only one bar is supposed to light up when there is less than 2.1 gallons remaining. So this means that either my fuel level sensor is screwed up (but the car only has 850 miles on it and this is only the 4th tank of gas) or the fuel tank holds more than 13.2 gallons. I suspect the additional 2.1 gallon reserve is not included as part of the 13.2 gallon capacity. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

From the way I understood it, the "reserve" is actually the last two bars, which makes sense to me because I get the low fuel notice once my fuel level drops to the second bar.

If you were just about to drop down to the second bar, and if the 13.2 gallons does not include the filler neck of the tank, then it just about works out in your example. If 13.2 gallons didn't include the reserve, you'd be able to get more than fifteen gallons in there...

 

I think what's happening is that in a typical car with an analog gas gauge, the light goes on when there's about 2 gallons left (so it's not really empty, even though the needle is at the bottom), but the MINI's gauge is showing actual gas left. So, 2-bars left is the equivalent of "empty, gas light goes on" in a typical car.

Perhaps we are just used to a typical gas gauge, with a needle?

 

I've driven tons of Mini's with under 5 miles left. Driven plenty with --- miles left.

When the Mini's come off the truck they have no gas or very little. We have Demo cars so we never fill up the new cars so they never get moved until they are sold. By the time a car gets up from service and cleanup when i take it to fill it up for the first time for my customer, it usually has --- Miles left. The gas station is about 1.5 miles away and i've made it every time. But our Lot guy has run out before on --- miles left but he said it was that low ever since it came off of the truck. He ran out pulling into the Station.

 

the thing is that folks report being able to fill up more than 13.2 gallons, so i suspect that it probably has an actual reserve of about a gallon.

 

Again, whenever i fill up my customers cars from dead empty i put like 14.3 in somtimes

 

They are filling up the filler neck, which I guess you could consider an extra source of gas.

 

hmm... i always let mine run down to a few miles. Every fill up is around 13.7 gallons. maybe not such a good habbit...

 

I don't have my mini yet but on all my other cars I have just learned how many miles it can comfortable go on a tank of gas. My '89 Honda, for instance, can go 300 miles but not much more without gas. If I drive all highway I may get a few more. It also has a "feature" where if it is low and I accellerate hard it stumbles hard. It feels like whiplash.