The 400 club

[Kermit]

here you go Brad, I'm posting tis to your original thread, not mine or unicycle's.

I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! YES! I made the club though I really wanted to be the first. 400.8 MILES!! 8.530 Gallons - 46.98 MPG

....and for anyone wondering, the reserve gallon does work. I ran it down to .1 of a gallon left. Of course I took a pic - will post in my gallery tomorrow.

[blackbeagle]

I read on here where you shouldn't drive below a certain fuel level...........not good for the engine...or something like that. Is there any truth in that?

I've always fill with 1/4 or at the very least 1/8 tank.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Todays fill up 44.6/gallon. Fill up before that 48.3/gallon

[unicycle]

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

....and for anyone wondering, the reserve gallon does work. I ran it down to .1 of a gallon left.

I understand that you mean you saw the "1 Gallon" sign, but do you mean that you still had a one-gallon reserve, or do you mean that you were using the reserve? I'm still not sure what this reserve means (I guess I should read the manual again).

I'm not sure it's ok to drive with such a small amount of lene in the engine. Maybe you put your car at risk of sputtering (esp on hills?). I've definitely considered carrying an extra gallon in the hatch ** just to know I won't run out ** but of course, that's prolly not a good idea in the event of a crash.

[Kermit]

Originally Posted by unicycle

I understand that you mean you saw the "1 Gallon" sign, but do you mean that you still had a one-gallon reserve, or do you mean that you were using the reserve? I'm still not sure what this reserve means (I guess I should read the manual again).

I'm not sure it's ok to drive with such a small amount of lene in the engine. Maybe you put your car at risk of sputtering (esp on hills?). I've definitely considered carrying an extra gallon in the hatch ** just to know I won't run out ** but of course, that's prolly not a good idea in the event of a crash.

From what I read from the manual, when it says 1 Gallon - you have 1 gallon of fuel left. From there it goes on down in .1 increments. Mine made it all the way down to .1. Not something I plan to do every day but something I wanted to do. As far as it slurping up any muck/sediment from the bottom of the tank, it's too new. Also, as far as running out on a hill - in the particular part of Florida I was in at the time if there was a hill of any sort it would of meant I was in a sinkhole and I wouldn't be going far anyway.

blackbeagle - Nowadays if you run it low it's not too big of a problem. "Back in the day" before in-tank fuel strainers you picked up crud from the bottom of the tank which was pretty much gonna happen no matter what but with less fuel it gathers in one place much easier. I can attest to that, in my old Corvette we normally leave it at 1/4 so it isn't a big deal if the gas goes bad. It gets driven so little that the crud/rust/sediment constantly clogs the primary fuel filter as I put two on it. (4,000 miles in the last 26 years is what I mean by rarely driven)

[OC1Dave]

Most cars nowadays have the fuel pump in the tank, cooled by the fuel - not good for pump life to run it down to empty.

[MP3SMART]

I am the newest member 400 club. The whole process was a bit nerve racking. Made 403 miles on 8.05 gallons of gas whcich averaged 50.06 miles to the gallon. I will admit doing every thing under the sun to make this happen. First I filled the tank and topped it off (I know you are not suppose to do it) since I have never received an engine warning light since I got my car. The second thing was that I had a can of gas in the car just in case I didn't make it. The third thing I did was drive only highway. When I went to my parents house in another state, I drove their car around all weekend so I would do no local driving and diminish my mileage. Fourth, I never drove over 50mph unless I was drafting on a truck. Fifth, I hardly ever used the brakes. I get a sense that people behind you find this incredibly annoying as you creep toward a light. Overall, I would say that doing this was really quite pointless. For the few extra dollars I prefer to drive at 70+. The only reason I tried was becasue I knew it could be done. I got 80mpg out of a Honda 250cc motor scooter by using all the tricks above plus turning the engine off at traffic lights. I'm through with these challenges even though with the topped of tank I think that 450 is actually possible.

Oh yeah, and no A/C even though it was hot as hell out.

[unicycle]

Originally Posted by MP3SMART

Fifth, I hardly ever used the brakes. I get a sense that people behind you find this incredibly annoying as you creep toward a light.

That's SO funny! I rarely use the brakes, too. For one thing, my daily drives allow for this since I'm mainly on uncrowded highways. But when I'm in a town or NYC, I coast up to lights as you described, and it does have the same effect. I love it when guzzlers race to a red light.