After picking up my new Coupe Friday morning (not sure if the dealer topped off the tabnk or not, forgot to ask), I've managed to put 300 miles on it over the long weekend. The gas gauge still has 5 (of the 9) segments lit, which suggests I've used less than half of the 13.2 gallon capacity--and also suggests better than 45 MPG!

Of course I'll have real data once I get a couple of fillups under my belt, but in the meantime, I'm wondering what folks have found in regards to how close the dash indicator is to reality.

 

Uh, have you refilled yet? Take it to the gas station and refill. Anything more 7 or so gallons and the fuel sensor might need a look at.

 

I'd have to agree... just filler her up and see what the pump says... yes, it will cost you a few dollars, but you will have your answer.

 

on my countryman, the fuel gauge in the speedo is not linear, 1 light bar near full is more miles than 1 bar near empty, but the miles til empty display in the tach is very accurate

scott

 

Surely you jest.

Mine's saying I've got around 375 miles to empty, and I've driven over 100 miles on this tank already. A JCW coupe doesn't get that kind of mileage, even on the highway.

 

My gas gage doesn't read the same from tank to tank! When I get to two or three carrots, I fill it up.
I like the gas gage on my wife's Volvo, it read in gallons, and it's accurate!

Dave

 

I did just pick up my Mini yesterday and my MA said it might take two or three tanks of gas before the gas gage tunes itself in (or something to that effect). I'm not sure what to think of that except I will not try to come close to running out of gas... maybe a couple hundred miles and then a fill up for three or four fill ups.

 

Accurate. But not linear.

 

This. I have noticed that the "miles to empty" calculation in the tach, like the fuel gauge on the speedo, will fall faster as it approaches zero. Most cars I have owned have displayed similar tendencies, regardless of manufacturer. The important thing is, it is fairly consistent in this behavior.

Personally, once my fuel gauge gets down to 2-3 wedges, I switch the tach display to "miles to empty" & make sure I fill up with no less than 50 miles left on the counter, just to be safe.

 

My MCS gas guage is like this: There are 10 "candycorns" on my guage. The first one requires 3 gallons, the next 2 require 2 gallons each to go dim. So the tank is roughly half empty when the first 3 candycorns go dim it's not linear at all. The next seven are one gallon each, for a total of about 14 gallons of gas. The tank actually holds about 14.2 gallons. My computer is quite accurate compared to the calculated method. It's usually within .5 MPG when I have done it using the speedo and the fillup gallons.

 

Sometimes it takes 50 miles for the first indicator to go dark, sometimes it's 100 miles.

I've never used the computer to check miles left.

Dave

 

Useful data, all. Thanks.

I did not want to make a time-wasting trip to the gas station with the tank more-or-less half-full. But the trip I finally made today was interesting.

Down to one "candy corn" (love that terminology) of the nine, I put 13.6 gallons into the 13.2 gallon capacity tank. 400+ miles (I forget exactly how many). So it's pretty clear (a) it's not linear, and (b) when you get down to two "candy corns" and they turn red, you really are in the reserve (unlike my last car, a Civic Hybrid, which would have at least 2 gallons left when the "fill-up" light came on with 2 bars left and still had a good gallon when all bars went out).

BTW, a gas gauge "tuning" itself makes no sense.

 

I find it interesting that the "miles to go" can flutuate depending on how you are driving. I was down to 31 miles to go and let off on the gas and over the next minute or so, it went up to 39 miles - while driving 2 miles ro os.

 

I've got the hatchback and my guage has 10 candycorns, not 9 like yours. My tank is 14.2 gallons, yours is 13.2 (thus the one less corn, each one is a gallon except the first 3 which are 3+2+2 gallons). When I fill mine with 2 still lit I put about 12 gallons in it, so I think the last 2 are a gallon each. I pay pretty close attention to my gas guage and it's consistent.

 

I put 13.4 gallons in yesterday not long after I got down to one candycorn. I think the stated 13.2-gallon capacity is a bit off.

 

Had a 2012 MCS loaner over the weekend. At one point I had it down to 1 candy corn and had probably driven about 15 miles on that one. However, it only took 13.18 gallons of gas. Granted, this loaner only had about 3,000 miles on it, so maybe the computer did not yet have enough data points to be more accurate. On my own 2008 MCS today I was down to one candy corn (only a few miles on that) and put in 13.93 gallons.