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Either my gauge is broken, or I broke 50mpg mixed!
Ok, I have to qualify the title a bit.
My gauge IS broken, but I don't think by much. I can't get it to read full ever, except the dealer tank and once when it showed 7/8th, then reset the next day.
I usually drive 15 miles on highway, backed up in traffic the entire way, both to and from work. This week, I have been staying about 2 hrs late each day. No back up going home. And I have disciplined myself to not go over 60mph, and to cruiz at 55mph.
Filled it Sunday, and went right home. No joy rides, just work and home. It looked stuck so I even called the dealer (get voice mail when sent to service EVERY time now) and smart USA twice. The 1st time on Sunday, the 2nd last night. They had no record of my call Sunday either.
Anyway, just thought it was busted till I got up to 110 miles on this tank. Its a preliminary reading, and will probably go down at the fill up, but when I hit 110, my gauge went down to 3/4!
Still trying to get it in, and still waiting on the part for the seat to fix my butt warmer! Gonna want it in Colorado!
The gauge in any car is just an approximation in the upper range, and should never be used as a way to guess at the current MPG until it nears the empty point.
The ONLY legitimate way to calculate MPG, without using a tool like a ScanGauge, is to:
1-Fill the tank and reset the trip odometer.
2-Drive until the tank is nearly empty. (This is even more important on a small tank car like this.)
3-Fill the tank.
4-Divide miles driven by gallons required to fill the tank.
There are lots of threads here commenting on the fuel quantity indicator and its relative inaccuracy near the full end, or the lack of showing completely full, or the different rates it seems to take on the way to empty, or the size of the tank, etc.
It is the nature of anything "digital," including this segmented gauge, that people think it must be more accurate than an analog needle gauge. Not so. Cars with analog needle fuel quantity gauges move similarly, having a hard time when the tank is full trying to detect a significant movement, then seeming to move faster as the tank goes down.
People who rent cars have known this for years, and will "fill" the tank to a point where the needle points at "F" before returning the car, but it isn't really full. That applies to both the rental agency and the renter.
Cars with analog needle fuel quantity gauges move similarly, having a hard time when the tank is full trying to detect a significant movement, then seeming to move faster as the tank goes down.
I had a car once like that. The gauge would show full for a LONG time, and then when it finally started moving, it went pretty quickly towards empty. So..... if you would have tried to determine what your MPG was going to be, based on how long it was at the "full" mark, you wouldn't have been anywhere close.
Today
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