500 Miles on a Tank? Yes, of course.

[Dave777]

Not sure if anyone's gone this far on a tank yet.

Drove yesterday from the Seattle area to Crescent City, California.

505 miles, 9.0 gallons. 56.1 MPG. One tank. No fills along the way.

I'm not a hypermiler at all. But I am careful.

Steady speed, never over 60 MPH.
Made at least 4 stops along the way.
This is not a level route. Though I started and ended near sea level, the total ascent along the way was 17,146 feet of hills and mountains through southern Oregon and northern California.

I was sure it was possible, but generally my trips are much shorter where my average tank is closer to 40 MPG.

[jwight]

Pretty amazing; question is, can it be repeated or just a one time event?

[2micro4u]

If that is true CONTACTGuinness World Records - Home Page. They can document this amazing record for the Smart car. Congrats

[Bill Marshall]

Originally Posted by Dave777

Not sure if anyone's gone this far on a tank yet.

Drove yesterday from the Seattle area to Crescent City, California.

505 miles, 9.0 gallons. 56.1 MPG. One tank. No fills along the way.

I'm not a hypermiler at all. But I am careful.

Steady speed, never over 60 MPH.
Made at least 4 stops along the way.
This is not a level route. Though I started and ended near sea level, the total ascent along the way was 17,146 feet of hills and mountains through southern Oregon and northern California.

I was sure it was possible, but generally my trips are much shorter where my average tank is closer to 40 MPG.

How do you get 9.0 gallons from a tank with an 8.7 gallon capacity with no fills along the way?

Just asking . . .

[rfernatt]

Originally Posted by Bill Marshall

How do you get 9.0 gallons from a tank with an 8.7 gallon capacity with no fills along the way?

Just asking . . .

There has been some debate whether the 8.7 includes or doesn't include the 1.3 gallon reserve. There are two camps, one believes that it does and the other doesn't. The smart documentation is unclear at best. I've filled my car to 9.5 gallons more than once when I was at 0.0 gallons, so I'm in the "it's a 10 gallon tank" camp.

Edit: Or, as Old smart points out below, there is significant capacity in the filler neck that puts the total 'system' capacity to right at 10 gallons.

[Old smart]

Originally Posted by Bill Marshall

How do you get 9.0 gallons from a tank with an 8.7 gallon capacity with no fills along the way?

Just asking . . .

The 8.7 gallons is what is in the tank itself (and which the gas gauge reads). The filler neck can hold a bit of unaccounted-for gas.

[Old smart]

rfernatt speaks of a controversy that should have been put to rest a long time ago when a member of this forum who works in smartville provided the information - the 8.7 U.S.g (33 liters) is the total capacity of the tank (not including the filler neck).

There are a lot of things in our U.S. documentation that are poorly written and/or poorly translated from the original German. This is one of them. The word reserve shouldn't have been used; there is no physical reserve.

If you read the German documentation it's meaning is very clear. It reads in two columns: "[Tankvolumen/davon Reserve in l] [33/5]" or, "[Tank capacity/of that Reserve in l] [33/5]." Davon can mean any of the following: "of that," "from that," or "away from that." The 5 liters is to be subtracted from the 33 liters.

[CruisingAZ]

Congrats on 500 miles, I am running from Phoenix to Grants Pass Oregon this summer and hope for the same.

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by Dave777

Drove yesterday from the Seattle area to Crescent City, California.

505 miles, 9.0 gallons. 56.1 MPG. One tank. No fills along the way.


This is not a level route. Though I started and ended near sea level, the total ascent along the way was 17,146 feet of hills and mountains through southern Oregon and northern California.

I guess this puts to rest "smarts can't climb hills"

Regarding the tank size issue, its irelevant in this case. he still got 505 miles on a tank no mater how many gallons he put in after the trip

[Kermit]

So what was the last tank's mileage before this fill up AND please tell us what the NEXT tank's mileage is too. That being said - GOOD GOING! 500 miles on one tank must be a first for anyone.